Does this not seem right to you guys?

[Desperate_in_DM]

Every night I put on my mask and wear it for probably 10-15 minutes while I get used to breathing with it. Before I fall asleep I have been holding my breath and waiting for the machine to "kick in" so I can feel if the nostril pads are in correctly and not leaking air. This worked fine for a week. The last two nights...nothing happened!

Last night on at least four attempts I held my breath for at least 30 seconds and never did the machine kick in with the woosh of air like I had become accustomed. Yesterday my AHI on the machine (yes, I know that readout isn't totally accurate) read 0.3 and this morning it read 0.0.

Does it sound like my machine is not working? Just wondering if I should call the doctor.

[Hospiceangel]

Hmmm,
I have the same machine but I never tried holding my breath to have it cycle. I don't know what to tell you. It seems like your AHI's are okay.
Shar:)

[Desperate_in_DM]

The first few days my AHIs were around 14. Then for about 5 days they hovered around 7. Then they dropped from 6.8 to 0.3 in one night. The next night was zero, so I was wondering if possibly it didn't register any AHIs because it's not working? Seemed strange, but I'm only 10 days in.

[elena88]

gee, I never stopped breathing to check it, but I know if I took too long to inhale after a LONG exhale, lets say longer than
thirteen seconds? The pressure pulse kicked in to do a pre check to see if airway was open..

I dont think it does ANYTHING when you are on ramp, could that be it?

I dont have that machine anymore, Im sorry..

its a good one though!

[Desperate_in_DM]

How would I know if it's on RAMP? All I know is if I push the RAMP button, nothing happens on the screen. The pressure or titration or whatever it's called doesn't change from 6 cm H2O

[Hawthorne]

The auto start is set up to start with you BREATHING! It is triggered to auto start with about 2 or 3 of your breaths.

You have to breathe or it won't start. Try to breath normally but BREATHE.

[snuginarug]

How would I know if it's on RAMP? All I know is if I push the RAMP button, nothing happens on the screen. The pressure or titration or whatever it's called doesn't change from 6 cm H2O

I just checked my machine. On ramp, there is a black triangle shaped like a ramp in the bottom right corner of the screen. It's tiny, and the screen is hard to read anyway. It could be reading "6" because someone didn't set the ramp to a number different than your prescribed therapy pressure. Which would be a very stupid mistake on their part. If you don't see the ramp-shaped triangle, then there is definitely something wrong with your machine. I'm not sure you even need a ramp at 6. My titration started with 6 and worked up from there. A number of people have expressed that they feel air starved at anything lower than a 5.

Good luck on getting everything straightened out and working smoothly!

EDIT: I stand corrected by Elena88 below. I was quite wrong, my apologies for pulling sh*t out of my a**
.

[elena88]

edit, OH YES, I agree, you have to breath to make it start..

Um, if I can recall, the ramp button is for how many minutes you want before your titration pressure starts..

so you set it for five, ten, fifteen, twenty to forty five minutes.

if youre auto is starting at a low pressure like FOUR, thats pretty low, most people hate it that low, I loved it..

each time you press the ramp button, it goes back to the time it is programmed to wait..

so if you got in bed, pressed the ramp and its set for a half hour to start at four, it wont do anything till the half hour is up..

if you get up, and got back to bed, and press it again, youre back to waiting for how many minutes its set to get up to pressure again..

so it depends on HOW many minutes your ramp is set for, how many times you keep pressing it, and how low your starting pressure is..

I have heard if your titration pressure is ten, then two below and two above is a good range for an auto.. ie 8 to 12.
a huge range is four to twenty.. thats like chasing bees in a snail car.

[Julie]

You know, there's an old joke about someone who goes to the doctor and says "Dr., every time I try to bend backwards and touch my knees I get back pain". And the doctor says "Well, stop doing back bends"! Really bad joke I guess, but so true... you're doing something unnatural and wondering if you need to call the doctor because the machine won't behave unnaturally , so maybe it's time to stop doing that (not breathing).

[Desperate_in_DM]

Every night I put on my mask and wear it for probably 10-15 minutes while I get used to breathing with it. Before I fall asleep I have been holding my breath and waiting for the machine to "kick in" so I can feel if the nostril pads are in correctly and not leaking air.

As I said, I wear the mask for a minimum of 10 minutes and usually 15 minutes breathing normally before I hold my breath to see if the machine will administer a pulse of increased pressure. I do this to make sure my nostril pads are in properly and air is not leaking out too badly. I've had trouble getting the pads in my nostrils enough that air isn't escaping. On my machine A-Flex is disable as is the RAMP feature so that is not what is preventing the machine to "pulse" if I stop breathing.

[Goofproof]

XPAPS are made for sleeping, trying to fool them into providing treatment for someone not sleeping doesn't work well. Sometimes the machines are smart. The best way to check what your treatment is doing is to get the software and reader. Jim

[LoQ]

I do this to make sure my nostril pads are in properly and air is not leaking out too badly. I've had trouble getting the pads in my nostrils enough that air isn't escaping.

I know you've said in other posts, and your profile shows, that you have the Simplicity mask. However, the Simplicity mask does NOT have "nostril pads."

Can you figure out which mask you actually have and put that in your profile?


What does your leak data show? I'm wondering if you are showing lower and lower AHIs without feeling better because you are opening your mouth more and more.

I hope you are feeling better. I know you've had a rough time. I can't imagine going through this experience and being responsible for small children at the same time. My hat is off to you for hanging in there.

[Desperate_in_DM]

What the Hell? Yeah, that probably didn't sound right to you guys, huh? I was going off the paperwork I was sent to the home respiratory place with. The paperwork said the Simplicity, but my mask says the manufacturer was ResMed. After looking at pictures on this site I "think" it might be the Swift FX. A manual about the mask when I got it would have been nice.

If I happen to open my mouth, would that show up on the download? The tech didn't say anything about that. I've done it only a couple of times and just briefly from what my husband says as the whooshing sound wakes him up. I'm assuming there are chinstraps for this mask? Perhaps I'll look into getting one and seeing if I feel better in the AM.

[ozij]

If you're leaking treatment air through you mouth, it would show in the download.

A manual about the mask when I got it would have been nice.

I agree. However, you can find all manuals on the companies' sites nowadays.

I oreder to find the following link, I googled (without the quotes)" Resmed Swift FX guide"

http://www.resmed.com/us/assets/documen ... er_eng.pdf


I usually find mask manuals very helpful - start again from a.

If you manage to get a good seal, toss and turn a bit to see where it loosens.