Brand new user

[jimmer24]

Hi all,
Brand new here. I'm a 60 year old guy who has recently been diagnosed with sleep apnea. I have a respironics remaster plus C-Flex cpap with respironics system one heated humidifier. My mask is a mirage liberty full face with nasal pillows. My problem is that I am drying out. I thought that turning the humidifier up would give more moisture but from what I have read here tonight I think that I was mistaken. It appears that turning it up will increase the heat which is what I think has been waking me up at night. I will try turning it back down tonight when I try to sleep and see if it helps. Just want to say thank you for the insight, I have no one to talk to who knows anything about this including my doctor. Thanks again. Jimmer24

[bayourest]

yes, stick with this forum and you will get so much help. welcome!

[jedimark]

Welcome jimmer24, you've come to the right place.

What your experiencing is pretty normal with CPAP treatment.. It will take a while to get used to.. The key is persistence and being proactive about your treatment.

It takes a while finding the right humidifier settings, and they change throughout the year.. Room temperature and external humidity have a lot of bearing on the outcome.. It can also run in passive mode (humidifier switched off) when turned down to zero. Turn it up to high and you can get "Rainout" which is not pleasant.

Warmer air sometimes feels harder to breath, but the moisture content is there..

Your using a full face mask, so it's not your mouth hanging open drying you out.. You could be getting leaks still, which doesn't help matters..
EDIT: I was thinking of a different mask.. Those ones look cool. Leaks may still be a problem.

I think your machine is tagged wrong.. that ones an old model. By the sounds of it you've been given a System One "Plus" model, which unfortunately translates to a Minus around here: I think your machines only stores compliance data to the SD card.. (Being able to track your progress with software is really beneficial and helps solve problems getting started)

Have a look underneath carefully (pull your water tank out first) and check the model number.. 150P I think is the plus models code. If this is the case, talk to your DME/provider/whatever and see if you can swap it for a data capable machine..

[mayondair]

Hello jimmer welcome. If the machine you list is indeed what your DME has foisted off on you try and get it swapped ASAP. The longer you have it the harder it will be to get a different one. It only shows compliance data, not efficacy. Having Leak, AHI, etc will make a big difference in your therapy. Having efficacy data will allow you to monitor and tweak without expensive visits to sleep labs and docs. Look for Janknitz, she has links to her excellent blog in her signature, good links there for dealing with DMEs. Do your homework, decide which machine you want and remember you are the customer. Insurance usually pays the same by code for any machine, from a dumb brick to the best fully data capable auto pap. It's sad to say but a lot of DMEs are a bit like used car salesmen( not meant to disparage used car salesmen ). As for dryness, if your mask is leaking( no way to know without data) that could be causing dryness, as well compromising your therapy. Soft wear for Phillips Respironics machines is readily available , Encore Viewer. 99$ from our hosts or other online sources, Encore Pro, just search or ask , and new programs Sleepyhead and Onkor, being developed by forum members, ( ask or look around) you ve come to the right place, lotsof help here, just ask! kathy

[Pugsy]

The PR System One machines offer 2 modes of humidification.
New mode uses sensors and adjusts things as the sensors dictate. I found this mode uses less water overnight.

Classic mode (I think it is called) is the old way with just strictly heat added to make more water evaporate into the air going into the hose. You will use a lot more water with increase in number choice. Also greatly increases chance of condensation in hose and mask.

Changing of humidifier modes can be done from the clinician menu. The clinician manual explains it in better detail.
You can request clinician manual here. Be sure that the request says PR System One..... directions are near bottom of page.
http://www.apneaboard.com/CPAP%20Adjustment.htm

I can help with software options but you will need to have a full data machine to see any worthwhile data.
The Plus may have a SD card but the only data it will hold is how many hours the machine was used.

[jimmer24]

hi guys,
It says remax plus 250p I am hoping that is the newer data capable unit of which you speak. I sure do appreciate all of your input as, like I said I know no one who knows anything about this. I have in 2 days learned more right here than my doctor or the sleep study people or anyone I know has told me in the weeks of testing and diagnosis and initial cpap treatment. Thank you all once again for the help, maybe if I keep at it I can become proficient. I tried turning down the humidifier last night, it helped a little but I still dried out a bit and couldn't wear the mask all night. I also tightened up the straps a bit and eliminated most if not all of the leaks. I am trying but here is what i see. I couldn't sleep, now they gave me a noisy thing that blows air in my nose and has straps around my head and hampers me when I move and it is supposed to help me sleep??? Oh well, I guess like everything else it is a matter of getting used to it. Lord knows I have had to get used to a lot of things in my lifetime, what is one more lol. Thanks again. Talk more tomorrow. Jimmer24

[Pugsy]

It says remax plus 250p I am hoping that is the newer data capable unit of which you speak.

Your profile points to an old and discontinued machine. Look at it and look at your machine.

I suspect you have this machine. In the equipment tab drop down menu scroll down till you see stuff starting with
PR System One Remstar......
https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/respi ... cflex.html
This is the 250 model. Only data it offers is hours of use.

For worthwhile data the model number needs to be either 450 for the CPAP Pro or 550 for the Auto CPAP.

You might want to read this about what to do when the machine doesn't offer data. You are so new into this that perhaps you could get your DME to swap it out for full data machine.
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/