is Resmed any good

[neversleeps]

Looks more like a "good head on your shoulders" award to me. With a special lifetime humor award to M. Curie for the funniest spoofy experiment account I've ever read! LOL!!

I gotta agree with you, r.g. Excellent spoof!! Too funny!!!!!!

I about fell off my chair when I read these lines:

"Look for sleep arousals" I instructed him. "Look several inches below the skull if you want to be able to see them with any degree of accuracy."

[dsm]

Thanks

RG - your recall is accurate - thankyou for backing me up re having discussed this with you back then (I still have the PMs).

We have *both* stated repeatedly how the major AUTOs offer excellent therapy.

I have stated repeatedly that anyone tracking the data on their AUTO needs to regard the stats as relative to their brand of AUTO but particularly their well being and not to try comparing the stats with other AUTOs else they will get very confused by the discrepancies. It seems I stumbled onto this oddity in my own quest for accuracy of data.

I don't accept that such broad discrepancies of AI HI & AHI can be satisfactorily explained away and that 'we must just have faith and believe' (pretend we are not seeing what we are seeing).

The 'accurate' (my words) results from one of the AUTOs have helped me greatly in taking a big move to a BiLevel and I can say quite clearly how my therapy has improved back to the best it has been. The data appeared to be spot for my needs.

I also have repeated several times and am saying again, it seems to me that it is the confused stats extracted from different brands of AUTOs that are one of the underlying concerns of the general medical profession.

I firmly believe that until the xPAP manufactures agree to some commonality, they will do themselves and their products some harm in the marketplace.

So on some points we can agree but on others we should be able to agree to disagree.


Cheers

I I trust that you too will have a great 2006.

DSM

[Wulfman]

Tonight I will have dear hubby lower his stare to below my chin. About two inches in to be precise. I will have him keep track of how many hypopneas I have and how many apneas. My hunch is the numbers are wrong from the sleep study and hubby will spot the discrepancy.

This is the one that put me on the floor.
I was trying to visualize asking my wife to do this.......YEAH, RIGHT!!!



Den

[dsm]

PS M Curie - very funny. Yes I did chuckle

Cheers

DSM

[ozij]

PS M Curie - very funny. Yes I did chuckle

Doug, I'm so glad you added that!
I had too had a great laugh, especially since I was really wondering when your poor wife was getting any sleep....

So on some points we can agree but on others we should be able to agree to disagree.

I guess it's the engineer in dsm that can't accept a disagreement among measuring machines. After all a second is a second, and there is a very concrete metal bar in Paris which is the standard meter... and a light year is the distance light travels in one year, a year is... Oh, no! there's a Solar year and there's a Lunar year. And some Lunar years have a whole month (yes, month!) added to them every now and then... and some Lunar years don't... For a fascinating read about how even in the exact sciences nothing is as exact or accurate as we think - I recommend "Opening Pandora's Box: Sociological Analysis of Scientists' Discourse" by Gilbert and Mulkay.

So, lets agree that we're discussing relative accuracy. Dsm's breathing pattern is diagnosed more accurately by a Resmed machine. WillSucceed's, on the other hand, is diagnosed more accurately by a PB420E. And some of us have to tweak some machines to get good treatment from them... Even Rested (and relaxed) Gal. Anyone remember IFL1?

(IFL1, to those of you not in the know, changes the way a Puritan Bennett 420E responds to what it identifies as flow limitations. And some of us (ahem...) )

And while I'm on my soapbox, a reminder: Resmed has us entering (their) mask type into the machine for proper results, Respironic's just says "use our masks only". Masks which the majority of us have tried, and discarded.

O.

[dsm]

<snip>
I had too had a great laugh, especially since I was really wondering when your poor wife was getting any sleep....
<snip>

Ozij,

yup she is a light sleeper but the interesting thing to me was that the problems always occurred just as I went to sleep and just before waking up & I am quicker at going off to sleep & it both me & my machines wheezing and puffing that wake her just before normal get up time. The Autoscan data showed this so clearly.

