7 SECRET AirSense 11 Clinical Menu Settings to Improve Your Sleep! — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Fact one, many machines, especially if they ship  to you from a DME supplier, are not properly
2. 0:05optimized for your sleep or comfort when you get  them. Fact two, your ResMed AirSense 11 has a
3. 0:12whole raft of comfort settings that can greatly  improve your CPAP experience without negatively
4. 0:17impacting your therapy, but they're hidden  away in a secret clinical menu. Fact three,
5. 0:22you can easily access this menu and adjust these  settings and get much better sleep as long as you
6. 0:27know what you're doing. Fact four, I do know  what I'm doing. And in this video, I'm going
7. 0:31to tell you seven secret settings and how to  tweak them to improve your sleep. We're going
8. 0:37to cover all the most important settings. So, if  you have an AirSense 11 and want better sleep,
9. 0:42strap in. This video is for you. Well, hi. I'm  Reuben from RespShop with another helpful video to
10. 0:48improve and inform you on all things CPAP. We've  been selling CPAP equipment and dishing out the
11. 0:54CPAP know-how to over a million customers since  2008. You can find us on respshop.com, YouTube,
12. 1:01Facebook, and Instagram. So, it's never been  easier to stay up to date with CPAP info. And
13. 1:06before we start, I just want to personally say a  big thank you. I really do appreciate all of you
14. 1:11that are subscribed to the channel and regularly  comment and engage with me. It does mean a lot.
15. 1:16Big thanks. All right, enough with all this  sappiness. First things first, if you want to
16. 1:21check that your settings are set properly for your  home environment and sleeping habits, you need to
17. 1:25be able to get access to the secret clinical  menu on your machine. So, to access this menu,
18. 1:30go to the home screen on your machine and press  and hold both the my options and my sleep view
19. 1:36buttons for about 3 seconds. At this point, the  machine might ask whether you're sure you want to
20. 1:40continue. Of course, you do. So, press continue.  The background will then turn white. It will say
21. 1:45clinical home at the top. The more button at the  bottom will now be exit and my options will change
22. 1:51to settings. The exit button is how you'll get  back to the normal menu, but leave that alone for
23. 1:56now. On the new clinical menu, press settings. The  first batch of settings are about your therapy,
24. 2:02and we won't be changing those today. If you want  to change your therapy settings, then we've done a
25. 2:06separate video on doing this, which I've linked in  the description below, and it's above me. But for
26. 2:10this video, scroll past the therapy settings and  get to the comfort settings section. Setting one,
27. 2:16AutoSet response. At the top of the comfort  settings, you'll find AutoSet response. If you
28. 2:22can't see it, then your machine is in CPAP mode,  not auto set mode. CPAP mode delivers constant air
29. 2:28pressure through the night rather than varying it  according to your needs. It's pretty old tech now.
30. 2:32But if it's been set up as part of your therapy  settings, then don't worry. Just ignore this
31. 2:37comfort feature. And if you want to learn more  about changing modes and why, watch the video
32. 2:41about therapy settings that I just mentioned. So  let's assume that you can see AutoSet response.
33. 2:46Most people will. There are two options here which  you can change by tapping the AutoSet response
34. 2:51setting and then pressing whichever option you  want. Your choice is between standard or soft.
35. 2:56On standard mode, changes to your air pressure  occur using the normal algorithm's rate. Whereas
36. 3:01on soft mode, air pressure changes more gently.  Now, although standard is the one the algorithm
37. 3:06thinks is best for therapy outcomes, soft mode  smooths the sudden jumps and dips in pressure,
38. 3:12which makes the experience more comfortable  without much trade-off in results. I suggest
39. 3:15you try soft if you're currently in standard and  only put it back if you find that it negatively
40. 3:20impacts your therapy. Setting two, ramping.  The next comfort setting is ramp time. Now,
41. 3:25you may have adjusted this already since it's  available in the standard my options menu.
