Ramp issue. Is my machine faulty?

Hey guys and gals!

Thanks for all the advice you’ve been giving me so far! I am actually enjoying it, and it’s made the whole xPAP thing a little cooler (if that makes any sense).

I seem to have a problem with my Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset. I have set the RAMP option as “automatic” because I’d read on the clinical manual that leaving it as auto, the machine would detect when I was asleep (through the breathing pattern apparently) and would ramp the pressure up at that time, making it easier to fall asleep.

Well, it is not working at all!!!! In the very best case scenario, at 15min, whether I’m asleep or not, the thing just starts blasting my face with pressure.
Today I tried to take a nap because I was a little tired (slept 3hs last night), so I put the mask on, turn the thing on, was trying to relax, and boom, 7mins later, I get shot in the face with an air bazooka that startled me so much I could not get back to sleep. The effing thing didn’t even “ramp up” it just went from 5.5 cmH2O to 7.5 cmH2O directly which was quite noticeable...

Is something wrong with the machine? Did I do something wrong when I configured it? The weird thing is, Sleepyhead says “Ramp: OFF” when it is actually set to AUTO (just double checked it).

Thanks for your input and advice!

The machine can't see if you are asleep or not..it uses your breathing pattern.. Why not just set the ramp yourself. Set it to start at 4 and move up to your minimum pressure over 15 minutes. You really are not getting a "blast" of air at 7.5. Most of us don't use ramp at all. Mine starts at 13 as soon as I turn the machine on. What are your set pressures?

LSAT wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:00 am

The machine can't see if you are asleep or not..it uses your breathing pattern.. Why not just set the ramp yourself. Set it to start at 4 and move up to your minimum pressure over 15 minutes. You really are not getting a "blast" of air at 7.5. Most of us don't use ramp at all. Mine starts at 13 as soon as I turn the machine on. What are your set pressures?

Yeah, all the hyperbole about the air... 7.5 is *nothing*. stick a straw 3 inches in a drink and blow bubbles, that's 7.5cm.

Though "air bazooka" is a new one. 18/13 here... and up.

LSAT wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:00 am

The machine can't see if you are asleep or not..it uses your breathing pattern.. Why not just set the ramp yourself. Set it to start at 4 and move up to your minimum pressure over 15 minutes. You really are not getting a "blast" of air at 7.5. Most of us don't use ramp at all. Mine starts at 13 as soon as I turn the machine on. What are your set pressures?

My set pressures are 6.8 - 7.6 cmH2O. At those pressures I have found very good results last couple of nights (1 central 1 or 2 hypopnea) with an AHI of 0.2-0.3. No more pain in my ribs or intercostal muscles, so my body seems to adapt better to low pressures.
I’ll try manually setting it up, I like starting with 15min and seeing how it goes from there. At 7.5 cmH2O it doesnt seem like the pressure is the problem, it’s just that it jumps there way too quickly, and that sudden change makes me feel like I’m suffocating, even though I know I’m not...

Thank you for the advice!

palerider wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:25 am

Yeah, all the hyperbole about the air... 7.5 is *nothing*. stick a straw 3 inches in a drink and blow bubbles, that's 7.5cm.

Though "air bazooka" is a new one. 18/13 here... and up.

How the hell do you sleep with those pressures? It may also be because I seem to be still “adjusting”, it’s been only a week, so I’m hyper aware of everything... I start the night with 5.6 cmH2O, so it seems I’m little league compared to you guys! I still don’t see how you could sleep with that... ‍♂️

mrapnea wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:41 am

palerider wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:25 am

Yeah, all the hyperbole about the air... 7.5 is *nothing*. stick a straw 3 inches in a drink and blow bubbles, that's 7.5cm.

Though "air bazooka" is a new one. 18/13 here... and up.

How the hell do you sleep with those pressures? It may also be because I seem to be still “adjusting”, it’s been only a week, so I’m hyper aware of everything... I start the night with 5.6 cmH2O, so it seems I’m little league compared to you guys! I still don’t see how you could sleep with that... ‍♂️

People psych themselves out thinking it's "so much pressure"... it's not, even 20cm is a tiny fraction of one PSI.

10cm pressure, which is very common is only about 4 inches... stick a straw 4 inches into a glass of water... blow bubbles, easy, right? you've just exhaled against slightly more than 10cm of water pressure.

Other people talk about "gale force winds", but that's only when the mask is off, and the machine is trying vainly to build up pressure, so it's running it's little fan at full speed... the *instant* you put the mask on, the blower slows *way* down. It goes from 200-300 liters per minute of air to about... 25, in your case, just whats blowing out the mask vent.

Thinking about it in terms of just a gentle pressure to help keep your airway open .... actually helps,

Thinking about it in terms like 'air bazooka' or 'gail force winds' and other stuff.... that hurts, it makes it harder to get used to it, because you're thinking of it in bad terms.

ResMed's AutoRamp has multiple triggers that can cause it to leave ramp and move to Air Bazooka mode.

• When it believes you're asleep (30 breaths of stable breathing)
• 30 Minutes
• 5 consecutive snore breaths
• 3 OAs or hypopnea in 2 minutes

Add to that false positives, where erratic breathing as we approach sleep trigger therapy pressures instead of ramp.

mrapnea wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:41 am

How the hell do you sleep with those pressures? It may also be because I seem to be still “adjusting”, it’s been only a week, so I’m hyper aware of everything...

and with that, you've hit the nail on the head.i know it's very hard to imagine right now, but some day,can't say when, you may catch yourself awake and reaching to your mask thinking "did i even put it on???"

zonker wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 11:01 am

mrapnea wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:41 am

How the hell do you sleep with those pressures? It may also be because I seem to be still “adjusting”, it’s been only a week, so I’m hyper aware of everything...

and with that, you've hit the nail on the head.i know it's very hard to imagine right now, but some day,can't say when, you may catch yourself awake and reaching to your mask thinking "did i even put it on???"

About a week into treatment, I was having to check the vent for exhaust because it didn't feel like the air was blowing, My pressure is 11-17. No ramp. Even now, several years in, I often wave my hand in front of the mask to make sure I turned it on.

zoocrewphoto wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:27 pm

About a week into treatment, I was having to check the vent for exhaust because it didn't feel like the air was blowing, My pressure is 11-17. No ramp. Even now, several years in, I often wave my hand in front of the mask to make sure I turned it on.

yeah, SO many things that i thought i'd never get used to. but getting used to having the alien on my face??? thought the veterans here were crazy!

now, i'm almost as crazy as them!