please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sierra21]

i have been on the hose off and on for the past three months. it is a rough road getting used to it . and i work as a emt so i am on a 48 hour schedule and i dont take my cpap to work becouse i am up half the nighr most of the time. i have been more caplaint using the cpap all night and every night that i am home. i have been feeling worse when i use the cpap then when i dont. last night i woke up to the machine turning itself on, and the machine is far enough away so i know i didnt turn it off i was wondering if it had turned it self off. and can someone help me find out why i am still feeling worse using the cpap then not using it . the little data that i do get from the machine says my 90% prseeure is 9.8. i think the range that they set it to was 5-10 thanks for any help you can give me

[Julie]

Try setting the machine to something like 8 and 11 or even 12, as there is no point in setting it so much lower than your average pressure (and I would think your prescribed pressure is more than 5!).

[sierra21]

how do i change pressure

[mars]

Hi Sierra21

I suggest you change the title of your thread to something like -

How Can I Change Pressure on PR System One REMstar Auto CPAP

You go to your first post, enter "edit" and make the change to the thread title, then submit.

This post will bump it up, but if necessary you can bump it up yourself.

I also suggest you use the machine whenever you can, even if it is only for a short time. Or if that is impossible, see if you can get an oximeter which would wake you up if you were having decreased oxygen levels.

cheers

Mars

[lbw]

Feeling more tired is your body adjusting. Most likely using it intermittently is causing you more problems. As a former shift worker that in itself causes sleep problems. I don't go anyware without my machine. Maybe look at getting a spare for work. I don't even take a nap without mine. Good luck

[jonquiljo]

You may have the "mask on" activation turned on ( don't remember the exact name of it) - if so, then you need to turn it off. If the machine thinks your mask is off it will turn itself off - and vice-versa. It shouldn't just shut off on its own and if you put the mask on without turning on the machine - you would definitely know it.

Either way, you will need software to read and analyze the SD data that will tell you what is happening when you have the thing on. Adjusting an auto is tricky if you don't know what is happening while you are using it. The upper limit of 10 seems low, only because if you don't need it - the machine will never go there - but if you do need it, the machine will go higher.

You have a good machine - so it seems as if you just need to add software and do some "patient self-management". The people here are excellent resources -better than anyone I have ever spoken to (professional or not). So keep on posting and asking questions. It worked for me.

[trike-mike]

I would also strongly suggest you take the machine to work and use there as well. My sleep doc told me that I should use it even for naps and do just as lbw suggested.

My machine is set up with Auto-on (so I have the choice of settling before I put the mask on or whatever) and Auto-off with Mask alert turned on (getting now so that it will often wake me beeping at me if it is off and if it doesn't, the machine doesn't sit there blowing air to the room in general.

Regardless, I would recommend you at least get Encore Viewer so you can get some significant data to help you see what is going on.

[jweeks]

i work as a emt so i am on a 48 hour schedule and i dont take my cpap to work becouse i am up half the nighr most of the time.

Hi,

Being an EMT, I suspect that you are familiar with blood oxygen levels. I also suspect that you have access to an oximeter to read O2 levels. I'd like to suggest that you try an experiment--try running an oximeter on yourself while you sleep without your machine. You will probably be shocked by what you see. I think it would only take one look at your O2 levels for you to be convinced that you should probably never attempt to sleep without using your machine.

-john-