Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
I have used a CPAP for app. 10-12 years. Recently had a new sleep study. It was determined that my oxygen level at night is low enough to warrant using a concentrator. I am hopeful this will reduce my fatigue and motivation during the day. I am a 50 year old guy, and would appreciate any feedback from anyone that has seen benefits, as well as what I can expect. Many thanks.
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- Posts: 1562
- Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 5:57 pm
- Location: Murrysville, PA
Re: Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
Supplemental oxygen is a good approach to solving a low SpO2 level, but it might be good to dig deeper and find out what kind of events cause this. If you have central apnea that results in you not breathing, or adequately breathing while asleep, then an alternative approach might be an adaptive servo ventilator, a type of CPAP that times and measures your respiration, and can initiate breaths for you. The first step is to get detailed results of the sleep study, and see if the problem is just respiratory inefficiency, or if perhaps you have complex or central sleep apnea. The latter would be treatable with a better machine. If you have a problem like COPD then oxygen is conventional therapy. Without knowing more health history and seeing current CPAP therapy results, it's hard to say, but if you don't require supplemental oxygen during the day, you might just need a different XPAP therapy at night.
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Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier |
Mask: AirFit™ P10 Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear |
Additional Comments: Sleepyhead software. Just changed from PRS1 BiPAP Auto DS760TS |
Re: Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
Thanks for the reply. I am hopeful this is short term, and that it will reenergize me to become more active thus dropping some lbs. Still in the educating myself mode. A bit frustrated with my Doc as I found out oxygen was needed, as well as being delivered thru the healthcare product supplier. It looks like the concentrator will be "tapped into" the CPAP from what I have saw online.
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- Posts: 1562
- Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 5:57 pm
- Location: Murrysville, PA
Re: Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
Since low oxygen is a concern, you might want to ask your doctor for a script to buy an oximeter to monitor oxygen levels. The following oximeters record data that can be read with the Sleepyhead software, and if your CPAP also records data, you can see the results side-by-side:
Contec CMS50D+/E/F/I oximeters,
ResMed S9's oximeter attachment
ChoiceMMed MD300W1 oximeter
If you want more oximeter information, I'm not your guy. It would help if you would complete your user profile and include the CPAP equipment you use. Just go to your user control panel and fill out the profile information: ucp.php
Contec CMS50D+/E/F/I oximeters,
ResMed S9's oximeter attachment
ChoiceMMed MD300W1 oximeter
If you want more oximeter information, I'm not your guy. It would help if you would complete your user profile and include the CPAP equipment you use. Just go to your user control panel and fill out the profile information: ucp.php
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Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier |
Mask: AirFit™ P10 Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear |
Additional Comments: Sleepyhead software. Just changed from PRS1 BiPAP Auto DS760TS |
Re: Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
Good info. Thanks again!
Re: Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
why? oximeters aren't a prescription item.Sleeprider wrote:ask your doctor for a script to buy an oximeter
that's like asking for a script to buy cotton balls....
Get OSCAR
Accounts to put on the foe list: dataq1, clownbell, gearchange, lynninnj, mper!?, DreamDiver, Geer1, almostadoctor, sleepgeek, ajack, stom, mogy, D.H., They often post misleading, timewasting stuff.
Accounts to put on the foe list: dataq1, clownbell, gearchange, lynninnj, mper!?, DreamDiver, Geer1, almostadoctor, sleepgeek, ajack, stom, mogy, D.H., They often post misleading, timewasting stuff.
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- Posts: 1562
- Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 5:57 pm
- Location: Murrysville, PA
Re: Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
As I said...when it comes to oximeters, I'm not your guy!palerider wrote:why? oximeters aren't a prescription item.Sleeprider wrote:ask your doctor for a script to buy an oximeter
that's like asking for a script to buy cotton balls....
However, I thought if it was prescribed or recommended by a doc, it might be a covered expense.
_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier |
Mask: AirFit™ P10 Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear |
Additional Comments: Sleepyhead software. Just changed from PRS1 BiPAP Auto DS760TS |
Re: Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
that'd be up to the insurance company.Sleeprider wrote:As I said...when it comes to oximeters, I'm not your guy!palerider wrote:why? oximeters aren't a prescription item.Sleeprider wrote:ask your doctor for a script to buy an oximeter
that's like asking for a script to buy cotton balls....
However, I thought if it was prescribed or recommended by a doc, it might be a covered expense.
however, you can get a GREAT one (the cms50i) from aliexpress for under 100$, no doctor visit expense, or hassle dealing with the insurance company.
