Adjusting CPAP Pressure Illegal?

There is a lot of talk about how it's "illegal" to adjust one's own CPAP machine pressure, that only a licensed, certified or qualified technician, physician or clinician can do it.

First of all, I challenge anyone to show me any local, state or federal law that makes adjusting your own legally-obtained CPAP machine a crime, or even threatens punitive action for doing so. Go ahead - I double-dog dare 'ya.

Prescription necessary to get CPAP, after that, you're okay.

Yes, you must first have a prescription to obtain a CPAP machine - but after you OWN one, you are within your rights to do whatever you darn well please with it, including using it as a leaf blower, running it over with the family car, or... (oh no!) - changing your own pressure settings.

Remember the last time you went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription? You walked up to the counter, handed over the script, waited a few minutes and received a full bottle or package of something - pills, liquids, whatever. "Take the prescribed dose once per day for ten days, with food", the pharmacist said.

Fast forward to right now. You've just bought a CPAP machine - or maybe you've been using a CPAP machine for years - and you've discovered that you don't know how to adjust the pressure setting. The primary function of the CPAP machine is to blow air at a certain pressure, and you don't even know how to change the pressure? That's like not knowing how to change the ringer volume on your cell phone, isn't it? Isn't that a vital function that all CPAP users should be familiar with? To you - and to most other CPAP users - the CPAP machine is a mysterious "black box". Something only someone else knows how to program. You just turn the thing on, put on your CPAP mask and hope your CPAP therapy works as advertised.

So why is that you don't know how to adjust the pressure setting on your CPAP machine? It's a 30-second procedure that takes only a few pushes of a couple of buttons. The problem is that the manufacturer of your CPAP machine has hidden some controls from you. In fact they've hidden an entire menu of controls found in what is commonly referred to as the "clinician's setup" or "provider setup" mode.

Spilling the beans

Before I begin spilling the beans about the clinician's setup, consider that trip to the pharmacy one more time. When you think about it, there's an awful lot of trust between you and your doctor, the doctor and the pharmacist, and the pharmacist and you. You've been told what to do, and they're assuming you're going to do it - correctly. You're also assuming your doctor wrote the right prescription and the pharmacist filled it as written.

Taking this trust issue a step further, consider the fact that when you get a prescription filled at the pharmacy, you don't have to go get one pill at a time. You're trusted with the whole bottle of pills and everyone involved is assuming that you're responsible enough not to do anything stupid with those pills.

So given the secret of the clinician's setup mode would you suddenly become irresponsible? Untrustworthy and reckless? Bent on self destruction by way of CPAP machine? It could happen. But I don't think it will.

You are your best primary care provider

I firmly believe you are your own best primary care provider - that nobody else is looking out for your health and well being as much as you are. I therefore think you should be trusted with the knowledge of how to adjust the pressure setting on your CPAP machine. Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating changing the pressure setting on your CPAP machine willy nilly, without regard for your own well being, and I'm certainly not providing you with medical advice (primarily because I don't know you and I'm not a doctor). I think all responsible CPAP users should use common sense when using their CPAP machines, and I think it's a very good idea to talk with your physician or sleep therapist before making any changes to your CPAP therapy. Sleep apnea is a very serious condition, and altering your prescribed therapy settings could reduce the effectiveness of your CPAP therapy.

Whether you have a constant pressure "regular" CPAP machine, an automatic CPAP machine or a bilevel CPAP machine, getting into the clinician's setup mode is fairly simple.

Many people sell CPAP manuals on various web sites, but I believe you should have the right to obtain the clinician setup manual for your own CPAP machine.

Where to get your CPAP Setup Manual?

If you go to the Apnea Board at www.ApneaBoard.com (a free, non-profit discussion forum where sleep apnea patients help one another), you can download your CPAP clinician (setup) manual for free.  They also have information on how to adjust your CPAP pressure yourself, plus a lot of discussion and CPAP user support.

Just do a web search for "Apnea Board" - once you get there, they have a link on how to adjust your CPAP pressure.

Why pay for information that should be for free?

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