"please keep me updated about oximeters "
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I feel like im just wasting my time
I have been on my c-pap about a month. I still find myself snoring quite often and I have had 3 night where I have 2 episodes about 15 minutes apart where I will wake up gasping for air because I have stopped breathing in my sleep. On an average I would say I will have an episode app. once a week,My machine is preset so I cannot adjust anything.
I am unsure of what I should do now.
I am unsure of what I should do now.
Views: 86
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dan Lyons on
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Hey Wanda,
Welcome to the wonderful world of CPAP.
Lets take this one step at a time.
We all wanna help you get adjusted and get you going in the right direction.
We need some additional information.
Did you get a copy of your sleep study and script? If you didn't – GET THEM, post haste. You are entitled to them by law and they contain pertinent information to your treatment that help us guide you.
We then need to know what brand and model of machine you have, what brand and mask you are using and all related information.
What is happening when you try and sleep? Everything may contain a clue.
So lets get started and get you squared away. The pros and the users are here to help.
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Permalink Reply by Christine C on
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I have been on CPAP for about a month myself. I was about ready to throw in the towel on finding out what my results meant until on of the users helped me. The people here are GREAT! Just don't give up. I am feeling better than I have in the past. I still have days that I feel as though I have been hit by a train after a rough night, but it sure beats the alternative of NOT breathing at all. Even though I may have bad days, they are still good. My motto is any day that I am above ground and sucking air is a good day. Don't give up! The destination is worth the journey....~Christine~
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Permalink Reply by Wanda Vanfosson on
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No, I did not get any scripts( didnt even know there was any) I took the study at 2 different facilities. ( Long story, and since I have a new Dr.) who ordered the 2nd part at a different facility. I do know that my oxygen lvls were really low during the 6 hr. study but, I already knew they were low when I slept and had been on oxygen at night to try to help keep my lvls up when I slept.
The machine I use is a ResMed ( the machine itself has that prited on it) but my handbook that came with it says its a resmed s8 series II
The mask is a mirage quattro. I do not use humidity because if I breathe anything that feels warm I feel like I cant breathe and I start to panic.
I have had Athsma all my life and it is NOT under control, never has been and probably never will be. ( Just a little background history ).
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Permalink Reply by Judy on
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Contact your DME supplier's RRT or your sleep doctor. They can't help you w/a problem if they don't know you are having a problem. Don't wait for them to contact you. It is YOUR therapy, YOUR health and YOUR sleep. And YOU have PAID for their professional expertise and knowledge and assistance.
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Ahh, good! Now we just need to know WHICH Resmed S8 II. There is the Escape, Elite, AutoSet and since you have asthma maybe even one of the VPAPs. It should be printed right on the top of your Resmed in the navy blue above the LCD screen.
If I were you I would request a copy of the doctor's dictated results (1-2 pages each) and the full scored data summary report w/condensed graphs (5+ pages each) from both of your sleep studies. They are part of your medical records and as such you have a LEGAL RIGHT to copies under HIPAA (assuming you are in the USA). I would also request a copy of your equipment order (script). You never know when you may be out of town and your xPAP lost, stolen or broken. Besides, then we will also know your pressure setting(s) which will enable our pros and members to help you out.
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Its AutoSet II.
If thats what you were asking.
I have some type of adjustment valve that makes it easyest to breathe out and hardest. I had her set it to easiest when she brought the machine out to me because it was really hard for me to breathe out.
I have a little smartcard ( resscan data card )that I stick into the machine and send to my doctor. I have already sent one in and I was assuming that if there was a detected problem they would call me in. ( maybe im wrong. )
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Good! That helps a LOT! Try pressing the Left and Right buttons on that AutoSet II and hold for 4-5 seconds. You can NOT alter your therapy intentionally or accidentally w/this particular button combo press. It should bring up Efficacy Data or similar on the LCD screen. From then on in it is just a matter of Left button to Enter, Right button to Exit, Up button to Return to the previous screen, Down button to Proceed to the next screen.
This will allow you to see your the Pressure and Leak AT OR BELOW which you spent 95% of the night, your AHI and your AI for the previous night, the last week, month, 6 months and one year after you've been using it that long as well as your Usage (compliance) data. THAT is the data the pros here will be asking you about.
Sometimes these doctors don't look at any more than just the compliance data.
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Permalink Reply by Duane McDade on
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The problem is the AUTO-PAP . You're settings are wrong the difference is too big! I know this without even looking at your machine. I am just a Technician but I see this problem on here all the time. The doctor I work for will not issue any of our patients AUTO-PAPS they can cause more problems than they cure........I know you have what you have, but try to get that AUTO-PAPs setting down to a difference from 4-20 (I'M JUST GUESSING) to something like 12-15 or 9-12. AUTO-PAPs do not work when the setting is 4-20 they dont work good untill you get them set like I suggest. Good Luck.
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I agree w/Duane McDade ( altho I am NOT a sleep professional, just a patient). I read about this all the time in the various apnea support forums. WHY sleep doctors don't know that a wide open pressure range (4-20 cms) is NOT the proper use of an APAP I'll never know. Like, DUH, doctors!!! And the sad part is far too many of the local DME supplier RRTs who actually provide and set up the APAPs don't have a clue that that wide a pressure range is too too much either. It boggles my mind that both professions can be so dibblety-darn IGNORANT of the proper use of an APAP.
APAPs work best w/in a 4-5 cm pressure range. Any wider a range than that and they are almost always too slow to respond to ramp up to the needed pressure. Those in the know usually recommend 1-2 cms below your titrated pressure and 1-2 cms above your titrated pressure as the best range to start at. IF there was no in-lab titration then the settings Duane McDade suggested are usually the best pressure ranges to start at.
And by the way, if the button combo press I suggested earlier doesn't bring up your Efficacy data it is because access to that advanced/detailed patient menus wasn't turned on in the Clinicians Menu by your provider. I believe it is called SmartData in the Clinicians Menu. INSIST that access to the advanced/detailed patient menu be turned on for you. Too many of these local providers' RRTs don't bother to even look at the Clinicians Menu. They just toss it aside or in the trash and use only the Quick SetUp Guide. You will see mention of the advanced/detailed patient menu in your Users Manual and you may have to take your manual in and rub their nose in the page w/the reference to it so that they even learn of its existence.
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I looked at my machine and everything said none found.
I know when I turn on my machine at night its set on 10, most mornings when I wake up its between 10.5 and 14
However, on a couple occasions I have woke up because my mask was just blowing out out air so much ( leaking) all the way around the mask and when I looked at my machine it would be on 20.
I would then have to turn off then restart my machine becuase I felt unable to breathe, swallow or even talk because of the force of air blowing in my face. I have to keep my mask so tight most of the time that my face feels like its bruising, due to leakage. When you mention compliance, do you mean they make sure that I am using it on a daily basis like I should be?
If thats all he is doing then Im pretty much paying him for nothing.
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Alll this talk about cm's and rrt's and such is so over my head right now that I am feelisng somewhat confused. Im sure I will learn this over time but If I am going to talk to my Dr. about it then I really dont have time.
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