42. 3:29ramp allows you to begin your therapy at a lower  air pressure and then slowly increase this up to
43. 3:34your pressure settings while you fall asleep. The  point of having this ramp time is to make the air
44. 3:39pressure more comfortable while you drift off,  but you're still awake. The time it takes you
45. 3:43to go from this starting low pressure up to your  standard therapy pressure is known as, you got it,
46. 3:49ramp time. If you tap on ramp time, you'll see  a few options, off, auto, and then a series of
47. 3:54numbers going up in fives from 5 to 45. Off means  no ramp time at all, just straight into your
48. 4:00therapy pressure. Auto means that pressure will  stay low and then go up to your therapy pressure
49. 4:05when the machine detects that you've fallen  asleep. If you pick any of the numbers, then
50. 4:10the machine will go from the low pressure to the  therapy pressure over a steady rate on that period
51. 4:14of time in those minutes that you've set. Unless  you have a reason not to, I suggest that you put
52. 4:19this into auto mode for the most comfortable  experience. You don't need the therapy pressure
53. 4:24unless you're asleep. So, you might as well make  things as comfortable as possible before you nod
54. 4:28off. The next comfort setting is start pressure,  which is still to do with the ramp feature. Here,
55. 4:33you can choose what the low pressure will be  during the ramp time. The minimum you can choose
56. 4:37here is four, and the maximum you can choose  will be whatever the minimum pressure is in
57. 4:42your therapy settings. Again, as long as you're  in the auto mode for ramp time, keep this as low
58. 4:47as possible for comfort. You don't need high air  pressure while you're awake. Although, if you find
59. 4:52that the pressure is too low and it's becoming  hard to breathe while you're awake, then you can
60. 4:55bump this up. Ramp is meant to make life easier  after all. And as this is a comfort setting, you
61. 5:01can experiment here a bit to make it comfortable  for you. I suggest starting this at 4.0 and then
62. 5:06slowly increasing it if you feel starved for air  while you fall asleep until you hit that sweet
63. 5:12spot. You'll know when you're there. Setting  three, expiratory pressure relief. After ramp
64. 5:17pressure, you'll see an EPR option with a slider  for turning it on or off. Now, surprisingly,
65. 5:23this setting is also available in the standard my  options menu, too, although it's called pressure
66. 5:27relief in that menu for some reason rather than  EPR. So, if you've turned pressure relief on or
67. 5:32off, EPR will have been changed, too. EPR stands  for expiratory pressure relief, and it's a setting
68. 5:39that instructs the algorithm to drop the air  pressure when it detects that you're exhaling.
69. 5:43The idea here is to make it easier to breathe out  against the pressure, which can make things more
70. 5:48comfortable, making it easier to empty your  lungs, which is important for getting enough
71. 5:53oxygen and helps avoid air swallowing, which can  cause bloating. Now, if this is off right now,
72. 5:58I suggest turning it on. I like EPR on, but I  will say that some people find that they don't
73. 6:03like the pressure dropping in their exhalation.  As always, you can turn it off again if you find
74. 6:08that it makes things worse for you. Below the  EPR slider, if you have it on, you'll find EPR
75. 6:13type and EPR level. These you won't find in the my  options menu, only the clinical settings menu. EPR
76. 6:20type allows you to choose between full-time,  which means EPR will be active whenever your
77. 6:24machine is running, and ramp only, which means  it will only provide pressure relief during your
78. 6:29ramping time. If you like EPR like I do, then you  might as well have it full-time here. EPR level
79. 6:35determines how much the pressure drops off when  you exhale. And you can choose between 1 2 or 3.
80. 6:41The higher the number here, the greater the drop  in pressure will be. Three means that the pressure
81. 6:46drops by 3 cm H2O when you exhale. So why not go  for this one unless you find the drop off is too
82. 6:52steep. As EPR is a comfort setting, it shouldn't  negatively affect your therapy to make full use of
83. 6:57it. Setting four, humidity settings. Next, you'll  either see a humidity setting or climate control.
84. 7:05If you see humidity, then that's because  you're using slimline tubing. If you use
85. 7:09ClimateLine tubing, you'll see climate control.  Assuming that you're using slimline tubing,
86. 7:14you can use the humidity setting to adjust  the level of moisture that the humidifier
87. 7:18puts into the air coming into your mask. When  you tap on this setting, you can either turn
88. 7:23humidification off or set it to a number between  1 and 8. The two extremes at both ends of this
89. 7:28scale should probably be avoided for comfort and  health reasons. If you get too little moisture,
90. 7:33then your mouth will be dry in the morning, which  is unpleasant and can also cause tooth decay. But
91. 7:38if you have too much moisture, water can collect  in the tube, which is called rain out. Rain out
92. 7:43can increase noise, spray water into your face,  and negatively affects your health. The ideal
93. 7:49humidity number here depends on the environment  in which you sleep. If you're in a drier climate,
94. 7:54then you need more moisture. But if you're in a  wetter climate, you need less. Assuming that you
95. 7:59use your machine in the same room each night, it's  worth trying to get this just right. I recommend
96. 8:04starting the setting at 4 and tweaking it up  or down from there. But if you know that your
97. 8:08climate is particularly dry, then you can start a  bit higher. And if you know that it's very moist,
98. 8:13then you can start a bit lower. For example, those  of you living in Arizona might want to start at 5,
99. 8:18whereas if you live in Oregon, maybe start it at  three. Then bump it up if you get a dry mouth and
100. 8:23bump it down if you get rain out. It's also worth  thinking about changing this level between summer
101. 8:28and winter if there are differences in typical  moisture levels between the seasons. And if you
102. 8:32blast your A/C or if you have a dehumidifier  in your room, then it's quite possible that the
