Lost weight and having issues

[DarkSideOfTheMoon]

Hi All,
I have lost about 62 lbs in the last few months (yippee) and I think my pressure setting is too high now. I have a DeVilbiss Intellipap and the pressure is set at 15. I have some more weight to lose and I can't afford another sleep study right now so I went on here and found a way to the clinician menu (thanks to you smarties).

I switched it from CPAP to Auto-adjust with a range from 5 - 20 and a 5 minute delay for falling asleep. Last night was the first time I tried it on the new settings. I also tried and experiment and I breathed out my mouth for a minute in my nasal mask. The machine didn't respond or change settings. When I checked http://www.intellipap.com this morning to see how it went, it said the pressure stayed at 5 all night. That doesn't seem right to me.

I would love to hear your thoughts or from people who have the same system and use it on the auto-adjust. Of course my DME provider won't give me the software but I am able to check basic info on the website listed above. Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,
Cathy

[scrapper]

That's a pretty wide range to titrate........I think I'd work with something a smaller range. I always found that my body doesn't respond consistently to changes for about 10 days, although most say wait a week. I have ResMed equip, but assume the titration ranges and physical responses are the same, regardless of brand.

Congrats on the weight loss.......I'm green with envy

[Reddwarf]

I don't know enough to answer your questions, but I do want to say congrats on the weight loss! How did you do it?

Great Album by he way!

[DarkSideOfTheMoon]

Thank you both!!!

I had a Duodenal Switch. It's a great form of weight loss surgery. Best thing I ever did for myself and my health besides CPAP therapy. You can see what it's about at http://www.dsfacts.com or http://www.duodenalswitch.com if you are interested. I'm hoping I can get off CPAP altogether but if not, I'm just so happy to have a solution to the exhaustion I suffered with for 26 years before my diagnosis (AHI was 95.2).

Cheers,
Cathy

[ozij]

Hi Cathy,
I'd check the machine's setup again.

But also:
Remember THIS?

Hi CPapers! Here are some of the stats on my sleep study.
RDI 95.2 (Apnea Index 44.4, mean duration 22.3, longest 38.7 and Hypopnea Index 50.8, mean duration 27, long 47.9) Are these numbers really bad?
Minimum oxygen saturation was 88%, never made it past stage 2 sleep until CPAP was started.
So, I saw that I was diagnosed with Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Alveolar Hypoventilation. When I looked up Alveolar Hypoventilation I FREAKED OUT!!!!!! I saw the words rare, no cure, fatal if untreated and I started to panic. I can't read anymore. I am hoping this is weight related only and not as bad as what I read (I'm having gastric bypass in a few months). They only have Primary or Central Alveolar Hypoventilation so I'm not sure if it is the same. Can anyone shed light on this? PLEASE!!

And THIS?:

Hi All,
I posted my first 2 days experiences earlier. I also had mentioned that I had an Aveolar Hypoventilation diagnosis that scared the daylights out of me when I read what it meant on the internet. I did end up calling the sleep doctor. She said that it was nothing to panic over and that it will justify to insurance if I end up needing a biPap later. PHEW! We had a long talk about my study. gastric bypass, long term effects, etc. I felt totally relieved.

Obesity related hypoventilation
http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-934 ... xt#section

Weight loss
The ideal treatment for obesity hypoventilation syndrome is weight loss, which improves most of the physiologic abnormalities thought to be involved in the pathogenesis and ultimately leads to the restoration of daytime eucapnia.7, 18, 38

Weight loss of at least 10 kg results in a significant improvement in vital capacity and maximum voluntary ventilation, and a significant reduction in daytime Paco2.38 Although data are limited, weight loss has also been shown to significantly increase central ventilatory drive as measured by the diaphragmatic electromyogram response to carbon dioxide inhalation.38 In patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome and concurrent obstructive sleep-apnea hypopnea syndrome, weight loss reduced the number of sleep-disordered breathing events (apneas and hypopneas), decreased the severity of desaturation associated with any residual apneas, and led to the resolution of the daytime hypercapnia.63

I'm not doctor, and not attempting to diagnose you. I'm only saying the given the above info, it is not unreasonable to see the DeVilbiss staying at 5.

Assuming you made no changes in the DeVilbiss' various respons sensitivities, and that you have no events t it is not improbable that obesity related hypoventilation may have resolved itsself with your almost 30Kg weight loss.

It it were me, I'd let the DeVilbiss do its job on auto for another week, track how I feel, and if it stayed on 5 for a week with no breathing evnets, I'd ask for a new sleep study now.

O.

[DarkSideOfTheMoon]

That would be great if it was reduced to only 5. A few nights I had horrible nasal congestion and took off my mask. My husband said he hadn't HEARD me snore so maybe I have made a significant improvement. Thanks so much for the reply, info and advice. I'll do just that!

Cheers,
Cathy

[ozij]

Keep us posted!
O.

[Gerryk]

That kind of weight loss can make a significant different in your OSA.
Double check the machine settings again and give it another go.

Gerry