Poll: Have Any of You Been Caught Changing Your Pressure?

[2flamingos]

I was sent to a new dr for a sleep study. I told him that I had adjusted my pressure several times until I found a range that seemed to give me better numbers. He basically said he didn't have a problem - I knew the readings I was getting and how I felt. Results of the study showed him I was dead on in the range I had changed to - he chuckled and basically said damn, that was pretty good.

[archangle]

My DME seems to expect me to keep my modem after the rental period is up...

I never had a modem and don't know why some people have/had one and some don't. Wonder if they do things different from state to state?

The DME pays money for the modem and data collecting service. You can check the information directly on the machine or by mailing in the SD card, but that has costs of its own. Some areas have better cell phone tower coverage used by the modem. Some insurance companies are more or less strict about checking data or have different policies. Some DME's are more or less diligent on checking usage.

Throw all of those issues into the mix and some people end up with modems, some don't.

[Tatooed Lady]

My DME seems to expect me to keep my modem after the rental period is up...

I never had a modem and don't know why some people have/had one and some don't. Wonder if they do things different from state to state?

The DME pays money for the modem and data collecting service. You can check the information directly on the machine or by mailing in the SD card, but that has costs of its own. Some areas have better cell phone tower coverage used by the modem. Some insurance companies are more or less strict about checking data or have different policies. Some DME's are more or less diligent on checking usage.

Throw all of those issues into the mix and some people end up with modems, some don't.

My company requires modems on the machines that are currently being supplied to the drivers (I suppose if there's someone with an older machine, that might change things?), most likely because it's FAR easier and cheaper to do this for continual confirmation on compliance than to re-route us to a company terminal, get our card swapped out (or to a clinic during open hours or whatever), late loads, etc. So, for their part, it's just a more efficient way of watching us. Big Brother and all that.

[70sSanO]

My company requires modems on the machines that are currently being supplied to the drivers (I suppose if there's someone with an older machine, that might change things?)

I drive a vanpool to work. A few years ago I went in for my DMV Medical Examination and was told that I needed to provide the data off my machine. Since it was almost 10 years old, there was no data. I ended up having to get a data machine, which I am very thankful for, and I had to provide data in 3 months to maintain my certificate. i would not be surprised if that is what would happen to other drivers.

As for telling my doctor... he has OSA, so there was no problem. However the sleep doctor was really upset when I showed him my data. By the end of that session I told him I wouldn't let him treat my dog much less me.

John

[palerider]

However the sleep doctor was really upset when I showed him my data. By the end of that session I told him I wouldn't let him treat my dog much less me.
John

+1

[ChicagoGranny]

However the sleep doctor was really upset when I showed him my data. By the end of that session I told him I wouldn't let him treat my dog much less me.

John

[archangle]

I drive a vanpool to work. A few years ago I went in for my DMV Medical Examination and was told that I needed to provide the data off my machine. Since it was almost 10 years old, there was no data. I ended up having to get a data machine, which I am very thankful for, and I had to provide data in 3 months to maintain my certificate. i would not be surprised if that is what would happen to other drivers.

Many of the older machines collected the compliance data, but you had to punch buttons on the machine to get the data off the display. Usually the DMV only wants compliance data.

[Drowsy Dancer]

I haven't had to show compliance data for years. No modem, no one wants to see my SD card. My insurance still pays Apria $11.77 twice a year on the "service contract."

[zoocrewphoto]

I never felt the need to try different pressure settings for me since my prescribed range has worked very well. But my DME was shocked and apprehensive when they learned a month in that I had changed the time on the clock. I am a severe night owl, and I typically go to bed between 4 and 6am, and I usually get up between noon and 3pm. Since the machine changes days at noon, that messes up my data and splits my nights if left that way. I reset the machine so that it thinks noon is at 4pm. I just have to adjust the time mentally if I am reviewing the data.

Here's the fun part. At my 6 week followup with the doctor, I told him I had looked at the data, and he was surprised, but pleased. He didn't know that patients could get the software. So, I felt comfortable doing what I did next. I let my mom use my machine for half a night set to her prescribed pressure of 10. I then printed the report before I used the machine that night at my pressure range. A few nights later, I reset the machine for 10-13 and she used it for a few hours. I printed that report too, again, before I added my own data to that night. My mom made an appointment with my doctor, and I went with her. He came in, asked if I had gotten her in there, and shook my hand. He then looked at the two reports, reviewed her last sleep study summary, and prescribed a new full data machine (like mine) with a range of 10-13. She has been doing much better, and I have a great example of why the data is so useful. Her on-screen ahi of 3.4 did nothing to show the clusters of events that were over 30 seconds each. One was over a minute long.

[49er]

I think many doctors are very threatened by knowledgeable patients but others are so used to dealing with uninformed ones that when they encounter folks like us who are knowledgeable, it is a real shock. On a similar note, when the sleep tech at the office of the last sleep doctor I visited took my blood pressure, he was surprised at my knowledge but then quickly said, that he liked knowledgeable patients.

Unfortunately, the doctor was another story. He was the first doctor I have ever prematurely terminated a visit with because I feared if I didn't, I was going to have an anger outburst that I would regret big time.

Anyway, I realize that doctors aren't perfect but the one non negotiable issue is if they are threatened by my being an informed and knowledgeable patient, unless for some reason I have to stick with them, I will always look for someone else who isn't.

[ChicagoGranny]

I printed that report too, again, before I added my own data to that night. My mom made an appointment with my doctor, and I went with her. He came in, asked if I had gotten her in there, and shook my hand. He then looked at the two reports, reviewed her last sleep study summary, and prescribed a new full data machine (like mine) with a range of 10-13. She has been doing much better, and I have a great example of why the data is so useful. Her on-screen ahi of 3.4 did nothing to show the clusters of events that were over 30 seconds each. One was over a minute long.

Practicing medicine without a license! Love it Zoo!

[teachcsg]

I work for a DME - I think most RT's I work with wouldnt care if a pt was changing the settings based on their AHI. If they do (mind) its probably just fear that it may get them in trouble somehow. Truthfully what a patient does with their equipment once they get home is up to them-hard for us or docs to control. As for sleep doctors, I have worked with a few and most dont seem to mind when a patient is making informed decisions about their therapy. I have seen them more upset about patients being non-compliant!

[stratapastor]

A very small subset of patients might be able to hurt themselves by increasing pressure if they tried really hard to hurt themselves doing it, but other than that rare circumstance, the air ain't pressurized enough to hurt nobody no way no how. In my non-doc opinion.

news reports of small woman inflated like a baloon floating over cambridge were received today, onlookers stated that she seem to have some kind of a box attached to a hose dangling from her face.

film at 11.

that was just the cover story for when Harry Potter blew up his aunt.

[markdh]

Not being allowed to change my pressure based on the data makes as much sense as not knowing if my diet is working unless I get weighed on the doctor's scale.

[stratapastor]

I had my first study... Doc ordered a second which I cancelled when I got a s9 autoset. I then called and told him what I was doing and he wrote me the prescription from the supplies and told me to let him know if I needed anything else... His nurse goes to my church and told me that after my phone call he was pretty sure I knew enough to take care of myself and that he trusted me to call if things didn't work out.