New here with a machine question or two

[Puzzles]

I am not new to CPAP, but I feel like a newbie – or maybe a sheep that has spent almost four years just plodding along and not taking any interest in or control of my treatment.

I used one of the GoodKnight machines for a couple of years until it died. I had moved to a new state and the old DME didn’t want to FedEx a machine to me and the local places wouldn’t look at it, so I bought a DeVilbiss online. I found a sleep doc here and had another PSG in October. The new doctor thought I should increase my machine pressure from 6 to 9 if I “want to.” She added that I could try it and back down if it was too great an adjustment and then increase pressure incrementally. Well, I was just gobsmacked, because it has never occurred to me to fiddle with any settings on my machine besides the humidity. Nobody has ever mentioned it to me before, and clearly I haven’t been curious. Doh!

This new doc was unfamiliar with my machine so she started leafing through the documentation I had. Honestly I never looked much past how to turn it on and off. All this time I have had a document saying “Important! Do not provide these setup instructions to the patient.” The new doctor thinks this is hilarious and that I need to come into the new century. She didn’t try to sell me anything or steer me to any particular DME.

Since CPAPs up and die, a backup machine is a good idea anyway. I paid for the DeVilbiss out of pocket and didn’t submit a claim to my insurance company, so I can get a new machine at any time. Is it worthwhile to get a fancy schmancy machine and start checking on my numbers after all this time? Can I actually make improvements to my treatment? More important, is there a possibility I will feel any better? Even after losing 80 pounds (and reducing pressure from 10 to 6) I still have severe OSA. Nothing is going to change that, I realize. But if I can feel better or sleep better or more effectively treat my condition, maybe I should.

[Lizistired]

Sounds like a good doc. Please edit you profile in the user control panel and list your equipment so it shows in your signature in text format.
Without it, we don't know what information your current machine provides.
Have you tried adjusting the pressure as she suggested?

[Puzzles]

Thanks for such a speedy reply. Yes, I increased the pressure and left it there. It bothered my ears the first couple of nights, but I have adjusted to it. I had a lot of sneezing and so upped the heat on the humidifier, which helped tremendously with the sneezing but not with my dry mouth. I guess I need to break out the chin strap. I already have the mask headgear and an eye shade, so I'm in no rush to add anything to my head that will upset the delicate balance, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Unless anyone has a better idea?

[Lizistired]

Please edit you profile in the user control panel and list your equipment so it shows in your signature in text format.
Without it, we don't know what information your current machine provides.

[Puzzles]

Now I am confused. I did add a signature which lists my equipment. It shows up for me. Now, what do I need to do to make it visible to YOU?

[Pugsy]

Now I am confused. I did add a signature which lists my equipment. It shows up for me. Now, what do I need to do to make it visible to YOU?

I see it in your signature line. Small print and not the normal area we usually look at. Look at the bottom of my post here and you will see how mine shows. Not a deal breaker but it is just nice to have it in normal spot that we are used to.

Here's how if you want to do it that way. wiki/index.php/Registering_Equipment_in_User_Profile

[Pugsy]

I paid for the DeVilbiss out of pocket and didn’t submit a claim to my insurance company, so I can get a new machine at any time. Is it worthwhile to get a fancy schmancy machine and start checking on my numbers after all this time? Can I actually make improvements to my treatment? More important, is there a possibility I will feel any better?

Depending on the model of your current machine there may be software available to see your results now.

Will you feel better with a new machine with new settings and access to the fancy data (assuming you need them)? Unfortunately that is unknown. Sometimes even with the most perfect of reports on paper we still feel like total crap but at least we know that part of the therapy is well treated and can move on to investigate other possible culprits.

[Puzzles]

Will you feel better with a new machine with new settings and access to the fancy data (assuming you need them)? Unfortunately that is unknown. Sometimes even with the most perfect of reports on paper we still feel like total crap but at least we know that part of the therapy is well treated and can move on to investigate other possible culprits.

Ah, Pugsy, there is that whole feels like crap aspect, isn't there? Who does benefit from that information, people with higher pressures than mine? People with more complications? I have no clue. I would love the Intro to CPAP Data course. Can somebody tell me in simple terms what the information is, who benefits from it, and how you use it? Like many here, I have more than one iron in the fire and it might be helpful to be able to sort the fly poop from the pepper, so to speak, and tease out small useful bits of information. But maybe not?

