BiPap pressure and blood pressure (help please)

Dewy · Post by **Dewy** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:26 am

I diagnosed with OSA a month ago my pressure was set at 16/12.

I also have High blood pressure and CHF and an taking Benazepril 20MG and Lasix 80MG, 40MG morning and 40MG evening.
The problem is my BP has dropped at 16/12 Bipap to 95/52 with a heart rate of 71. Is this normal?
I raised the pressure on the Bipap to 17.5/13.5 and get my BP back up to 111/66 with heart rate of 71. How can I explain whats going on with my PCP?
Thanks for all replies.

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:36 am

The problem is my BP has dropped at 16/12 Bipap to 95/52 with a heart rate of 71. Is this normal?

I think you had better talk to your doctor about this. It probably has more to do with your meds dosage than xPAP. What else do you take? Do you have a pacemaker?

Dewy · Post by **Dewy** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:49 am

oldgearhead wrote:
The problem is my BP has dropped at 16/12 Bipap to 95/52 with a heart rate of 71. Is this normal?
I think you had better talk to your doctor about this. It probably has more to do with your meds dosage than xPAP. What else do you take? Do you have a pacemaker?

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:17 am

I raised the pressure on the Bipap to 17.5/13.5 and get my BP back up to 111/66 with heart rate of 71.

There is always the possibility that the 17.5/13.5 settings are the best for you. Remember these machines have a tolerance of +- 1.0 cm/H2O. Therefore. 16 could really be 15. However, I really don't see the BP increase as a result of 'hitting your sweet xPAP spot". But then I'm not a medical professional.

Gerald · Post by **Gerald** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:59 am

If I'm reading your question correctly, I understand your concern to be low BP.....and variations in BP as you move around.

Maybe what I have experienced will help you. I realized that my systolic was over 200 at times during the night....and I think this high BP finally over-stressed my body's ability to correctly regulate my BP during the day.

My doctor put me on BP reduction medicine....and I went through a sleep study and titration test in order to try and understand why my BP was going through the roof at night.

I purchased an M-series APAP with software so that I could monitor myself. I have reduced my BP to tolerable levels....and I credit APAP with getting the job done.

I strongly urge you to get software that will allow you to monitor your progress so that you'll have some idea about what is causing you to need CPAP.

In my struggle to learn what was causing my high BP, I ran across the following article......probably one of the most important articles I have ever read. It describes what was happening to me......and I suspect that the same thing might be happening to you.

http://www.hhponline.com/Stevens/HHPPub ... endocument

As I researched high blood pressure, I kept reading that no one seemed to know what caused it.....and it seems that doctors treat the symptoms rather than the source of the problem. I think the source of the high blood pressure problem (at least for me) is described in the above article.

If I read your post correctly, it seems to me that CPAP might be reducing the source of your high BP problem....and you drop to low BP because of all the medicine you are taking. One of the other members of this forum described the same situation....in which he had to be careful not to let his BP fall too low....i.e. "hypotension".

Of course....standard disclaimer.....I'm not a doctor....just a guy with a high BP problem that APAP is helping. I hope my experience and reference to the above article will help you.