Questions on a REMstar Machine?

SnorySnorington · Post by **SnorySnorington** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 1:59 pm

Hi fellow sleepy or {non-sleepy people depending on if your CPAP is working}...i have a question.I bought a REMstar model:1018547 Pro E cflex from a guy off craigslist {yeah no insurance}.It was pretty much unused and had the hose,mask {with nasal pillows},and carrying case.My questions were A:How the heck do i set the pressure lower?it's set at 12 and about blows my head off.I found using the ramp feature 7 or 8 is the perfect setting for me to fall asleep with. B:the display screen when turned "off" showed a number 187.6 on it last night, now it's showing 190.5 what does that number signify?Any help would be awesome, I ended up tearing it off my head after a couple hours because i felt like i was drowning,and when i woke up in the AM i felt worse than EVER before.

Vader · Post by **Vader** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:05 pm

There are many questions that need to be answered, before you can get all the help you need.

First of all, did you do a sleep study? if so, what pressure was prescribed for you?

SnorySnorington · Post by **SnorySnorington** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:10 pm

I did have a sleep study done, and i seem to remember no "definite" number was ever reached,but i know when they did the testing it was less than 12 for sure.I walked out of the sleep study..i couldn't fall asleep with cameras and voice recorders monitoring me or the glue in my hair..the stupid nurse at Kaiser said i had more of an insomnia problem, but i assured her it was not..

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:13 pm

Snory---you have to start getting serious about your medical condition and wise up. Sleep apnea isn't a joke. Sure, eventually someone will post instructions here "trying to help" about how to "self-titrate" your device (eye roll) but you should go back and talk to your doctor.

Untreated OSA can kill you.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:18 pm

Guest wrote:Snory---you have to start getting serious about your medical condition and wise up. Sleep apnea isn't a joke. Sure, eventually someone will post instructions here "trying to help" about how to "self-titrate" your device (eye roll) but you should go back and talk to your doctor.

Untreated OSA can kill you.

You're absolutely right, Guest. Untreated OSA can kill you.

It looks to me like SnorySnorington is serious about his medical condition and is trying to do something about it. People may have different ideas about how effective the way he intends to go about it is, but he's certainly trying to do more for himself than a person would who is not taking it seriously.

Thinking about this:

SnorySnorington wrote:{yeah no insurance}

That can make it a little difficult for a person to go to a doctor ($$) or go back to a doctor ($$.)

Sleep deprived people probably react differently to circumstances. Sticking out the sleep study would have been better than walking out. But since that's what happened, I think it's better that SnorySnorington is at least still pursuing treatment. Not just quitting completely. Looks to me like he is taking it seriously, whether others agree or not with the approach he's taking now.

imho, it's not the worst approach he could choose to do at this point: "{yeah no insurance}" Better that he's trying to get some treatment going for himself than doing nothing further at all.

An autopap and the software for it, or at least a cpap that can give full data (not just hours of use) with the software would be the best way to go that route.

Powerpoint presentation at a meeting of the American Lung Association of the Central Coast - November 2004 (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.)
That link gives excellent reasons presented by a board certified sleep doctor who advocates that some patients who have obvious signs of OSA should be put directly on autopaps (auto-titrating cpap) without having to go through a PSG sleep study.

Even people with a straight cpap and no software have shown they can successfully arrive at an effective treatment pressure:
Can Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Titrate Their Own Continuous Positive Airway Pressure?

Excerpt from the study:
In summary, this study demonstrates that self-titration of CPAP in patients with OSA is as efficacious as manual titration in a sleep laboratory, with similar subjective and objective outcomes. Clearly, for this strategy to be successful, the patient must understand when and how to change the CPAP. Although the patient population studied did include a wide age range, this strategy would not be feasible for intellectually disadvantaged patients and those with physical handicaps that would severely limit vision and/or manual dexterity. Nonetheless, the findings from this study imply that routine overnight polysomnography is unnecessary for the purpose of CPAP titration in many patients with OSA, provided that the patient is given some basic education and support.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:29 pm

Rested Gal---will you marry me? LOL
P.S. nononono

Questions on a REMstar Machine?

Questions on a REMstar Machine?

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