5th Year Sleep Study?

I am hitting the 5 year point, so I will qualify for a new machine. I still have issues with the ASV, and have read that some of them would be solved by the 960 series ASV. The newer one has a better tolerance for slow breathers, for example (my awake breathing is less than 8 bpm, so the ASV tries to speed things up).

When I switched sleep doctors 4 years ago, the new doc did not think that I actually needed ASV; the first doc placed me on it telling me that he found the ASV works better for patients with anxiety issues. The "anxiety" diagnosis came from my asking questions and being labeled a control freak. As an aside, I ran into him about a year after dumping him (his practice never told him!) and as he knew me from some earlier consults concerning elderly members of the church I pastor and end of life issues, he told me how sorry he was that I had given up on treatment for the apnea. I told him that I hadn't given up on treatment, but that since he thought I had mental health issues I had switched to a doc who was also certified in psychiatry

Anyway, new doc thought I could get by with a bipap but since the insurance company had been told that the bipap did not help me, the doc didn't think I could ever be stepped back down.

It's now been three years since I've seen the new sleep doc or had any changes to the settings, and I have not seen any of the data because my computer isn't able to work with sleepyhead. I've gained more than a few pounds since then. Would it be a good idea for me to have another sleep study before trying to get a new machine, in order to ascertain which machine and which settings would actually be appropriate? I haven't called the doc yet to make an appointment or even see if he will take me back. He wasn't very familiar with ASV users, and I have to pay $25 for parking in addition to the co-pay, so I am considering switching to a third sleep doc to avoid that extra cost.

So, do I have grounds for asking my insurance company to pay for another sleep study?

Ask about at-home ones... a lot of people are doing it now and insce. will often pay.

What computer do you have that isn't compatible with SleepyHead?

Windows XP and them last I had checked there was no sleepyhead for my older ASV

Bons wrote:Windows XP and them last I had checked there was no sleepyhead for my older ASV

Assuming it is a PR system one (50 or 60 series) the current version of SleepHead should support both.

You can now get a binary download which allows you to extract to the folder you want. The following link has a red NEW section which is the links for those. You would need to use 32bit.

https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead

Bons wrote:Windows XP and them last I had checked there was no sleepyhead for my older ASV

I think SH works on Windows XP.

Which specific ASV do you have? If it's a PRS1, I think it will work. Take out the water tank and look for the REF xx0 or xxx0 number if you don't know the model.

Encore Pro 2.4 will run on a Widows XP machine and will handle the Respironics ASV 950 data.
It may handle earlier models???

I believe that Encore Pro 2.13 32-bit version will as well but I haven't tried to install it in that mode.

Trying to remember your history, and wondering how an ASV helps with anxiety? Is it for a sense of security or did you have centrals? Just an opinion, but if there's any question it seems a sleep study could be beneficial. A lot can change in 5 years, both with us and with technology, and if I had anything other than garden variety OSA I'd want to be checked periodically. BTW, good to see you.

Bons wrote:Would it be a good idea for me to have another sleep study

It would be a good idea to get Sleepyhead running.

What does the display on your current machine show about your therapy? AHI? Leak?

How do you rate your sleep and your level of energy the next day?

In my own case, with Sleepyhead, I expect to never need another sleep study. YMMV.

I can't really answer your questions, but I can say that in your situation, you would have an inlab study as a home study will not give enough information.

SewTired wrote: a home study will not give enough information.

What information would be missing?

ChicagoGranny wrote:

SewTired wrote: a home study will not give enough information.

What information would be missing?

yes, I too would like to hear some backing for that statement.

P.R. can the PRS1 950 be setup to limit Max IPAP to a PS of 4.0 to mimic a BiPAP? Basically if the EPAP min and EPAP max are set in the range for control of CA, and pressure support min and max are set to a comfortable level (4-6), and BPM is set to off, the ASV should be pretty close to an auto BiPAP. It's not the usual setting, but it might provide the answer the O.P. is looking for, especially if she figures out how to download data. If those settings resulted in an abundance of CA, then the need for ASV could be confirmed.