103. 8:37air in your room will be drier than your outside  environment where you live, which are all factors
104. 8:42to consider when choosing the right setting for  you. Now, if you have ClimateLine tubing connected
105. 8:47to your AirSense 11, then you will instead have  two options underneath EPR. Climate control and
106. 8:52tube temperature. Climate control gives you two  options, auto and manual. On auto, the humidity
107. 8:59level I discussed earlier will be determined  automatically by the algorithm. This is fine,
108. 9:04especially to begin with. But if you sleep  in the same environment each night, you might
109. 9:08get better results by dialing it in yourself.  If you chose manual here instead, then a new
110. 9:12humidity setting will appear in the clinical menu  underneath tube temperature. The humidity setting
111. 9:18here works exactly the same way as it does with  slimline tubing, so dial it in using the advice I
112. 9:22just gave. The other setting you can adjust if you  have ClimateLine tubing is tube temperature. Now,
113. 9:28this setting determines the temperature of your  ClimateLine tube, which affects the therapy of the
114. 9:32air that you breathe in. Warm air is usually more  comfortable to breathe than cold air. It's easier
115. 9:38for your lungs to extract the oxygen from warm air  as well. And it holds moisture better, too. So,
116. 9:43feel free to set this to auto. But, if you  would like a bit more warmth or even a bit less,
117. 9:47you can manually dial in the temperature that you  would like using this setting. Now, I've already
118. 9:50given you most of my recommendations for comfort  settings on humidity and temperature, but I would
119. 9:55say that if you don't have ClimateLine tubing,  it can make a big difference to your comfort,
120. 9:59and it isn't much of an investment. Seeing as you  clearly have an AirSense 11, that's one of the big
121. 10:04features of this unit. And so, I highly recommend  that you buy a heated hose for it. I'll leave a
122. 10:09link to it in the description below for you to  go check out. So, now you've reached the end
123. 10:12of the comfort settings, but I still have three  tips to go and a bonus tip for those that stick
124. 10:17around. So, maybe stick around. Setting five,  mask settings. In the next accessory section
125. 10:23of your settings, you'll find mask setting. Here  you can tell the machine what type of mask that
126. 10:28you're using, and your CPAP will use that to gauge  how much of the air pressure at the machine end,
127. 10:33which the algorithm measures, will transfer  to the mask and into your airway based on the
128. 10:38constraints of the physics of the mask type that  you're using. And it's also used to determine how
129. 10:42much air loss is actually leaking and how much  is proper venting. Some types of masks deliver
130. 10:48the vent pressure more than others based on  the size of the openings, the cushion size,
131. 10:52and the air diffusion tech. And when you tap on  this option, you'll be able to select between
132. 10:56pillows, full face, and nasal. In most cases, this  setting should be set to match the type of mask
133. 11:02that you're using. Pillows is for masks that have  protrusions that go into your nostrils. Full face
134. 11:06is for masks that cover your mouth and your nose,  while nasal is for masks that just cover the nose,
135. 11:12but have slits or holes that sit under your  nostrils. Now, although the usual advice is just
136. 11:16to match your mask type, there are some masks,  especially those that are hybrid that I recommend
137. 11:21using a mismatching setting here because of the  way they deliver air to your airway. For example,
138. 11:26if you have the Air Fit F40, which is a hybrid  mask that covers both the nose and mouth,
139. 11:31it's best when used with the pillows mask type  in your settings for the algorithm to function
140. 11:36properly. Manufacturers will often let you know  in the manual of your mask if they recommend a
141. 11:40different setting here than the obvious choice.  Setting six, reminders. For tip number six,
142. 11:46scroll down to the reminders setting. Here  you can get your machine to prompt you about
143. 11:50replacing your consumables. You can turn different  consumables on or off. And if you have them on,
144. 11:56you can choose a length of time that you like  to use them before you replace them. Regularly
145. 12:00replacing your consumables is very important for  getting effective and comfortable therapy, as it
146. 12:06prevents dirt and grime building up from affecting  your health and equipment failure from negatively
147. 12:11affecting your therapy. After all, we're using  CPAP therapy for the good of our health. Let's not
148. 12:15undo that. So, for these reasons, I think it's  often a good idea to have these reminders on,
149. 12:20which can give you the peace of mind that you  get from knowing that everything will be working
150. 12:24smoothly without having to keep track of all those  consumable replacement dates. They pile up. The
151. 12:29recommended replacement schedule is typically 2  to 3 months for the mask cushion, 3 months for
152. 12:33the tubing, between 2 and 6 months for the filter,  depending on how dusty your environment is, and 6
153. 12:39to 12 months for the water chamber and headgear.  Some mask cushions, like the AirTouch fabric ones,
154. 12:44need to be replaced more often, up to once a  month. And filters should be checked weekly to
155. 12:48make sure that they haven't gotten too dirty. And  for those of you who watch this channel regularly,
156. 12:52you'll know that I'm a big proponent of changing  your filter more regularly than the recommended
157. 12:56schedule and to use hypoallergenic filters.  Seeing as you use the AirSense 11, there are
158. 13:01hypoallergenic filters offered for this machine.  I'll leave a link to them in the description. And
159. 13:05check the recommendations of whatever mask you use  about how often you should change parts out on it
160. 13:09as well. Now, how about that final tip and bonus  tip that I promised? Well, these are not in the
161. 13:15clinical menu. So, press the home icon on the top  left to go back to the clinical home and then hit
162. 13:20exit to go back to the normal menu screen. You now  want to press plus more to see some more options.
