I just had a follow up sleep study done. I now have a prescription of 10 cm. My Remstar Auto cpap M Series has a range from 4cm to 20cm max. Can the max pressure be reset? What should be the ideal maximum pressure setting in my case 10cm or 12 cm? I bought machine online not sure if the local DME will set it or if I need to send it to respironics.

Sleepapnea_Patient100 wrote:I just had a follow up sleep study done. I now have a prescription of 10 cm. My Remstar Auto cpap M Series has a range from 4cm to 20cm max. Can the max pressure be reset? What should be the ideal maximum pressure setting in my case 10cm or 12 cm? I bought machine online not sure if the local DME will set it or if I need to send it to respironics.

I recently acquired the same machine with a prescription for a wide range of 4-15cm. But following a growing body of evidence that suggests APAPs are most effective at a narrow range approximate to the fixed pressure gauged at the sleep lab, I set it at 7cm as a base pressure, that being the pressure prescribed following my last sleep study, and set the max at 11, so the pressure could step up if needed, which it always does. The results have been great. I honestly think this is "the way to go," because I don't see how the results from a sleep lab should automatically be expected to be the best at home. Until the Borg assimilate us all, the conditions are just too different.

If you bought the APAP from an online vendor, they should have included the DME manual. If they didn't, you could call and ask them to send it. Failing that, you could contact your DME and ask them if they could help you out, but I kind of doubt they can just because of liability issues or something, and at least not without a prescription. In fact, you may want to ask your doctor about setting a range just to be on the safe side.

Just following the CYA principle, I'm not suggesting anyone try monkeying with their pressure on their own. I think I saw that it's actually illegal in New York, and there's probably good reasons for that.

Cranky1 wrote:because I don't see how the results from a sleep lab should automatically be expected to be the best at home. Until the Borg assimilate us all, the conditions are just too different.

The PSG that the sleep lab conducts monitors many more sleep parameters than an APAP can. There is a good body of statistical evidence which indicates that a properly conducted PSG is an excellent indicator for optimal flow rate for most users not matter what their actual sleep loaction is.

There is also a growing body of evidence that indicates that variable flow APAP treatment is not optimal for a significant number of OSA sufferers who respond better to constant flow CPAP treatment.

Cheers,

Bill

Ask your doctors office if they will set it for you.

My DME will set it or my doctors office has people who will set it.

I can set mine myself because I watched and learned how, but I don't have a way to measure the pressure to prove it's correct.
My DME wouldn't tell me how to change it but it was easy to figure out after watching her do it once.

After setting it to 12 on the machine, her professional pressure gauge didn't read 12, it read 11.8. There is a fine tuning setting on my machine where she was able to bump it up 0.2 to make it read 12.

I bought a cheap gauge and the DME gave me another one that isn't that great either. Neither one reads exactly what her expensive gauge reads but they are both good enough to prove that the machine is continuing to work as advertised. In other words, I can put my cheap gauge on it and it reads 13 which is wrong but it reads 13 everytime I test it. If the machine stops putting out 12 for example and starts putting out a lower or higher pressure, my cheap gauge will report a lower or higher pressure.

For the techie's here: The gauge I bought uses a ball floating in the airstream. The gauge the DME gave me is a F&P tube with CM marks on it and a stopper to put it into the top of a humidifer exit port on a F&P machine. I cut two holes in the top of a plastic jar lid and put my hose in one and the stopper and tube in the other. Added water and turned on the machine. The water rose in the tube but didn't stop at 12, it stopped at 12.75.

Professional gauge: 12.00
Cheap gauge one: 13.00
Cheap gauge two: 12.75

Of course by science standards, the temperature of the water should be 32 degrees F. when measuring cmH2O. I guess you have to read it before it freezes

I have a question. My doctor put my pressure from 5 - 20. I use the Respironics Auto M Series with AFLEX. I like this machine, especially the AFLEX. The question is my pressure most of the time is now 7. I was told setting it for 5 - 20 is fine and that the 20 setting doesn't make a difference because it will only go that hight if I need it. The next time I go should I ask the doctor for a lower setting?
Thanks for all the help
Mary