There are many people who decide to change their own CPAP pressure as they see fit. Even though this sounds very absurd, it really happens! In fact, there is also an Australian hacker, who has taught people how to perform the hacking process. Mark Watkins is the Australian hacker who has created an open-sourced NOT FDA approved software which allows a person to gain all of their CPAP information. His program is called Sleepyhead and allows people to self-adjust the settings on their CPAP.

What many people say is the reason for doing this is that they can’t get their doctors to listen to them and continue with follow up for the use of CPAP and the appropriate treatment of sleep apnea. Hence, many people rely on the DIY ing treatment and check if their treatment is effective, and if not they raise or lower the pressure on their own.

Other people found out that going into their prescribing doctor has been just useless as most doctors randomly turn the CPAP pressure up. Instead, the doctor should listen carefully for the symptoms and send the patient back into having a sleep study for a re-evaluation of the condition.

Nevertheless, hacking your CPAP machine and adjusting the pressure by yourself comes with some risks. Hence, doing this can actually make the sleep apnea worse. This can happen because when the pressure is set too high it can over-inflate the lung and cause the brain to emit a central sleep apnea. Consequently, the brain tells the lung to stop breathing.

Hacking the machine is like picking your own medication dosage. Moreover, if a person triggers central sleep apnea by setting up the improper pressure, it can make the whole therapy in effective. The person can have two problems, obstructive sleep apnea and central apnea. If the pressure is too low, the sleep apnea will not be adequately controlled, while if it is too high, you may experience side effects like mask leak or air swallowing. Additionally, too high pressure will cause an increase in heart rate, for many patients this could lead to heart attack, stroke or death.

So, no matter how attractive to hack your own CPAP machine might sound, be aware that it can lead to some life-threatening conditions and even death.

Instead, you can solve the issue simply by getting an auto-titrating PAP machine. This machine is available in most companies and it’s made to create an effective variable treatment protocol. So, the pressure varies, goes up and down, as you need it. Hence, simply by upgrading your machine, you can solve the problem.