“Cpap pressure ”
Why would I be Rx a variable pressure cpap?
Female | 73 years old
Medications: Symbicort & others
Conditions: Sleep apnea, asthma, htn
6 Answers
Because sometimes the pressure required to keep the airway open varies during sleep.
Yes. There are settings that have to be programmed for this.
The simple answer auto CPAP can work in some people and in others a fixed pressure maybe better
Some patients have different degree of sleep apnea related to position they sleep and also related to sleep stages. Variable CPAP also called Auto CPAP helps with that so the patient is not on high CPAP pressures all the time.
If the CPAP pressure is high and causing arousals and if that leads to daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and elevation of BP, it is better to subject the patient to a 4-week trial of autopap 5-15 cms of water pressure and then determine 95% percentile pressure reading. This pressure can be used to reset the pressure on her cpap. Also, get a 4-week sleep log.
There are actually 2 reasons to use automatic CPAP machines. The first may be that no one ever did a formal titration as insurance often prevents that, and instead the machine will find its own settings. The second is that pressure may vary for some people considerably during the night with more pressure needed when sleeping supine ( on back) or when dreaming when apnea is often more intense. In that setting it can be more comfortable to be on a variable pressure machine.
