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Yea! I got the AVAPS BiPap today! Very curious to see if it will feel any different tonight.

Dancer, I asked this same question to the CRT guy today. This is what he told me...

The BiPap S/T has several important settings: IPAP (the set inspiratory pressure it delivers), EPAP (the set expiratory pressure it delivers), and the number of breaths in a minute. If it does not feel you take a breath, it will give you (a puny) one. However, it doesn't adjust to your breathing changes, and if you don't really try to draw in a breath, it doesn't really help you out a whole lot.

The AVAPS works on a tidal volume calculation. So instead of a set IPAP and EPAP number, it has a range for these values, and the machine works to make sure you stay in that range. So if your breathing gets shallow, it will adjust the settings itself and increase the pressures to keep you breathing at the optimal range. Here's the blurb from the Philips website, which is about as clear as mud, but thought I'd put it here for you anyways:

"Average Volume Assured Pressure Support — AVAPS — is a revolutionary method of ensuring the delivery of a consistent tidal volume to patients requiring ventilatory support. AVAPS uses an algorithm that estimates the patient's tidal volume over several breaths. The algorithm calculates the change in pressure needed to achieve the target tidal volume then slowly increases or decreases the IPAP pressure to achieve the proper pressure support. AVAPS, therefore, adapts to disease progression and changes to meet the patient's specific needs while achieving patient comfort and safety."

So... if yours says Philips Respironics "Bipap S/T" and not "Bipap AVAPS" right under the little screen, then you don't have the AVAPS. I wouldn't have made a fuss if my Rx hadn't specifically said it... and I probably would never have known the difference!

Anyways, the CRT dude did have the opinion that it was the best choice for people with neuromuscular disease and noctural hypopnea. But who knows... and I certainly don't have enough experience with it all to make any kind of informed opinion about it! But I'll let you know how it goes!
 
I don't know I would like to hear what the difference is.
 
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