how to help a family member who wants try cpap

[fordjx4000]

hi everyone my grandma has asked me if she can try cpap for the night to see if she feels better
how do i help her

[JDS74]

I would be cautious in loaning your machine to your grandmother. You have it because you need it.
If you have a recording pulse-oximeter to loan, that would be better.

[herefishy]

Don't think she could tell much from one night - do you have a backup you could loan her for a week or two? If you don't have a backup you should.

[Stormynights]

You can not skip using your machine for any reason. Your grandmother may need to have a sleep study.

[Julie]

Plus she could have who knows what conditions that might not be best served by a random pressure setting on one night - could even be counterproductive - her best bet is her doctor.

[Jasonlboyd]

I am pretty new and don't have a lot of knowledge here, but what about a home sleep study to see how things go for her?

[ems]

Hi Ford... she needs to see her doctor. Even if she does have sleep apnea, the pressure you use might not be right for her. And, your mask might not fit her correctly, if at all.

[2 B Sleeping Soundly]

Hi fordx4000,

Though your heart is in the right place (no surprise to us who are fordx4000 fans here ) I must agree with the others here, some who have a lot more knowledge and experience than me, and encourage you to let your grandmother know that she needs to see a Doctor. As Jasonlboyd pointed out, they can do home a diagnostic test for sleep apnea. That is how I was diagnosed and it has been nothing short of a miracle for me since starting PAP therapy .

You don't say why you believe your grandmother might need to use a machine, but a Dr. is the place to start if you are concerned with her health and what symptoms she might be displaying or complaining about.

John

[cpapist]

Sounds like an excellent way to make ma a cpap hater for life.

Neither of you know enough to do this experiment.

[johnthomasmacdonald]

obviously an overnight sleep test is best. Also you can get a home test from 1.800.cpap.com for like $300. If your grandmother is on medicare i believe that they will cover a home test. However, if your grandmother wants to try it overnight i wouldn't give up your machine ( you need it ) - only use a backup if you have one. Alternatively she could use yours for a nap during the day - I'd set it at the lowest setting 4cm and then let the machine diagnose the number and type of apneas. I did this for a friend without insurance and it diagnosed moderate apnea and then with an auto bilevel cpap machine and the sleephead software he figured out the right range and he is one of those lucky ones who has been able to get his apnea into the 0-1 ahi zone without any further assistance - it's still not optimal in my opinion, but the health care system we have is the health care system that we have.

[Julie]

Hi - two things... starting her out at 4 will turn her off Cpap forever - no one at all can breathe at that # and far as I know no one's ever been prescribed '4' (except by doofus MD's who don't know what to do so do nothing and cross their fingers that the machine will titrate the patient - eventually, hopefully before they throw it away). Second thing, that kind of thing still won't address other problems she might have - e.g. a thyroid condition (very similar symptoms), some other resp. or neuro. problem, cardiac problems that need testing, etc. etc. Do both of you a favor and get her to a doctor, but skip the tryout for now.

[fordjx4000]

i let her try my system one cpap she hated it on a pressure rate of 6 to 9 cm

[Julie]

What did she hate - the pressure (as too much), or the mask as uncomfortable, possibly air leaking around the edge of the mask or out of her mouth (thereby wasting lots of Cpap air)? And was she asleep at all or trying to gauge things while awake? How you breathe when asleep is very different from breathing while awake.

[fordjx4000]

she said it was just veryuncomforable

[Julie]

Well if the mask was all wrong for her, or badly fitted, or she was unused to the pressure of air (without having been shown the ramp=up feature), etc. etc. I guess she might have been uncomfortable. That's the point of doing things thru 'channels' - you don't want to e.g. get her turned off Cpap (if she does turn out to need it) before she even gets started... best to let the pros deal with it... but certainly we understand that you were trying to be helpful. Quite honestly I don't know that it was such a good idea for your aunt (the older adult in the picture) to have asked you for help - to put you on the spot like that).