My doctor never reads the data

[raggedykat]

I just got back from getting my cpap machine. I asked if the one they had for me was data capable and the technician said no. I told her I wanted one that was data capable and she said, "Why, the doctor never uses data." I asked how he knows that it is set correctly to work for what you need and she said he just goes by the way you feel! I told her that I still wanted one that was data capable so she gave me a ResMed S8 elite with the smart card. She told me I would never be able to get the software to use the smart card. I told her I have 'people'. Have you ever heard of such a thing. So they basically give you the machine and never do anything after that. I was so angry.

[elader]

I just got back from getting my cpap machine. I asked if the one they had for me was data capable and the technician said no. I told her I wanted one that was data capable and she said, "Why, the doctor never uses data." I asked how he knows that it is set correctly to work for what you need and she said he just goes by the way you feel! I told her that I still wanted one that was data capable so she gave me a ResMed S8 elite with the smart card. She told me I would never be able to get the software to use the smart card. I told her I have 'people'. Have you ever heard of such a thing. So they basically give you the machine and never do anything after that. I was so angry.

Angry, sure. Surprised? Nah.

[apnez]

There are a few reasons behind those attitudes...

1- Most probably both the DME and the doctor are not competent.

2- Most probably they are not interested by you but your money.

In both cases stay far from them. Find another doctor and DME.

[6PtStar]

Well, now you know if you change your pressure your Doctor won't be able to find out!!!!!!

Jerry

[BeanMeScot]

Well, now you know if you change your pressure your Doctor won't be able to find out!!!!!!

Jerry

Not surprised at all. No one has looked at my data but me! The doctors do a decent job of diagnosing apnea but they drop the ball on what to do afterward. That's why we encourage everyone to take charge of their own treatment. No one cares more about it than you do!

[DoriC]

Jerry, you must know our Dr. The first (and only)time we saw him, I brought him the first month's reports because his nurse told me he keeps the card reader in his "other office". After he spent nearly the whole appt looking at them like it was the first time he ever saw a report?, his only question was "what settings are you using?" After I answered him with a raised eyebrow(something is wrong here) , he gave me a thumbs up and told me "good job", see you in 3 months. So I too am not surprised by anything I hear, just angry as well.

[jdm2857]

Some doctors claim to not believe in data.

Not believe in data?

While medicine is part art and part science, the science part depends on data.

And as far as I'm concerned, if you believe in a doctor who doesn't believe in data, you might as well just believe in Tinkerbell.

[Guest]

Okay, so do I try and find another doctor or move to Neverland? Also, how do I get the softwear to read the data myself? I slept with the cpap on for 5 hours last night. Woke up with both of my hands completely numb. I guess I sleep with them under my pillow so than I couldn't go back to sleep so I took it off. I had an awful time falling to sleep but it had nothing to do with the machine. That is the main problem I have. No matter how tired I am it takes me hours (four last night) to fall asleep. What can I do to change this?

[cflame1]

What you want to look for RaggedyKat is "sleep hygiene".

And as for the software and all that... cpapaustrailia dot com for the software... try cpap dot com for the reader (I think).

[jdm2857]

You could also consider asking for a prescription for Ambien to help ease the transition to CPAP use. Ambien does not affect sleep stages the way many OTC sleep aids do.

[2flamingos]

Doctors reviewing data? I never heard of such a thing. But, then again, I never heard from my doctor after my titration! I got a call from DME telling me my machine was in. In almost 10 months since getting the machine, I have had 3 calls inquiring about compliance - and all they wanted was a verbal "yes" i have been using it, no numbers, no nothing - not even the compliance check number from the LCD.

My brother has been on CPAP sine 2000, and his experience has been pretty much the same - albeit different doctors, different sleep labs, and different DME's - and we live in the same city.

[raggedykat]

You could also consider asking for a prescription for Ambien to help ease the transition to CPAP use. Ambien does not affect sleep stages the way many OTC sleep aids do.

I will call my doctor right now and ask for it. Thanks!

[SaltLakeJan]

Hi raggdykat
Initially I shared your frustration that my sleep doc didn't seem interested in what was happening with my cpap - - it seemed his only interest was "How do you feel? I thought he was a poor excuse of a doctor and I was frustrated with his attitude. Much later I read Jeff's clear explanation of what sleep doctors really do-they diagnose and prescribe.

If your sleep doctor is like mine and the type that Jeff describes, we aren't going to change them. We can take our chances with another doctor, who may or may not be different. It is our choice, if we go or stay.

However, IMHO, the most imporant thing is that I found this forum, where kind strangers were willing to help me adjust to cpap therapy . After reading Jeff's post, my doctor wasn't as important, as the help I got from the willing members of Cpaptalk.com. I felt a lot happier when I wasn't being irritated by my doctor's non-action.

. And, that Johnny Goodman had provided a place where this help could take place.

jnk
I think it is important for us to understand how many doctors view things. There are exceptions to the rule, but I believe, as has been stated, that most sleep docs view treatment questions and machine questions as something they leave to the tech/therapists.

When a doc starts getting involved in the nuts and bolts of machines, he is crossing a line and stepping on toes. Docs diagnose and prescribe. That's what they do. They don't fill the prescription and they try not to get in the tech/therapists way.

If a doc in a hospital has a question about a machine, he asks someone who is paid to know about machines, because when it involves a machine, that's a "different union," as it were.

When you have a mechanical question about fixing your car, you don't ask the showroom people, you ask the mechanic. The showroom guy may have prescribed a car for you, but he will send you to the mechanic if you want details about whether it is running properly, or how to maintain it, unless he just happens to know more than most showroom people do.

You go to a sleep doc because you feel bad. He doesn't perform the study--there are people for that. Then he prescribes a machine and maybe a pressure. But most think that therapists are paid to take care of the therapy itself. The doc sees you again for you to tell him whether or not you feel better. Anything beyond that is, in his mind, likely something for you to take up with your therapist at the DME. All the doc wants to know is that what he prescribed is working, or else he may have to prescribe something else. But he won't get his hands dirty fiddling with the application of the previous prescription unless he is exceptional in his desire and understanding.

Think about it. Unless a doc specifically prescribes full-data machines, most of his patients are being handed non-data machines by the greedy DME people anyway. So few docs expect to even see any home-machine data from their patients beyond proof of compliance.

That is my impression of it all, anyway.

jeff

raggdykat, Jeff's thoughts may help you feel a bit better.
Jan










[/quote]

[millich]

Actually, 5 hours for your first night isn't bad at all. Pat yourself on the back for that and know that it *will* get better!