changing pressure settings on my machine

[Guest]

just takes one, bud

[JayC]

I am keeping manual notes...and adding things that I suspect may be affecting the insomnias and sleep quality as well....

What I want is some sense of what the machine thinks about my night so I could track the two at once in my journal.

My sleep doc spent an hour with me on the initial visit going over the graphics from my sleep study and explaining in great detail what it showed. While I suspect he will continue to be very approachable and thorough, I am not sure how one goes through months of data for the tracking I want to do. Like, do my high pressures relate to the nights I kept having kinks in the hose?

Does the smart data he'll receive before our next appointment drill down to each night, or is it more trends at that point?

J

Other than Hours Used, Usage, and Software type, I have no current ability to see any other data. Instructions show lots of info possible.

I want to be able to relate how I feel when I get up to what the results say for that night. .....<snip edited for space
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APAP

You could start a journal. That would be an easy way to keep track of results of how the night went. That is what I am doing. I am trying some different things right now with the CPAP so I am tracking results daily on the computer.

[jnk]

I will spare dreamstalker, the forum, and the world, the story of the time I got hurt changing the pressure in my car's tires.

[Wulfman]

I will spare dreamstalker, the forum, and the world, the story of the time I got hurt changing the pressure in my car's tires.

And, one needs to check and know the pressure on both......vehicle tires and XPAP machines.

I had to change a tire on my drive-to-work car last Sunday.......my slow leak had gotten quite a bit faster and it was getting flat.

Den

[Snoredog]

[quote="azdj"]Some people do need to be careful about pressure changes. For example, in my sleep studies, a lower pressure actually caused central episodes to appear and my oxygen saturation and index were actually worse on cpap and bipap than without them - so using the machine at the wrong pressure was actually worsening my sleep apnea! at a pressure of 14 over 10, it cleared up both obstructive and central apneas. Even a change to 12 over 8 started causing more problems with the central apneas!

So I am all for people taking control of their health - just don't do yourself more harm if you are not positive of what the changes might do.

[DreamStalker]

Some people do need to be careful about pressure changes. For example, in my sleep studies, a lower pressure actually caused central episodes to appear and my oxygen saturation and index were actually worse on cpap and bipap than without them - so using the machine at the wrong pressure was actually worsening my sleep apnea! at a pressure of 14 over 10, it cleared up both obstructive and central apneas. Even a change to 12 over 8 started causing more problems with the central apneas!

So I am all for people taking control of their health - just don't do yourself more harm if you are not positive of what the changes might do.

and the harm caused from those centrals were??

Hmmm ... have we unknowingly been communicating with people on the other side?

[Snoredog]

Snoredog - what do you know? How can YOU make such irresponsible random statements about how adjusting pressure "couldn't possibly" affect you? Do YOU know the medical history of every patient you, again, irresponsibly encourage to set their own pressure by providing instructions? What if this guy is a COPD patient that can't tolerate certain pressures? What about a Cheyne-Stokes patient? Yeah, great, change your pressure but don't facilitate it with others you don't know!

We have a lot of people come by here with COPD some even members, and some with CSR, somehow they all seem to do much better after coming here and getting suggestions and answers to their questions they could never get from the professional jerks like yourself.

[crossfit]

Thanks thedean, for being so worried about me. I adjusted my settings up to 5 last night and had a much better night. Interesting, my total AHI went DOWN from the night before when I was at 4. (note - I am wide open with 4-20 because I haven't had a titration study and doc simply didn't know but wanted me to have some sort of treatment). I believe that is because the machine can reach the pressure of 10 or 11 that I seem to need faster from the 5 than from the 4.

I thought long and hard about changing the settings. I looked deeply at the two posts regarding it in the yellow lightbuld area and considered my data from the night before. This was NOT something done lightly.

In fact, I don't think most people who are agressive enough about their therapy to learn how to do this, change things lightly. I actually found a study that showed compared people who adjust themsevles compared very favorable to adjustments made in the lab by a sleep tech. This was not a self reported study. The study taught some people how to make the changes and had the other group in the lab making their changes. I will have to go look for that study later so I can link it here. Its time for my breakfast right now.

as for this part: What if this guy is a COPD patient that can't tolerate certain pressures? What about a Cheyne-Stokes patient?
Snoredog actually does know me a bit. He at least knows that I am not a "guy". Snoredog has been advising me, along with others, for a few weeks now and know a bit about me and my situation and diagnosis as well as my level of responsibility to myself and my care.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): Titration, AHI

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): Titration, AHI[quote][/quote]

[Snoredog]

Some people do need to be careful about pressure changes. For example, in my sleep studies, a lower pressure actually caused central episodes to appear and my oxygen saturation and index were actually worse on cpap and bipap than without them - so using the machine at the wrong pressure was actually worsening my sleep apnea! at a pressure of 14 over 10, it cleared up both obstructive and central apneas. Even a change to 12 over 8 started causing more problems with the central apneas!

So I am all for people taking control of their health - just don't do yourself more harm if you are not positive of what the changes might do.

and the harm caused from those centrals were??

Hmmm ... have we unknowingly been communicating with people on the other side?

[Slinky]

Easy guys, while too high a pressure setting on your CPAP most likely won't kill you, it can cause discomfort, even great discomfort. For instance, aerophagia. THAT can be pretty darn miserable!

I think the important thing is to make just one change at a time for a long enough time for the data to mean something. One night does not the full story tell.

[azdj]

What do you think the harm was. Obviously it was worse sleep apnea. What is the harm in sleep apnea - why do you use CPAP? You do sound pretty knowledgable about the issue, but sounds like you are getting our of your league in giving medical advice.

[Snoredog]

[quote="azdj"]What do you think the harm was. Obviously it was worse sleep apnea. What is the harm in sleep apnea - why do you use CPAP? You do sound pretty knowledgable about the issue, but sounds like you are getting our of your league in giving medical advice.

[jnk]

I know that when I came to this forum, knowing it was a forum for users to give one another advice, I assumed EVERY post to be a post expressing an opinion or personal experience, unless someone specifically said “I am a tech.” I read post after post after post, and soon came to know what posters were trustworthy, and which were not. I doubt I am an exception to the rule. Since this is a forum by users, for users, the underlying assumption should be that everything is strictly opinion, unless stated otherwise.

The above is from: viewtopic/t19050/Keeping-Our-Wonderful- ... to-Be.html

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

The above is from the bottom of this page, and every page, in the forum.

[DreamStalker]

[quote="Slinky"]Easy guys, while too high a pressure setting on your CPAP most likely won't kill you, it can cause discomfort, even great discomfort. For instance, aerophagia. THAT can be pretty darn miserable!

I think the important thing is to make just one change at a time for a long enough time for the data to mean something. One night does not the full story tell.

[Snoredog]

[quote="DreamStalker"][quote="Slinky"]Easy guys, while too high a pressure setting on your CPAP most likely won't kill you, it can cause discomfort, even great discomfort. For instance, aerophagia. THAT can be pretty darn miserable!

I think the important thing is to make just one change at a time for a long enough time for the data to mean something. One night does not the full story tell.