163. 13:27Setting seven, mask fit tests. The second option  on this list is mask fit. This allows you to run
164. 13:34a test to check your mask is properly fitted  and isn't likely to leak during the night. I
165. 13:39highly recommend that you get into the habit of  running a mask fit test daily, or at least weekly,
166. 13:43before you go to sleep. That way, you can make  sure that the cushion is still sealing properly
167. 13:47and your headgear is tightened correctly. It's  much better to be doing this before you're asleep
168. 13:52than at 3:00 in the morning. Even though you had  it fitting well last night, that doesn't mean that
169. 13:56it's perfectly set for tonight. The cushion will  wear out as you use it, and your headgear will
170. 14:00loosen over time, especially if you move a lot  at night. So, this is an important part of your
171. 14:04therapy. To run the mask fit test, first put on  your mask, tap the mask test button, and then
172. 14:10tap start. If your mask and headgear are working  properly, you'll get a green tick. Well done you.
173. 14:15If there are leaks detected, you'll get an yellow  exclamation mark. Boo. Now, this just means that
174. 14:20you need to adjust your headgear tightness until  you get that wonderful green tick. You should also
175. 14:24make sure that your cushion has no wrinkles or  tears and doesn't need replacing. Once you've got
176. 14:29that green tick, then you're good to go, right?  So, about that bonus tip. Actually, you now get
177. 14:35a bonus tip and a bonus bonus tip for sticking  to the end. I told you I appreciated you. The
178. 14:40bonus tip is the option above the mask fit test  that says warm up. This option is very helpful.
179. 14:46It tells the humidifier to warm up the water  before you start therapy so that you get warm,
180. 14:51moist air from the minute you hit start. There's  nothing worse than being excited to go to sleep
181. 14:55and you get in your cozy bed and then realize  you forgot to warm up the humidifier and you get
182. 15:00blasted with ice cold air into your lungs. Lovely.  Now, you should turn this on about 30 minutes
183. 15:05before you plan to go to sleep. Just make sure you  don't get too delayed in going to bed and forget
184. 15:10that it's on. The bonus bonus tip isn't about  your machine at all. It's about your bedroom.
185. 15:15Did you know that scientists say the optimal  temperature for getting deep sleep is 65° F? So,
186. 15:22if you have air conditioning or heating during the  night, you could try controlling the temperature
187. 15:26of your room to get that optimal environment for  that restful and deep night sleep that you want.
188. 15:30Thank you, science. And I've even seen the old  cocoon trick. If you really like to be cozy and
189. 15:35shut out all the light at night, seeing as you'll  be breathing through your tubing, you can sleep
190. 15:39completely under your covers and breathe like  normal. It's kind of like blowing your nose in
191. 15:44the shower. Don't knock it until you've tried  it. Well, hopefully this video has given you
192. 15:48some useful tools for tweaking your settings to  improve your therapy and comfort experience, and
193. 15:53that some of my more off-the-wall advice hasn't  grossed you out too much. Besides settings though,
194. 15:58there are lots of accessories that can make the  whole process much easier. And I've done a video
195. 16:02discussing the top ones, and I'll link that above  me and in the description. But for anything else
196. 16:06that you need, you can always get in touch with  our team at RespShop by visiting our website using
197. 16:11the chat feature, which will put you in touch with  a real life human. I promise they do still exist,
198. 16:15and yes, I'm one, too. Or you can give us a  call. Hop in the comments to argue with me
199. 16:20about anything that we've covered today. And until  next time, friends, sleep tight. Bye-bye for now.
200. 16:33Sorry, I had to kill a fly.  Uh, right. Where were we?