So because my well being was deteriorating to pre-cpap levels I was getting very concerned. Seemed to have done the cpaper's high bit - that was for a couple of months then just began a steady decline. I upped my cms to max (15 even 16) but all I was getting was chronic aerophagia. Tried the two AUTOs in all modes.

I was feeling that I had to take some action, perhaps surgery or if I could show my problem was slowing breathing excessively then I might try a BiLevel. The Resmed data (high HI low AI) supported me trying a BiLevel, the Remstar data (High AI low HI) supported surgery.

I was getting frustrated with the discrepancies that I was seeing thus the more detailed observation & final choice. As you can see my frustration is now showing - I had kept to myself for awhile as I wanted to digest what it meant - But as a researcher, I have no doubts about what I observed & what it was telling me. - I have also discussed these results with my sleep clinic specialist.

All I can say is I know what has worked & I am very pleased I did the extra research as I really was not excited about surgery. The BiLevel has me back rarin' to go full of beans. A correct diagnosis for me after months of investigation.

As mentioned I have allso purchased Pulse Oximeter and will be doing some evaluations using it. I don't want to slide back to pre-cpap ever ever ever for any reason!.


Happy new year to you there.

Cheers

DSM

[Guest]

I don't accept that such broad discrepancies of AI HI & AHI can be satisfactorily explained away and that 'we must just have faith and believe' (pretend we are not seeing what we are seeing).

One important point here: Nothing is being haphazardly "explained away". The algorithms (see patents) for each manufacturer are well-defined. The results you see aren't the product of some mysterious inexplicable force. This is not something "we must just have faith and believe". We can all review the algorithms being used. We know how the data is obtained. No one is pretending they're not seeing what they're seeing.

As previously stated, the varying algorithms manufacturers use for their auto-titrating machines, as well as the varying criteria for reporting data will produce varying results. Not inaccurate results, but varying results.

For the sake of all who read here, it is extremely important to stress that the difference you found between machines was due (as Ozij explained) to the fact that for you, the algorithms of one manufacturer were more in synch with your particular breathing patterns. As you have pointed out, most people will be well-treated by any AUTO. As all have pointed out, the varying results you noted are not inaccuracies, not the product of faulty equipment, not a manufacturing glitch, but simply differences.

[Guest]

I have a great idea.
Since dsm's wife has magical powers and is able to count apneas and hypopneas just by looking at him while he sleeps, who needs a PSG? No more need for those pesky wires and sensors, no more need to spend an uncomfortable night in a hospital hooked up to a machine. We can just zip down under and visit the dsm family. We could see the innards of all his machines in person. We could have shrimp on the barbie. We could visit the Great Barrier Reef and swim with the great white shark. We could see kangaroos, wallabies, and koala bears in their natural habitat. We could run screaming from the poisonous snakes and spiders. If we all go at the same time it would be like a giant field trip or, better yet, a medical convention so it would qualify for a tax write-off.
One drawback though. What costs more, a sleep study or a flight to Australia?

[Mikesus]

For the sake of all who read here, it is extremely important to stress that the difference you found between machines was due (as Ozij explained) to the fact that for you, the algorithms of one manufacturer were more in synch with your particular breathing patterns. As you have pointed out, most people will be well-treated by any AUTO. As all have pointed out, the varying results you noted are not inaccuracies, not the product of faulty equipment, not a manufacturing glitch, but simply differences.

This is true as long as we do not try to compare the data from differing machines in the same light. As you said the algorithms are different, so one machine might detect say an AHI of 4, while a differing machine detects an AHI of 1. Both machines could be right based on their programming, and at the same time both machines could be wrong completely.

We have to be careful to only compare data from machines with like algorithms, anything else is comparing apples to oranges...

(and in the above example, someone could be getting "good" (perceived) treatment)

[Severeena]

I have both the ResMed Lightweight and the ResMed Auto Spirit and I really like my APAP better.

I like the idea of being able to set my own pressures when I need the lowered or raised.

Next will be to order the software to down load all my data.