AfibApnea wrote:(Based on a horrendous SleepLab titration—lots of mask changes/mask leaks…) I have been prescribed a BIPAP ASV machine.
When I asked my physician where this machine ranked in the cavalcade of possible machines (
Was it possible I would need another machine in the future?) his reply was:
This is the most advanced machine for the problem you have. However, I could not guarantee that it will be efficacious for you indefinitely, as people's circumstances can change with time.
What (do you think) is my physician trying to say?
- - This is the most advanced type of machine available, and the final way my sleep apnea can be treated? (This is the way I read it.)
- My problem may change and require another type of machine?
- Other explanation...
If the ASV doesn't work, there's no "higher level" machine to treat you.
That's not strictly true, in my opinion. I think a true ventilator that actually breathes for you might be needed for some people.
However, treating apnea isn't just about using a progressively "higher" class of machines. Sometimes what it takes is for someone to monitor your results, and tinker with the settings until they find something that works. Sometimes, finesse is needed, not a bigger hammer.
He might also just be tired of dealing with a patient for who the assembly line medicine isn't working and is heading down the path of blaming the problems on you being uncooperative or crazy and preparing to give up on you. Unfortunately, that does happen a lot.
Learn to read your own data and adjust your machine yourself before you completely give up. There are a lot of settings to be tinkered with. Don't start tinkering on your own yet, though. Give the doctor a chance to find the right settings without you fiddling and messing things up.