Sleeping with Christopher

[Felix Culpa]

Hello!

I am new here, but a veteran Cpap - Bipap user. I guess a quick medical history could be in order. About 11-12 years ago I visited my first sleep lab, I had suspicions that I might have sleep apnea. I was told we'll watch you all night and in 8 hours we will tell you if you have sleep apnea. They woke me in one hour and told me I had the worst case they ever saw, they insisted I finish the night with a Cpap machine.

My first Cpap was a Respironics and I think it was frequently out for repairs. My next Cpap a PB Goodnight 420E, it worked well for a few years but after a while I started waking up exhausted in the morning. Back to the sleep lab they told me I needed a Bipap machine so I purchased a PB Goodnight 425. I have had that for 5 years and the machine is just about shot. Christopher was a puppy then and he was hard on gel masks, hoses, head gear straps and power cords.

After this recent sleep lab I thought I wanted a ResMed S9 but my local supplier told me that they have a very high failure rate. (feedback on that point please) so last week I ended up with Respironics PR750 Auto BiPAP. It seems to work well enough. I don't like or use, did not buy a humidifier.

I have no problems with my masks, some kind of comfort gel masks. Except for my recent one night stay in the sleep lab I am 100% compliant over the last 10 years.

The move 5 years ago from a Cpap to a BiPAP was largly because I kept downloading data from my Cpap to my laptop and while not an expert I knew something was getting much worse and quickly. So my family doctor who ordered my most recent sleep study is a very competent and professional old family friend, who wants me to self monitor, as I have for over a decade.

Insurance can be a PITA and I am forced to "rent" before they will give me the privilege of buying, based on my future compliance. I purchased a copy of "Encore View" on my own dime ($70). I have not been able to secure a copy of "Encore Anywhere" from any of my normal or abnormal channels. I think it is what I really want. I am told that even if I get my hands on a copy I need a call to Respironics Tech support to activate "Encore Anywhere"?

I went to newegg and purchased a 32 GB Smart Card which I am told will not help me store more data? I would like to save as much high quality data as possible with out being forced to down load data to my laptop every 7 days. (any help with this would be a blessing)

If as I suspect the ResMed S9 Auto Bipap works just great for anyone else except my local choice of supplier I am tempted to switch from Respironics to ResMed when my insurance company soon moves me from "rent" to "own". But I am told ResMed is even MORE uncooperative with self monitoring software?

Oh, I sleep with my 75# service dog Christopher, or specifically he sleep on me, like he protects me like he would guard a bone. When Christopher was a puppy he brought a large chunk of fused ice cubes and left it on my chest one winter night. After the 4th time he learned the rule: no ice cubes in bed. And then there is the time after Christmas when he had a 4' long rawhide chew. Left a lump on my head when he turned around in bed with that in his mouth.

The most recent sleep lab let me bring Christopher along, he behaved very well but did not sleep well with someone else he could hear and smell in the next room.

Blessing on Blessing,

Sweet Dreams,

Felix

[ThirdOutOfFive]

Welcome to the party.
Christopher sounds like he is worth his weight in laughter. Give him a scratch behind the ears from me.

[Pugsy]

Welcome to the forum Felix.
Would you please take the time to register here at the forum. Then you can send and receive private messages. Also then you can access your profile and add your equipment permanently.wiki/index.php/Registering_Equipment_in_User_Profile

Having a PR S1 machine you have several software options explained here with examples.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64906&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... re+options

I have no idea what reports Encore Anywhere will generate but all the data available from machine output is shown on the software choices above. It requires a modem. I have never seen a report from Encore Anywhere to evaluate what it offers or how.

Resmed also has ResScan software easily available. If you want to see what it shows there is a tutorial
http://montfordhouse.com/cpap/resscan_tutorial/ there is a newer version but the basics are the same.
Forum member Uncle_Bob has a link for it in his signature. Easy to get. Easy to understand.

EDIT: BTW you are no longer stuck with the old 7 day thing for detailed data. The SD card holds all the detail files.
I just put Encore Viewer on this new computer. It was a test. I downloaded all my data from the SD card since mid April this year and I just reviewed my daily details from May. So with the PR S1 machines we aren't tied to downloading once a week or the detailed data gets written over. We still have to limit viewing to no more than 7 days of details but it is there as far back as when we started using the PR S1.

