confused by the terms people use

[Teresa55]

I'm sorry, I feel like a complete moron when I'm reading some of these posts. Just a couple of them are centrals,AHl or 1, lower numbers,upper numbers, etc.... I'm 56 yrs. OLD and I have used the CPAP for about 15 yrs. We, to my knowledge, do not have any sleep dr.s. We have a place to go for sleep study but that's it. I have had only 2 machines until recently and the first 2 were both Horizon LT. I'm now using a healthdyne something, that I was blessed with by another forum member. I have never,though, in the 15 yrs. ever heard any of these terms. So, yep, I'm highly confused. Thanks for listening

[user from Singapore]

Maybe you should start here wiki/index.php/Category:CPAP_Definitions
There are quite a lot of terms defined there.

[Julie]

Hi - is there something specific you don't understand and want to?

What would be very helpful is if you click on the 'user control panel' just under the main logo, then go to 'Profile' and fill out the complete name + model # (using 'text' instead of 'icons') of your machine and your mask, as well as prescribed pressure setting numbers, which will automatically appear under all your future postings so we can all see what's what and help you better (look at the blue writing under everyone else's stuff).

There is so much to learn, so having at least something to go by as above would really help narrow down the situation.

[jnk]

I'm sorry, I feel like a complete moron when I'm reading some of these posts.

I remember having that same feeling when I first started reading a lot here.

And I still occasionally get that exact feeling any time I want to just by going back to read some of the deeper posts that have been made by long-time members on this board over the years.

I'm not sure that feeling ever goes away completely when learning about a medical subject that so little is known about, such as sleep.

Education in these matters can be painful, but it is one of the true benefits of this forum that can pay off the more we put into it, I think.

[Pugsy]

Besides the Wiki link you were given to look at you might find that Robysue's sleep study explanation might help you.
It starts with the basics of why we are on these machines.
http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blog ... -test.html
I also have a link to software glossary that has some terms that the Wiki doesn't. That link is in my signature lower left bottom of this post.

Your Healthdyne machine won't be shown in the equipment choice. That machine is pretty old and all the equipment choices are machines that cpap.com either sells or has sold in the past. Cpap.com never sold those machines as they were offered long before cpap.com came into business.
You could add it to comments line though. That is what we do when we use something that is not offered in the drop down lists for equipment choices.

Huge learning curve with all these terms. It took me 3 days to figure out what DME means.
Keep reading and re-reading and it does sink in.
Welcome to the forum.

[The Choker]

I'm sorry, I feel like a complete moron when I'm reading some of these posts. Just a couple of them are centrals,AHl or 1, lower numbers,upper numbers, etc....

It's a conspiracy so that we can feel smug when we are among the masses.

I was with a group last week who kept talking about a colleague who was going for a "stomach wrap" surgery. The phrase was mentioned several times and finally several people said they did not know what a "stomach wrap" is. You could see from the looks on faces that no one else knew.

Thanks to reading cpaptalk I was able to announce, "It is not a stomach wrap. It is a Nissen fundoplication."

My smug factor will stay high for about ten days.

[jnk]

Rarely does a week go by that I am not researching one sleep-related term or another.

For example, this week, for me, it is "SOREMPs."

[BlackSpinner]

When I first came on it was "compliant" that did it to me. It all sounded like I was at some sort of gospel or AA meeting at first until someone explained it to me that it had to do with insurance.

[chunkyfrog]

Welcome, Teresa.
I am 65, and found this forum while researching CPAP equipment on the internet, as I suspected I had sleep apnea; and already knew my husband did. Our treatment and comfort is significantly better than it would have been had we gone with the program laid out for us by "health professionals" who did not have our health and comfort as their number one priority.
Veterans like you, who have been compliant in spite of the abuses of the DME cash cow system are to be commended.
No doubt we can learn from you, and we hope to be of whatever assistance we can.
Please feel free to read, read, read.

[DiverCTHunter]

Huge learning curve with all these terms. It took me 3 days to figure out what DME means.
Keep reading and re-reading and it does sink in.
Welcome to the forum.

That's D*mn Moneygrubbers - Evil, right?

[sleepycarol]

AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index) is the number of apneas and hypopneas per hour. Or an index for sleep apnea. 5-20 mild, 21-50 moderate, above 50 severe. The WIKI above can explain it better.

Central apnea is where our brains misfire and we do not get the message to breathe. Complex sleep apnea is a combination of both obstructive and central sleep apnea. Most of us have obstructive sleep apnea where our airways collaspe and using a cpap helps keep our airways open.

[Pugsy]

Pugsy wrote:Huge learning curve with all these terms. It took me 3 days to figure out what DME means.
Keep reading and re-reading and it does sink in.
Welcome to the forum.



That's D*mn Moneygrubbers - Evil, right?

That works. Funny thing is I knew what DME was as in durable medical equipment...just didn't make the correlation to using the term for the provider of such equipment.
I did fire my first choice for a DME too. Never even got to the moneygrubber part. They wouldn't even listen to me and talked down to me and ordered the most basic of F & P machines without even consulting me (which I didn't want F & P anyway). They didn't try hard to keep my business. I imagine they thought I might be a PITA patient and they would likely have been correct. No one ever talks down to me...I spout fire out of my eyes and mouth (usually 4 letter words) to go along with my red hair.

I spent hours and hours every day for probably 2 weeks reading all the basic stuff here before I had a good grasp as to just the basics even with my medical background. I also asked a lot of questions so to the OP here...don't be afraid to ask questions if something needs clarification. That is why we are here....to help clear up what is unclear.