I got my hand popped

[SleepyRose]

If the doctor keeps popping my hand what should I tell them?

....don't tell them.

How do you not tell them you are changing your settings if they are going to read your card? Won't reading the card show that you've changed the settings?

mar

I changed mine gradually from 8 to 9.5. I also changed my C Flex to 3.
Went to the sleep Doc.
They took my card.
No one noticed.
That says a lot.

[rested gal]

I agree with Slinky. Most of the time one download (if any!) of the Smart Card is done after about a month. And that download is almost always just to document for insurance/Medicare that the person is using the machine often enough ("compliance" -- hours of use -- at least 4 hours a night, at least five times a week) to justify insurance/Medicare continuing to pay monthly rental on the machine.

I doubt if very many DMEs or doctors who do the download even glance at the pressure. Or look at something they really SHOULD be looking at closely... leak rate. They're just looking for "compliance."

If a person has been given an autopap for a home titration to find what pressure the person ought to be put on when the autopap trial is over and the autopap will be taken away and they'll be given a straight CPAP machine usually set for the 90 or 95 percentile pressure number... even then, the DME or doctor will probably just glance quickly at the 90% (Respironics machine) or 95% (ResMed machine) and not bother to look at anything about the pressure settings.

Medical professionals are often in a hurry -- get this one out of the way as fast as they can and go to the next.

[CPAP Police]

It is just a matter of time before I track you down tvmangum. Post your regrets relating to your evil deeds and I MIGHT look the other way. On the other hand (the one not popped) I am

CPAP Police searching the internet for rebellious CPAP patients and bringing them to justice.

[carbonman]

I was talking with my doctors office regarding my last APAP titration at home. I confessed to resetting the pressures on the machine and the results that I been getting. My "prescribed" pressure is 14cm and my AI was still in 10+ range. I changed my pressure to 16cm and the highest my AI has been is 1.9 and I actually have more energy. Now I just need to get my HI under control. Since my HI are still in 7-10 range I get to have yet another titration study in May

..you,get to have another study.....say what?

Is it just me....
I am outraged when I read these stories.
It's your therapy.
It's your life.
The doctor is working for you.
The doctor is not God.

My SWAG(scientific wild @$$ guess) is...
you don't need another titration study.
You're pretty much dialed in. Monitor it everyday, tweak as necessary...
you're going to be ok.

My sleep study was a train wreck.....but it got me a machine.
My Rx was written for 8cm. My AHI never went below 10 at that setting.
Guided by Den and Snoredog, I now live at 12.5-17cm,
and life is so good. I have an average AHI of ~1.2....for months.
I could have spent months and months and
lots of office appts. and plenty of $$$ on studies waiting for
the alleged experts to figure out what was going to work for me.....
and would probably have quit.

I never saw and never will see the sleep doc that "read" my sleep study
and wrote the Rx. I was very disappointed in my pcp when I went in for
my physical. He really did not want to hear about my cpap. I think that is
because he doesn't know about cpap thearpy......very sad.
.....BUT, he listened to me when I told him this was MY therapy and
I wanted "THIS" machine, and I will be in charge of my therapy......
and wrote a Rx for me.
That's ok, though, I'll get over it.....I am my own best therapist.

Why don't you give your doc a "pop" on the hand and go find
another doc that will listen to you?
Until that happens enough, it is never going to change.
If you're not educated.....and mad.....you're not in the game.

The Revolution is alive and well..........rage on!

[deerslayer]

It is just a matter of time before I track you down tvmangum. Post your regrets relating to your evil deeds and I MIGHT look the other way. On the other hand (the one not popped) I am

CPAP Police searching the internet for rebellious CPAP patients and bringing them to justice.

DADGUM THEY'RE SNEEKY RASCALS !......remember you do not have the right to remain sleep deprived...don't let em taze you with the hose bro

[kteague]

Just a thought - do be sure you've got your cpap script in hand before starting a bridge bonfire.

[sleepisgood]

I like my sleep doc and don't want him to fire me as a patient, and I also just don't want to deal with egos. I also know from experience that "I did this and it worked!" gets better results with docs than "Can I try this thing that isn't your idea?" Better to ask forgiveness than permission and all....

My doc initially told me he was going to order a pressure of 13. When I got the machine, it was set to 15. But I didn't realize that until a couple months later, after I had come here, gotten wise, and gotten the card reader to watch my own data. I dropped my pressure to 13 after my next doc visit, when they told me I was doing great and erased my card. The next time I went in, the new data just showed a pressure of 13- no telltale dip in the graph to trigger questions. That worked out well.

I was at my DME recently because my machine needed a repair. They also ran my card and didn't notice the change. I asked to see the original prescription (it was faxed to them, I was curious.) Only then did the RT say "Hmmm, your setting changed. Sometimes they change it at the doc's office and don't fax us a new Rx." Me: (Mona Lisa smile.) Them: "That's strange...." Me: (smile, shrug, put CPAP in bag since the RT was reaching for it.)

I'm going to try AutoPap now. I have to see my doc once next month and then hopefully not for another year. I bought a spare data card and will use that for my Autopap nights. Depending on what that shows, maybe I'll 'fess up and say "Look how well it's working!" or maybe I'll just put it back on CPAP after a couple days and let my doc think I either missed 2 days or blame it on the occasional 2 day loss of data problem that Respironics is known to have. >:)

[Debjax]

IF I were using a ResMed machine, and IF I were striving for an AHI under 5.0, and IF I were feeling good... I'd mentally cut the HI in half and add THAT new HI number to my AI number (to get the overall AHI total) and consider THAT to be my AHI.

BUT....I think it may have to do with masks....when I switched from the Respironics to the Resmed, my AHI didn't change...when I switched from the Micro to the LT it did....

[kopoloff]

I will preface this by saying that the RT I see is fantastic. She encouraged me to do as much reading as possible prior to my sleep study. After getting my machine I told her I had got the software and she was delighted. She said it was refreshing to find patients who wanted to self manage. Then she gave me an email address so I could send her reports so she could review them (at no charge)

So, from my perspective, if I came across a doctor who took the paternalistic attitude, I would just ask them to explain why it was that I was able, with no training, to achieve a better level of therapy than they were with their training and experience. I would tell them I want my money back for all consultations, and breathe the words 'negligence' and 'maltreatment' under my breath, just loud enough to be sure they heard me.

Then I'd find another practitioner.

K

[carbonman]

Just a thought - do be sure you've got your cpap script in hand before starting a bridge bonfire.

Excellent point!

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.