[ameriken]

Welcome to the forum Felix. Christopher sounds like he's a great companion for you.

What kind of dog is he...he wouldn't happen to be a 'sleep Lab', would he?

[archangle]

I think Encore Anywhere is a service you purchase access too, not simply software you install.

[JDS74]

Hello!

....

After this recent sleep lab I thought I wanted a ResMed S9 but my local supplier told me that they have a very high failure rate. (feedback on that point please) so last week I ended up with Respironics PR750 Auto BiPAP. It seems to work well enough. I don't like or use, did not buy a humidifier.

...

If as I suspect the ResMed S9 Auto Bipap works just great for anyone else except my local choice of supplier I am tempted to switch from Respironics to ResMed when my insurance company soon moves me from "rent" to "own". But I am told ResMed is even MORE uncooperative with self monitoring software?

I use the same machine as you do and I love it. My DME said Respironics machines are junk - only ResMed machines are worthwhile. I think what we are both hearing is propaganda related to what the local DME has cut for a better deal on the machine they are pushing.

You don't need a bigger card than the 2-4 GB card that comes with the machine. It can hold years of data. Having a spare one is useful and making a backup copy each day will protect against the day, sometime in the future, when the card fails.

[Otter]

If as I suspect the ResMed S9 Auto Bipap works just great for anyone else except my local choice of supplier I am tempted to switch from Respironics to ResMed when my insurance company soon moves me from "rent" to "own". But I am told ResMed is even MORE uncooperative with self monitoring software?

The Resmed software, ResScan, is a free download. All you have to do check a box saying you'll use it under the supervision of a competent physician, and you can register and download.

I believe that Encore Viewer doesn't let you look at your flow data, but I could be wrong about that. To really get a good look at what's going on, you'd need Encore Pro.

ResScan vs Encore Pro is becoming a moot point, though, as the user-coded SleepyHead is better for our purposes than either one. It's still in alpha testing, but it works with the current generation of machines from both ResMed and Philips. Once v1.0 is released, I think most people will prefer it over the manufacturers' viewers.

The most recent sleep lab let me bring Christopher along, he behaved very well but did not sleep well with someone else he could hear and smell in the next room.

Christopher doesn't trust the sleep labs, eh? What does he think of DMEs?

[Mike6977]

.

Hello Felix,

I believe you've just landed on the best xPAP board on the planet.

Unfortunately, the board is so data-rich that it can be quite overwhelming to a first-time visitor.

Wish there was a "living" CPAPtalk guide to walk new members through the wilds of Hose-Head Infancy.

__________________________________________________________________


Btw, a side benefit here are posts like this:

What kind of dog is he...he wouldn't happen to be a 'sleep Lab', would he?

(rim-shot)

I'm here all week, folks. .Remember to tip your waiter. .Try the veal.

.

[EO_123]

After this recent sleep lab I thought I wanted a ResMed S9 but my local supplier told me that they have a very high failure rate. (feedback on that point please)

Felix

This sounds like DME propaganda. It's all about what supplier/salesperson got into their head and what they want you to believe (largely motivated by their costs/profit I suspect) My DME told me S9's almost never fail, and the only problem she had was on one where the card reader didn't work, but they got that replaced. She said she's given out hundreds of them. Again, I have no idea what motivates her to say this either, but this board is not riddled with S9 breakdowns and problems, so you can rest easy. My best to Christopher! Did you say what breed he was?

[robysue]

EDIT: BTW you are no longer stuck with the old 7 day thing for detailed data. The SD card holds all the detail files.
I just put Encore Viewer on this new computer. It was a test. I downloaded all my data from the SD card since mid April this year and I just reviewed my daily details from May. So with the PR S1 machines we aren't tied to downloading once a week or the detailed data gets written over. We still have to limit viewing to no more than 7 days of details but it is there as far back as when we started using the PR S1.

Small, but important correction here:

Pugsy is RIGHT that the PR System Ones (including the BiPAP Auto, which I use) store huge amounts of detailed daily data (including the wave forms) for months at a time on a 1 or 2 gig card. That's because the System One does NOT overwrite any of the files.

