Free Machine, No Sleep Study, Should I Self-Tritate?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
MikeStone
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Free Machine, No Sleep Study, Should I Self-Tritate?

Post by MikeStone » Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:00 pm

Hello,

Yes I am a newbie, but I am not new to this subject. Please don't jump on me about this discussion being had before - I know, I have been reading older related posts on this forum for the last week. However, I still can not get a clear idea to help me come to a decision.

I am currently overweight, unemployed, uninsured, without a pcp, and broke. I definitely have OSA - my fiance has been scared for me for the past two years as I stop breathing at night.

However, my aunt just gave me two CPAP machines: a Remstar plus and a Remstar Pro m-series, both with humidifiers. The machines are not auto-tritating; they are a few years old.

I had thought I would start using one of these at the lowest pressure settings and go from there. Then I started exploring this forum (and others) which gave me pause. However, I have read an article by a doctor saying the dangers of untreated OSA far outweigh any negative side effects of incorrect pressure settings on a CPAP (it was actually PPT presentation for her peers). Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you all!

~ Mike

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Pugsy
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Re: Free Machine, No Sleep Study, Should I Self-Tritate?

Post by Pugsy » Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:09 pm

You can use the M Series Pro machine. It has some data on the LCD screen.
We have several forum members who have self diagnoses and self titrated with great success.
There is software available that would show more than what the LCD screen shows but it requires a special smart card reader (that's assuming the M series Pro has a smart card in it) and that card reader costs about $75. We can get you the software for free.
Do you have the manual for it that shows how to change the pressures and see the data that is displayed on the LCD screen?
The Remstar Plus machine has no useful data available but the M Series Pro has enough data available to get you started.

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archangle
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Re: Free Machine, No Sleep Study, Should I Self-Tritate?

Post by archangle » Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:47 pm

Some warnings on the risk.

One of the biggest risks of self diagnosis and treatment of apnea is that you might have some other condition and blame it on apnea or CPAP, leaving the real condition untreated.

There's also the risk of having apnea and not treating it correctly.

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postitnote
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Re: Free Machine, No Sleep Study, Should I Self-Tritate?

Post by postitnote » Sun Mar 01, 2015 10:44 pm

Did you see about the Affordable Healthcare Insurance because if you have no income you should get it free (I think). I had family tell me that I stopped breathing too but I had great insurance at the time and it covered sleep studies etc. If you can get insurance take it and get a study done but if not then you have to do what you can. I'd try to do what I could with the machines your aunt gave you. There are some brilliant people here who can guide you. I'm not one of them. I put the mask on and off and that's all I know. I plan to learn though! Good luck to you!
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MikeStone
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Re: Free Machine, No Sleep Study, Should I Self-Tritate?

Post by MikeStone » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:04 pm

postitnote wrote:Did you see about the Affordable Healthcare Insurance because if you have no income you should get it free (I think). I had family tell me that I stopped breathing too but I had great insurance at the time and it covered sleep studies etc. If you can get insurance take it and get a study done but if not then you have to do what you can. I'd try to do what I could with the machines your aunt gave you. There are some brilliant people here who can guide you. I'm not one of them. I put the mask on and off and that's all I know. I plan to learn though! Good luck to you!

Actually, if you have no income - you get no assistance with insurance through the AFA. It's crazy, I know. It would be over $4000 a year. Just moved and actively seeking job, but thought I'd really like to start using the machine as I am so damn tired every day....

MikeStone
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Re: Free Machine, No Sleep Study, Should I Self-Tritate?

Post by MikeStone » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:07 pm

Pugsy wrote:You can use the M Series Pro machine. It has some data on the LCD screen.
We have several forum members who have self diagnoses and self titrated with great success.
There is software available that would show more than what the LCD screen shows but it requires a special smart card reader (that's assuming the M series Pro has a smart card in it) and that card reader costs about $75. We can get you the software for free.
Do you have the manual for it that shows how to change the pressures and see the data that is displayed on the LCD screen?
The Remstar Plus machine has no useful data available but the M Series Pro has enough data available to get you started.

Thanks for the reply. I have the smart card and I am pretty sure this is the manual here: http://www.apria.com/wps/wcm/connect/80 ... OD=AJPERES

Any idea how I could decide what pressure to start out with?

Thanks!

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Bill44133
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Re: Free Machine, No Sleep Study, Should I Self-Tritate?

Post by Bill44133 » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:10 pm

I guess it depends on what state you are in. My sister has NO job and NO income and she pays nothing for her health insurance.
We are in Ohio and they grant medicaid to people with low or no income. Check with the state you are in.


I wish you well

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Pugsy
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Re: Free Machine, No Sleep Study, Should I Self-Tritate?

Post by Pugsy » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:31 pm

Yes, that manual will work.
You probably should erase any prior data on the machine. The M series machines only show averages of AHI and total leak numbers on the LCD screen in 7 or 30 day increments. I would suggest that you record your numbers daily and then erase the therapy data so that you are always getting a single day's worth of data instead of the 7 day thing.
If the manual you have doesn't explain how to erase the prior data let me know and I will find those instructions.

If you want to use the software you will need this card reader and no other type will work.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/Respir ... r-USB.html
I can help with the software for free...Windows only though. Respironics doesn't have a Mac version of any of their software products.
The main thing that software would show you is the AHI event category breakdown into either Obstructive Apneas and Hyponeas and when starting out unless your AHI is high and/or doesn't respond I don't know that it is critical that you have the software at this time.

I think if I were starting out and end your shoes I would start with around 7 cm pressure and give it a shot to see what it does and what the AHI happens to show...but make sure you erase any prior data because you want only your data on the machine now.

What are you doing for a mask? They require a RX too but there are ways to get them online without a RX...or I might have one you could try that was donated so it would be free. I don't have any nasal pillow masks at this time but I might have a sort of decent nasal cushion mask you could have..sizing is a crap shoot. They aren't the latest in models though and you might do better buying one of the newer models.

Can you normally breathe through your nose just fine or do you have chronic nasal congestion issues that force you to mouth breathe? If you can normally breathe through your nose just fine then I would suggest that you start with a nasal pillow mask of some sort. They are the easiest to get a good seal and keep it IMHO simply because there is less real estate on your face to need to seal. If you want to try to purchase one I can point you to some decent masks on EBay or Amazon...just let me know.
Or if you want one of my freebies just send me a private message and we can see what I might have that might at least work for now.

Do you have a humidifier with the M Series Pro?

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I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.