But, toward the end of inhalation, as we are finishing inhalation and the rate at which we are inhaling air reduces, a setting of 3 also causes the pressure to decrease earlier, making it harder for us to finish inhaling as much as we may like. (I think it would have been better if Philips-Respironics would have provided separate A-Flex controls for exhalation versus inhalation.)Īn A-Flex setting of 3 provides the greatest sensitivity to how fast/hard we are exhaling, providing more exhalation pressure relief while we are actively exhaling. The higher the A-Flex or C-Flex+ setting, the more sensitive the machine will be to how fast/hard we are exhaling OR INHALING. On top of that, and like with the other flavors of Flex (Bi-Flex and C-Flex and C-Flex+), because Flex provides Flow-based pressure relief (adds additional pressure relief proportional to how fast/hard we are exhaling), whether we use a setting of 1 or 2 or 3, the greater the rate of our exhalation airflow (the faster/harder we exhale) the more pressure relief is provided at the beginning of exhalation.ģ. A-Flex settings of 1 or 2 or 3 all provide a base of 2 cm H2O of exhalation pressure relief.Ģ. Much unlike ResMed EPR (which is a straightforward reduction in pressure of 1, 2 or 3 cm H2O during exhalation), there are three things going on with A-Flex.ġ. This is why you need the pressure to be at least 6cm for Aflex to work (because the machine can not go below 4cm). If you look at Aflex DOT respironics DOT com, it shows it with a graphic. (04-04-2015, 11:43 AM)AshSF Wrote: The Aflex setting always settles on an EPAP which is 2 cm lower than the IPAP.
I set the "Flex" setting to 3, which provides the highest relief in air pressure for when exhaling.
This is different than Resmed EPR which gives 1,2,3 cm pressure relief respectively, on settings of 1,2,3 EPR. So all Aflex settings start out giving more than 2cm h20 relief depending on the flow rate and the setting but by the end of the exhalation, they all settle on a pressure which is exactly 2cm less than the inhale pressure. OpalRoseThe Aflex setting always settles on an EPAP which is 2 cm lower than the IPAP. On the PRSystem one machines, there is a demo you can use to see how it feels. The flex setting is for your comfort when breathing out, but some people have no problem with that and don't use it. If Aflex is set to 2, then exhale relief pressure would be 7.Īnd a setting of 1 would be an exhale relief pressure of 8. So if I use an Aflex setting of 3- that would be an exhale relief pressure of 6. Just an example: My pressure is set at 9 minimum. My question is this: Is there any reason to have the setting lower? I feel like I am missing something here.ĭo you know what your pressure setting is?