But as I understand it (as a former S9 user), the ResMed machines (including the S9 series) DO overwrite the detailed data on a seven day schedule if I recall correctly. In other words, if today is Sunday, then tonight's detailed data (including the wave forms) is written to the same file name as LAST Sunday night's data. Which, in turn, wipes out LAST Sunday night's data. Hence on the ResMeds, you do still need to download at least once every seven days to preserve all of the detailed data.

A second point that's also important to the OP: The System One (and the S9, if I recall correctly) use standard SD cards, not the newer, higher capacity SDHC cards. The System One (or at least mine) cannot make sense of an SDHC card---if I try to insert one of them, I get some kind of "card error/failure" message.

[Pugsy]

I believe that Encore Viewer doesn't let you look at your flow data, but I could be wrong about that. To really get a good look at what's going on, you'd need Encore Pro.

This is correct. Viewer does not offer wave form (flow data). Otherwise its reports are identical to Pro.

Robysue is also correct.. while the PR S1 machines do not overwrite the flow data the ResMed machines apparently do.
I was commenting about PR S1 machines.
Also I have discovered that if I forget to replace the SD card in my PR S1 after downloading data...when I do insert it I don't lose the data from the night without the card in the machine. I did this not long ago. The machine held it and wrote it to the SD card. I didn't lose the data. I have no idea what happens to ResMed machines if SD card is left out but from what I have read..the data is lost and not available.

[JDS74]

Also I have discovered that if I forget to replace the SD card in my PR S1 after downloading data...when I do insert it I don't lose the data from the night without the card in the machine. I did this not long ago. The machine held it and wrote it to the SD card. I didn't lose the data. I have no idea what happens to ResMed machine's if SD card is left out but from what I have read..the data is lost and not available.

Pugsy:

If you don't have the card in PR S1 machine, the wave data is lost. The rest of the data is recorded ( the part you can see with EncoreViewer. Not sure why that happens. I suspect the the wave data file is continuously written to the card and not saved within the machines memory while the event and pressure data is accumulated in the machine memory as well as being written to the card. Just a speculation on how the system designers may have implemented storage management.

BTW does anyone know how much memory is internal the PR S1 machine. The memory size may have bearing on the storage management strategy.

[Pugsy]

If you don't have the card in PR S1 machine, the wave data is lost

Hmm.. Mine wasn't. It was available in SleepyHead.

It may be lost in Encore Pro but it doesn't always offer waveform anyway even if card is not left out overnight. If I go 3 nights between downloads I won't have waveform for all 3 days in Pro but I have it (all 3 days) available in SleepyHead.
I have large number of nights where I don't have waveform data in Pro..(I don't download every day) but I only have maybe 3 nights with no wave form data in SleepyHead since mid April when I got the PR S1. I chalk those up to a bad file.
I have no idea why Pro doesn't report all waveform when Sleepyhead clearly shows it is available.

[Buford]

I have been very active on my own car club forum and for a decade or more that has been my extended family. I came across this place looking for info on ResMed software and found an article. It was great. I have not yet found a way to navigate to other articles like it.

Christopher is an Ohio farm rescue dog, and he still has his landing gear intact. We have been together since he was 8 weeks old. He sports a medium to short coat, very visualy pleasing markings fawn color with white socks, racing stripe and chest blaze. He is more chesty than leggy, he is built more like the rottie-husky mix that he is.

His head is Rottie but his markings are Husky if you swap out fawn color for the black in Huskies' coat. He is very attractive and at least once a day I get two comments: 1) what breed is that? 2) I wish my dog listened like that.

And less often: I'll give you my 2-3 dogs for your one.

Because Christopher could have a chip on his shoulder as a little guy we spent 2-3 hours a day in dog parks during his formative years, long enough for him to learn that everyone, 2 legs or 4 is either a friend or an un-met friend.

If I may brag, we were off leash in Frick Park and had our second or third meeting with Tripod, a 3 legged female half Christopher's weight (one front, two rear legs). Now Christopher lives to wrestle, and he is not half bad at it, he is built for it. It was lady's choice that morning and Tripod wanted to wrestle. Christopher knows that play is not all about dominance or aggression. It is about play. After maybe 30 seconds he laid down on his elbows and knees and let Tripod win. I was impressed, Tripod's owners were in tears.

Pugsy: Than you for the links, I shall read them this morning.

