Thank you for all your replies. About my open house, it went pretty well. Some of my patients hadn't been seen for a LONG time and were glad to replenish their supplies. For a long time, our company hadn't required feedback as far as machine maintenance and all of that on machines that were rented, ...

Well, the problem I have is that I AM limited in what I can do. For one, we have very few orders for Auto-PAPs and currently don't even have any in stock (:::running for cover:::). And, like most DMEs that I'm aware of, we have mostly one provider of products, Respironics. It's not that I can't get ...

Let me throw something out here at you all. As you may know, I am the RT for a relatively small DME (our store anyway- we're part of a national corporation). In a few weeks I am going to have what we call a "CPAP clinic" for patients past and present with CPAP units rented or purchased. It is an inv...

I vote no too. I am part of the "evil" DME industry and I'm sorry, I know most people here are educated about their disease process, and wouldn't tamper with their equipment without medical guidance, but some would. I just think it's information that can be very dangerous if improperly used. I have ...

When I worked at the hospital as an RT, we LOVED It if a patient brought their own equipment, and we did not have to check it or anything. In fact, if there was no oxygen bled into it, a lot of times we would not even know the pt was there. I say take your own (if you have to call the hospital first...

It is important to follow up with your CPAP prescription if you start to feel like the pressure just isn't cutting it anymore. I hope 10 is still comfortable for you...it is still about average for an adult, regardless of size. My only pediatric patient, a 6 year old girl, is on 10 also. My boss onc...

See, we're not all so bad

Irving, I'm glad you found something that works for you, but I would caution anyone that you may invalidate your machine's warranty if you do not use the proper filter. Just a thought.

From a medical professionals perspective, I will say that having one is NOT a good idea...not that I prefer my patients to be unaware of their situation, but it bothers me when people have them. There are MANY factors to oxygen saturation monitoring, and those numbers are not always accurate. In my ...

OBM, I think your doctor is mistaken. First of all, if you have a problem with obstruction, then wearing just oxygen is only going to "cover up" what's really wrong- the obstruction! Secondly, you CAN wear oxygen with a BiPAP- it's done all the time. Wearing a cannula with your mask would not be as ...

Hi Christine, Your pt. should be thankful that they have a knowledgable therapist looking after them! Was the EPAP being changed because the sats were dropping at noc and was this confirmed with a full nocturnal oximetry study? Is the pt on o2 because of a lung and or heart condition or because of ...

1. What are your current settings? 2. Had you tried CPAP before being changed to BiPAP? Was it for your comfort that the change was made or was it always BiPAP due to your diagnosis? 3. If you are on BiPAP because you can't tolerate CPAP, have you ever tried something like C-Flex (which is supposed ...

Christine RRT, far from being a negative side effect of cpap (and I realize you were joking ) perhaps that patient has a touch of REM behavior disorder? At any rate, if he's remembering many dreams while on cpap, perhaps his cpap therapy isn't optimized for him yet? Just a thought or two. I would g...

That was a good post about what you went through and how you solved it. Cool! Again, I feel so sorry for non-internet-savvy cpap users left to the mercy of often clueless (not you, Christine RRT!!) DME stores. Thank you for that- I was starting to get a little defensive! I am really just dumbfounde...

I'm glad to hear that this has happened to others as well. I had a patient tell me that his only complaint with CPAP was the increase in his dreams, and in his case, it was not good. He had very frightening dreams and in some instances woke up with his hands wrapped around his wife's neck! Maybe the...