CPAP Problems!

[babybearsmum 19]

I just got approved for Gastric Sleeve (YAY!) While waiting for scheduling and all that fun stuff I had my CPAP memory card tested and found out I'm still having apneas! I'm very worried about this for many reasons one being is this going to affect when I can have my surgery? I'm hoping to have it the beginning of August, I'm obviously going to talk to my doctor about this but I'm just curious if anyone has had this problem before and what happened?? Also I'm waiting on my family doctor to send the request to up my pressure it just seems like it takes forever!

[angelface811 100]

Yes...my pulmonologist sent me home with a cpap unit that automatically titrated to what was needed by my body. I think it was called an auto titration study. By that we had to adjust my setting from 10cm to 11.5 cm.

[I will what I want 271]

You can unlock and adjust your Cpap yourself. I do it all the time to keep my events low. Google unblock Cpap with the name of your machine and you will find instructions. There are also message boards like this one for sleep apnea where you can get the info. It's not a big deal at all. Once you know how to get to the clinical side of your machine you can see all your results nightly and know how to adjust. For example, I checked my results and I was having 3.2 events an hour. Clinically this okay but I've been having those dreaded morning headaches. I upped my IPAP and EPAP by .5 and this am my AHI was back down to around 1.0. Don't know why I am having more events since my weight is stable. It's great to adjust your machine yourself and once I read up on it I was able to fine tune my Cpap (actually a VPAP) and I get much better results. I hate having sleep apnea and I hope it goes away after my vsg, in the meantime, it's a literal life saver. My AHI without it is severe...75 events an hour! Good luck. If you get stuck PM me and I'll see if I can help.

[babybearsmum 19]

I wish they would give me one that automatically adjusted instead I have to bring in my memory card and I was sure I was having apneas but you know how that can be sometimes. I'm still learning about my cpap settings and all that. My pressure is set to 12 I tried to adjust it using the info I found on google for my machine but it didn't do anything. Is it possible there's a block on it? I get my machine from lincare so I don't know if that changes it?? I agree I hate having sleep apnea, this has been the worst thing I've ever had. My primary doctor wants to have my tonsils out but I can't get an ENT to do it. After I start losing if I still have it I'm going to really get bad about getting tonsils out and hope that helps. It sucks!

Also Thanks for all your help, I talked to the nurse today and she said as long as I had the pressure adjusted don't worry about it. Thanks for calming my nerves!!

Edited June 24, 2014 by babybearsmum

[I will what I want 271]

If you got into the clinical menu then it wouldn't have a block. What machine do you have?

[babybearsmum 19]

I have a PR System one REMstar. I finally got into the clinical menu and was able to adjust it (YAY) I wasn't holding it down long enough before I believe. My original pressure was 12 so I bumped it up a few. How much do you usually adjust yours by? Thank you so much for all your help

[beachgurl84 456]

I just want to throw some caution out there for anyone adjusting their own cpap.........(not that I disagree with doing that).......

If you're insurance is paying for it, find out if they bought it all at once or if they are making monthly payments. My insurance made monthly payments but didn't require reading the chip every month. I lost that insurance and had to pay the last two months on my own to make it officially mine. Some insurances require the chip to be read to make sure you are actually using it. Not just to make sure it's working. They aren't going to pay for it if they can't see you're using it.

So.........please be careful about what you do with your cpap. You don't want to find yourself in the position of having tampered with something you shouldn't and end up responsible for paying for a $1500 machine.

Other than that, good luck my fellow cpappers! I will also be looking into adjusting my machine now that you've taught me it's possible. If I remember correctly I'm at a 10 (had 60 recorded events per hour). I'm going to look into bumping it up a notch.

[Andrew0929 1,101]

I have been changing my own CPAP settings for 25 years and it has worked well for me. My current self titrating machine automatically adjusts on demand so I monitor my stats regularly and adjust the upper and lower boundaries as needed.

Both my doctor and a friend who is a respiratory therapist have unofficially approved my approach. I've not had a machine yet that I couldn't hack into ...