Ameriken: Per DNA test Christopher is 1/4 Rottweiler, 1/4 Husky, 5% Chihuahua and 5% Italian Greyhound. When he was 5-6 months old and chewing on my mask, hose and Cpap power cord my pastor asked: "Would you like you dog blessed?" and I answered: "Father, I was going to hold out for an exorcism but I think he may have out grown it."

To his credit Christopher has walked 100 lbs off of me in less than a year, and I intend to do more of that with him.

Archangle: I want to be able to see and change everything. My RX changed when I lost the first 100% from 25/15 to 15/7. I would like to take some personal responsibility for my health. Fact is I am the one who figured out my sleep apnea and low T. If I waited for my GP (then) to ask the right questions I'd be dead by now.


My current primary care MD and Endocrinologist are adult and secure, they value a patient who has a deep interest and takes responsibility.

Respironics HQ is less than 100 miles away, so I think they sell low, value market share and think they can treat customers like an afterthought. They say cars, laptops and software is made to be sold, not made to be used. For Resmed and Respironics their customer are the DME not you and me. So guess who gets the golf/ski trips and who gets treated like mushrooms? I'm willing to work to change that, or at least be a PITA trying.

Otter:

> I believe that Encore Viewer doesn't let you look at your flow data, but I could be wrong about that. To really get a good look at what's going on, you'd need Encore Pro.

If that is the case they will get the Respironics back very soon.

Re: Sleepyhead. I am not a programmer but I've helped many companies in beta development of software, my ideas seem to be well accepted and often implemented. If I can be of any service pleas do not hesitate to ask. (I would do that service gratis)

> Christopher doesn't trust the sleep labs, eh? What does he think of DMEs?

Lady at the sleep lab could not have been nicer with Christopher, (RE DME ) and I don't need a mean dog, my dog has a mean owner. In fact that is Christopher's service, he keeps me from going postal on the jerks of the word. (eye roll)

Mike6977: I love Dr Strangelove, I have an arm like that, with a mind of it's own. I would attend morning mass in a Norbitine Abby, I was the only non cleric. The room is full of ordained priests. During the consecration everyone else has their right hand extended. I look down and guess where my right hand is? I had to send out my sinister hand to fetch it.

3rdoutof5: Every morning starts with a very extended belly-chest rub. Christopher loves to ride shotgun in my 4x4 crew cab. Always on the lookout for dog walkers or pesky wabbits. I have one rule no face licking except at red lights, and Christopher is a master ear rubbie. Rotties are a working breed and Christopher takes his responsibilities riding shotgun very seriously. And he only jumped out of a moving truck once, after a rabbit. Out the driver's side and was unharmed, the pesky wabbit got away.

I had a lot of work done around the house this spring and summer, new driveway, new patio, new steps, french drain, roof, soffit and facia, an alarm and camera systems. Christopher would take a stuffed toy from one of the three full laundry baskets in the dinning room and chase the crew around the yard with a toy in his mouth. Actually he was very popular with the crews.

Thank you for the warm welcome.

Blessings on Blessings,

Sleep well.

[JDS74]

Hmm.. Mine wasn't. It was available in SleepyHead.

It may be lost in Encore Pro but it doesn't always offer waveform anyway even if card is not left out overnight. If I go 3 nights between downloads I won't have waveform for all 3 days in Pro but I have it (all 3 days) available in SleepyHead.
I have large number of nights where I don't have waveform data in Pro..(I don't download every day) but I only have maybe 3 nights with no wave form data in SleepyHead since mid April when I got the PR S1. I chalk those up to a bad file.
I have no idea why Pro doesn't report all waveform when Sleepyhead clearly shows it is available.

My take on Encore Pro is that it only loads the last waveform data on the card. If you don't upload to Pro on daily basis, the prior data is not loaded although it is available on the card. SleepyHead loads all that is available.

The lost data I'm referring to is the WaveForm data that is kept in the .005 file on the card. If the card in not actually in the machine, then the data is not recorded - at least on the two different PR S1 machines I have used. On my machines, inserting the card the next morning or a couple of mornings later gets the events/pressure data files but not the waveform files. On a normal day in which the card is in the machine when I go to bed, the PR S1 records three files, a .001 file, a .002 file, and a .005 file. The .001 & .002 files contain the event and pressure data and the .005 contains the waveform data.

SleepyHead loads the event data which will be there but can't load the waveform data which will be missing.