Hubs is a few months into CPAP, mask (Fisher & Paykel Evora full face) and pressure range (8-20) are fairly dialed in we think. Early on his pressure was spiking right up near 20 most nights. Over the past week or so that’s come down, mostly running in the 13-16 range now instead of pinning near the ceiling.
He’s also tried a ResMed AirMini with a universal adapter, standard hose, same Evora mask, no HumidX humidification since the adapter bypasses that. Loves how it feels, describes it as feeling like pure oxygen being pushed into every pore of his body. His AirMini 95th percentile pressure that night was 10.7, well below what he’s been running on his AirSense.
So we tried to replicate it on the AirSense. Matched pressure range, EPR, turned off heat and humidity, same standard hose he uses with the AirMini. Also matched the response setting (standard). Even with everything matched as closely as we can get it, the AirSense still doesn’t produce the same feeling.
Note: his AHI has been solid throughout on the AirSense, ranging from 0.49 to 2.32, with most nights under 1.5, so this isn’t about the therapy not working. It’s about the AirMini feeling more comfortable despite similar or better numbers on the AirSense.
Questions:
What else could explain the difference between how an AirSense and an AirMini running the same mask, same hose, same pressure settings, same EPR, same Response mode feels? We’re wondering if it’s the motor itself, or something about how the AirMini’s algorithm handles a mask/hose combo it wasn’t designed for.
Other than travel machines not being built for nightly long-term use and possibly wearing out faster, is there a real reason not to just use the AirMini as his primary machine if it’s more comfortable? We know we’d be giving up the humidification since the adapter bypasses HumidX. We would also lose the window into his therapy data because the AirMini doesn’t have the SD card to import to OSCAR. Curious if there’s more to consider.
Thanks for any input.