Get OSCAR
Accounts to put on the foe list: dataq1, clownbell, gearchange, lynninnj, mper!?, DreamDiver, Geer1, almostadoctor, sleepgeek, ajack, stom, mogy, D.H., They often post misleading, timewasting stuff.
Accounts to put on the foe list: dataq1, clownbell, gearchange, lynninnj, mper!?, DreamDiver, Geer1, almostadoctor, sleepgeek, ajack, stom, mogy, D.H., They often post misleading, timewasting stuff.
- TangledHose
- Posts: 862
- Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:13 am
- Location: Centennial, CO
Re: Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
It is a good idea to pick up one of the Pulse Ox monitors that have been mentioned above. I have always used an O2 concentrator in-line with my PAP therapy since the beginning, but occasionally I will run a test with the overnight pulse ox monitor and do one night with the O2 and CPAP, then another night with just the CPAP and then I can compare the results. I can see a definite benefit for me with the O2 -- my baseline and desats are much better with 2 liters of the O2 flowing in the system. I don't have any under- lying respiratory condition, it's just that ever since my first sleep study the numbers indicated that the O2 would be beneficial for me.DAA wrote:I have used a CPAP for app. 10-12 years. Recently had a new sleep study. It was determined that my oxygen level at night is low enough to warrant using a concentrator. I am hopeful this will reduce my fatigue and motivation during the day. I am a 50 year old guy, and would appreciate any feedback from anyone that has seen benefits, as well as what I can expect. Many thanks.
I got tired of dealing with my DME and renting their archaic, clunky, noisy concentrator, so I looked around the internet for the best pricing and picked up a Philips EverFlo Q with a five year warranty. My machine is smaller, and quieter than the beast that the DME had me renting. Hopefully you'll luck out and get a good machine from your DME.
Many people on this board that use the concentrators have them placed in an adjacent room because they can be fairly noisy and have a periodic "Thump" sound that is annoying, so be sure to get your DME to give you a fifty foot hose, or something long enough that you can run the machine in the other room if you need to. I got used to wearing the little yellow foam ear plugs at night and my machine is not as loud as some so I have it in my bedroom, which is more convenient. The proper procedure is to start the cpap first so there is air flowing in the cpap before turning on the O2 concentrator so you don't get an Oxygen build up in the machine before turning it on.......possible fire hazard if there is ever an electrical short when you switch on the cpap, although I think that would be very rare these days with modern electrical switching, but a good procedure non-the-less. If you have the machine in the other room what you could do is switch the cpap on in the "Warm-Up" mode so there is some airflow in the cpap, that gives you time to go switch on the concentrator if you have it in another room for instance.
It's a bit of a hassle, and adjustment to your routine, but I feel like I don't have as much "Brain Fog" in the mornings when I get up and I think that is both the CPAP, but also the Oxygen makes a difference too.
Good Luck...........and here's to hoping you get a newer, decent model concentrator from your DME!
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Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier |
Mask: Simplus Full Face CPAP Mask with Headgear |
Additional Comments: Also own F&P Icon Auto for backup and travel; and a Transcend when packing space is limited |
Link to Sleepyhead:
http://sleepfiles.com/SH2/
http://sleepfiles.com/SH2/
Re: Long time CPAP user. Doc just ordered a concentrator for me.
Welcome DAA. Please fill in the equipment on your profile. There is a link on how to do it on my signature line below.DAA wrote:I have used a CPAP for app. 10-12 years. Recently had a new sleep study. It was determined that my oxygen level at night is low enough to warrant using a concentrator. I am hopeful this will reduce my fatigue and motivation during the day. I am a 50 year old guy, and would appreciate any feedback from anyone that has seen benefits, as well as what I can expect. Many thanks.
If you need help figuring out what machine you have, tell us EVERYTHING it says on the top panel of your CPAP machine near the controls. Be sure to remove the water tank if you move the machine around.
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Mask: Swift™ FX Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear |
Humidifier: S9™ Series H5i™ Heated Humidifier with Climate Control |
Additional Comments: Also SleepyHead, PRS1 Auto, Respironics Auto M series, Legacy Auto, and Legacy Plus |
Please enter your equipment in your profile so we can help you.
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Click here for information on the most common alternative to CPAP.
If it's midnight and a DME tells you it's dark outside, go and check for yourself.
Useful Links.