[I will what I want 271]

I just want to throw some caution out there for anyone adjusting their own cpap.........(not that I disagree with doing that)....... If you're insurance is paying for it, find out if they bought it all at once or if they are making monthly payments. My insurance made monthly payments but didn't require reading the chip every month. I lost that insurance and had to pay the last two months on my own to make it officially mine. Some insurances require the chip to be read to make sure you are actually using it. Not just to make sure it's working. They aren't going to pay for it if they can't see you're using it. So.........please be careful about what you do with your cpap. You don't want to find yourself in the position of having tampered with something you shouldn't and end up responsible for paying for a $1500 machine. Other than that, good luck my fellow cpappers! I will also be looking into adjusting my machine now that you've taught me it's possible. If I remember correctly I'm at a 10 (had 60 recorded events per hour). I'm going to look into bumping it up a notch.

I get your concern. The insurance companies want to make sure your are compliant with use and are looking at the number of hours used. When you change your settings it does not affect the hours used in any way and it is not possible to change them either purposefully or inadvertently.

The way to tell if you need to go up in pressure is to look at the number of AHIs. It must be less than 5. I actually feel best when it's less than 2. The machine needs to be turned down if you are getting air in your stomach which you will feel with pain, belching and/or extra farting. I lost about 50 pounds a few years ago and had to turn the machine down a lot. My surgery is about a month away and after I plan on systematically turning it down - always watching the AHI so I don't go too low too fast. Also, don't make huge adjustments. Change the pressure in small increments each night. The other important number to look at is your leak. Each machine measures leak a little differently and in general the leak should be below 40 (not sure of the units). If it is higher you will have events but they will not be recorded properly in the AHI number. In order not to leak I have to tape my mouth shut and keep all the parts like new, makes a huge difference. My pressures are high - IPAP is high as 21 and EPAP runs about 5 below that. (Hence the need for tape)

There is very detailed info on the web about each model of machine and more info than you could ever want on optimizing your settings. Good luck to everyone. I'm so hoping to get rid of my machine.

[I will what I want 271]

I have a PR System one REMstar. I finally got into the clinical menu and was able to adjust it (YAY) I wasn't holding it down long enough before I believe. My original pressure was 12 so I bumped it up a few. How much do you usually adjust yours by? Thank you so much for all your help

Sorry it's taken a few days to get back to you. I usually step up or down by half intervals or less...however i have gone as much as 2 or 3 when my weight changes a lot. Watch your AHI number. You want it less than 5. I feel best when it is less than 2. If you get too much air in your stomach you will know to turn it down. Also watch your leak. It should be less than 40. If it is over 40 you will not get enough air and have events but the machine will not count them correctly in the AHI because it gets thrown off. In order to get my leak below 40 I have to tape my mouth shut with medical tape. It's miserable and one of the main reasons I am having WLS. Please feel free to PM me if you need more help. Good luck!

[beachgurl84 456]

@

Have you ever seen a machine reset everything when you change pressure? I changed mine the other day after the post I made above and all my stats reset. I don't think I hit any other button to reset.

[babybearsmum 19]

@ Thank you so much for all your help. Good luck I hope you can get rid of your machine here soon!

[I will what I want 271]

@ Have you ever seen a machine reset everything when you change pressure? I changed mine the other day after the post I made above and all my stats reset. I don't think I hit any other button to reset.

I haven't heard about that happening. Did it change your number of hours used? Or just the stats on results? Mine changes everyday since it does a new daily result and keeps a rolling average for the weekly, monthly and yearly stats. It also zeros out the daily result at noon everyday, so if I want to check my numbers I have to remember by noon. Hope it didn't mess anything up for you. I've never heard of anything negative coming from changing the settings on a machine. Best - Shellie

[I will what I want 271]

@ Thank you so much for all your help. Good luck I hope you can get rid of your machine here soon!

I'm happy to help - I am not an expert by any definition but I do have a lot of experience optimizing my machine. Here is a great big dose of good luck to everyone - May we all eventually get off the machine...and until then I'm personally grateful everyday that I do have an effective treatment for my sleep apnea.

[I will what I want 271]

Here is the board where I have gotten a lot of great info: http://www.apneaboard.com