Are there any doctors here?

[imbart]

All these people and posts. Are there any doctors or sleep techs or even respiratory techs on this forum? An RN perhaps?

[Julie]

There are at least a couple of both I believe, but what there are many of are people with apnea and other related sleep diagnoses who have become very knowledgable about their problems and who can be incredibly helpful to the rest of us who are still learning after years here. If you go to the lightbulb at the top of the page and look at all the links you'll find an amazing amount of information, plus just browse the postings and see what the issues are and how people are handling them.

Your complaint about not finding therapy to be effective is common and there are various ways to deal with it, not the least of which is making sure you have the right mask for you, along with a lot of other helpful advice. If you can describe as well as possible what you experience, what your settings are, your equipment with its full name, whether or not you sleep under similar circumstances every night (i.e. times, whether or not you exercise, eat or drink for certain times before bed, if you have issues with nasal problems, or claustrophobia in the mask) and what other medical problems you have, as well as whether you take medication and whether or not you use software to track your own progress, would all be helpful in letting us be able to advise you.

Please go to the User Control Panel under the Cpap logo, then click on Profile and fill in all the information requested as well as you can, using text vs 'icons' and then you'll see under every post you make that the rest of us can see the information and have something to go by to try and help.

[LSAT]

All these people and posts. Are there any doctors or sleep techs or even respiratory techs on this forum? An RN perhaps?

Just like you....many people do not identify themselves.

[Mike6977]

.

I am Spartacus.

But not from the isle of SDB.

Why not just ask a question? .MDs do NOT have a lock a the correct answers here, not even close.

.

[DoriC]

I know there are several RNs who come here as uninformed as most newbies and need lots of help getting started.There are a few Drs too who are sometimes very informative. As LSAT said, there may be more who don't wish to identify themselves. When my husband was in the hospital I had to give an in-service to the day and night shift nurses on the use of Mike's cpap machine and mask, even one of the RTs from Respiratory Therapy came down because she had never seen Mike's particular machine although it's been around since 2007-8 I believe.

[JohnBFisher]

... even one of the RTs from Respiratory Therapy came down because she had never seen Mike's particular machine although it's been around since 2007-8 I believe. ...

The smart doctors and medical professionals will admit the industry is moving faster than any single person can keep up. My doctor admitted she had never heard of an ASV machine and had only once helped a patient with a BiPAP unit. As I explained to her, once the RT set the pressure correctly, you used it much the same as a BiPAP unit. Though, I also admitted the highly variable and high pressure does make it a bit more "interesting".

To the OP, remember that those doctors and medical professionals who are on the board are VERY reluctant to interfere with the normal doctor patient relationship. Even those of us, who are laymen and have lots of experience, you will find tend to recommend discussing a situation with your doctor. Though we offer our own experience, that should only help you decide on how to discuss the situation with your doctor - not replace the doctor.

Why? Of course there are liability issues. But more importantly, you and your doctor should develop a good working relationship. That should include an open exchange of information and recommendations. Doing the research to clarify your experience is a valid step. But it should include a discussion with your doctor.

[archangle]

binarysleep.com is a little more oriented towards sleep professionals.

I'll say they're not as friendly towards patients, especially patients who want to treat themselves, adjust their own pressure, etc.

They're worth reading. Don't believe everything you hear there. Don't believe everything you hear here, either.

[rosiefrosie]

Just because there are doctors or nurses on a site like this does not mean they know everything about sleep issues. I am an RN, but the area I work in has nothing to do with apnea and other sleep problems. Those of us in the medical profession can not know everything there is to know in all areas of medical practice. I have learned a great deal from this site from people who have OSA and other sleep issues. Who better to learn from?

Rosie

[imbart]

So thats a no then?

[JohnBFisher]

So thats a no then?

I see you carefully read the responses.

The answer is YES, they are here. There are doctors and nurses and respiratory therapists who visit (and sometimes) contribute. But they do so as patients and not as a doctor/nurse/RT for us. This is a forum for users, by users, to help users.

[jnk]

Some of the professionals who read this forum only post when they happen to notice one of us patients inadvertently saying something particularly misleading or dangerous.

Other than that, the most important rule of this forum remains the one posted at the bottom of every page:

The information provided on this site is not intended nor recommended as a substitute for professional medical advice.

That is true even when the information in any particular post here happens to be provided by someone who is a professional in the industry or some related field.