[Pugsy]

there is that whole feels like crap aspect, isn't there? Who does benefit from that information, people with higher pressures than mine?

Pressure needs are irrelevant when comparing your needs to mine or anyone else except perhaps just from the pure comfort and ease of adjustment. I bow my head in awe to those newbies that start out with pressures above 15 and adjust quickly.
Pressure needs don't dictate severity of the apneas nor the damage to the body.
Someone could need only 6 cm to effectively address there OSA yet have a quite severe diagnosis of say 80 events per hour and desats to 60%. Someone might need 15 cm of pressure and have a rather mild diagnosis of 12 events per hour and no desats or still even have desats to 60%.

When I first started therapy May 2009 I felt horrible..got the software and saw that my treated AHI was still in the 10 range. Not horrible on paper but I sure felt horrible. So I did some tweaking with the pressures and got my AHI down to less than 5 and felt better but not the "I am a new woman" great. I think those people that have that miracle are extremely lucky. I was great on paper but not so great in real life. I had other issues that messed with my quality of sleep..pain being the main one. Lots of fragmented sleep due to wake ups each time I moved in bed. So with meds and a new bed I improved my quality of sleep and decreased the wake ups.
Saw some improvement in how I felt day to day but still no "I am a new woman" feeling. I resigned myself to "this is as good as it gets for me" and it wasn't horrible by any means. No more 10 trips a night to pee and no more killer headaches every single day and some general improvement in my energy levels. Need to nap decreased in the sense that I no longer woke up at 7 AM and was falling asleep by 10 AM.

So I was better but not "new woman". I so much wanted to feel the "new woman" thing. I recently stumbled across something that has got me real close to the "new woman" thing. I have documented it here if you are bored and want to read my story. viewtopic/t71442/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=71 ... te#p656179

I sense that you also feel that you aren't having the "new woman" feeling and want to know if you can even get there. All I can say is that we start with the known and try to optimize it as best we can (the OSA monitored by the software reports) and if it is good on paper then we look at other things. If it isn't good on paper then we at least have something to work on to see if improvement helps. Having all the data available helps us determine if things are at least good on paper.

So yeah, I think having a new fancy machine that shows me all the available data will at least give me a place to start in my quest for "feeling like a new woman". It doesn't guarantee it but it helps eliminate possible bumps in my therapy. I then can feel like I have given it the best chance that I have been able to give it. I don't have to wonder "what if" anymore. I have never begrudged any money I have spent upgrading my machines to give me more data even if I didn't get the miracle. I don't have to "what if" because I know I have done all that I know to do to make things better and sometimes some of us don't get to wake up feeling half our age.
I am pushing 60 yrs old with a broken down body eat up with arthritis and even without OSA I wouldn't wake up feeling like I was 25 again. Kind of unrealistic of me to expect it but I sure hoped for it.

[Puzzles]

Yes, I'd love to wake up and feel 25 again, but figure the odds of that. I have just found out that we have money left in our medical reimbursement fund that will be lost if not spent by the end of the year. I'm thinking the copay for a new CPAP and some new eyeglasses should just about take care of it.

Now to explore the fancy pants machines and see what all the excitement is. You know, I have always just gone with mediocre everything, and when I do splurge on something I am always surprised at the improvement. Doh! I hope that trend continues and I am at least more comfortable with a nicer machine. It would be great to be a bit more comfortable at night and miraculous if I could feel better during the day too.

[Pugsy]

Make sure the new machine you are getting is a full data machine and not just hours of use machine. Both will have SD cards.

You say you want ResMed S9 so

ResMed S9 Elite or ResMed S9 AutoSet both offer full data.

Don't get stuck with a ResMed S9 Escape or the ResMed S9 Escape Auto...Escape...means that SD card only gathers hours of use and you have a clock to tell you that.. useless information. Technically they do gather data, just not much data.
If using insurance money then hours of use is needed to satisfy insurance requirements and often DME will tell you that is all the data that is needed..wrong... A full data machine will give the DME the hours of use they need and the other full data that you need.

So make sure your money is buying you want you want and need....don't let them try to sneak one of the Escape models by you. Some DMEs will do that because the Escape is much cheaper to them so they make more money on it.