Trying to reset cpap back to autopap...may need instructions

[Pugsy]

His machine is a ResMed ipX1. he said it is a Flex cpap machine.

Don't know what a ResMed ipX1 is....and ResMed doesn't have Flex.
Resmed has EPR exhale relief.
Phillips Respironics has Flex relief.

What are all the words that you see on top of the machine and humidifier?

[jdr999]

But thankfully, I started being woken up by his events or we would never have known what was causing all of his health issues...Low T, muscle and tendons hurting all the time, exhaustion, and now he has no zest for life, no libido, no nothing...
..
We have had the most awesome life together aside from the usual financial problems and work stress, but we always enjoyed each other intimately...always. Now he is almost like a stranger to me and me to him. It's just the most horrible thing to go through. he can't explain it other than he just doesn't feel anything anymore.

Honestly, he's got a number of issues right now like many of us here. It comes with the territory. Depression, anxiety, gerd, high blood pressure, mood swings, no energy, no drive, no motivation, etc.. Hell, as you've noticed things can get bad enough for relationships to fall apart. Don't let an illness come between you..

In my opinion the sleep apnea is the most serious and pressing issue that needs to be successfully diagnosed and treated. It's even quite possible that it's the cause for most of his other issues.. Proper treatment will keep his oxygen levels high during the night and give him the needed sleep to recuperate. And on the flip side, his other issues may not improve until his apnea is controlled.

Give him the support he needs now, and help him get better. Remember, he isn't well and has a number of issues to overcome. When you need to fight and struggle just to make it through each and every day many things get neglected and ignored. Give him a pass for now and shrug off what you can for the time being. Everything else may just fall back into place once he's sleeping and resting again.

[jdr999]

And remember "time."

There really aren't any quick fixes here. Usually when things finally hit the fan there are quite a number of issues that need fixing. For most of us this is a long process.

My life hit the tracks at Christmas and I'm still struggling. I've had my ups and downs - some better days, and some worse. Overall things are improving but it's certainly an uphill battle to say the least! You just find ways to make things work because the alternative isn't nearly as pretty.

And that's precisely the reason you've come here!

[kteague]

Seekinganswers, just want to share with you about a couple I know. Both lovely people, but very obviously growing apart and I really expected once their kids were older they'd go ahead and go separate ways. Both are wonderful people. By the time he fulfilled his work and family responsibilities, he had little energy left for nurturing the relationship. He was in survival mode. She was tired of years of a sleepless marriage due to his window rattling snoring with nothing positive to balance the sacrifices (like affection). What I want to tell you is that their marriage appears to be the best it's been since I've known them. In the past their only words about each other were digs and snide remarks. Now they actually speak about each other as if they enjoy and appreciate each other. Him getting on CPAP gave him renewed energy and her much needed sleep. Please know that your hubby's recent lack of affection and attention likely has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with him really being utterly depleted. If I had been married when I was at my worst with these sleep disorders and my spouse had expectations of me, I would have certainly disappointed them. And if too pressured, I might have just let them go rather that try to find enough strength to work on the relationship. I didn't have one ounce of strength to spare. I do hope you can find it within yourself to see what you and he are going through as something to be overcome. From what you say, it is a relationship worth saving. I'm betting that on the other side of this he will let you know how much he appreciates you standing by him and maybe even using coercion to get him to do what it takes to get his life back. Let us know how things progress.

[Drowsy Dancer]

His machine is a ResMed ipX1. he said it is a Flex cpap machine.

Don't know what a ResMed ipX1 is....

This took a little digging around with google.

IPX1 is not the name of the machine. It's an IP Code, or "Ingress Protection" Code. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code

IPX_ codes classify or rate the water resistance of a piece of equipment (other subtypes of IP codes can measure stuff like dust resistance). An IPX1 code means that the equipment will not harmed by condensation (important for a unit with a humidifier).

So IPX1 describes a characteristic of the machine, rather than its model. I suspect all xPAPs that can be used with a humidifier are classed as IPX1.

[Pugsy]

It was late last night and no time or energy to look up ipX1. Thank you DD for doing the work for me.

On my ResMed S9 there is a sticker that says ResMed ipX1...this a small white sticker on the side of the blower.

ResMed machines have EPR exhale relief not Flex relief. Hence my question still about exhale relief but your husband may have just been told Flex exhale relief which is of course a Respironics machine term but some DMEs may not be so anal retentive as I am and use the term for both machines

I looked on my Respironics machine and couldn't quickly see any such sticker but I haven't had all my coffee this morning and didn't want to take it apart to see if it is hidden.

I suspect your husband has a ResMed S9 machine of some sort since you were very specific and found the ipX1 thing which has ResMed right next to it.

Look at the on/off button ....what does it say right up next to the on/off button?
Choices are

Escape
Auto Escape
Elite
Autoset
VPAP S
VPAP Auto

[SleepingUgly]

I know the intimacy issue is in the forefront of your mind right now; however, as has been noted, it very well may be a symptom of the untreated sleep apnea. I would keep working on that sleep issue and put that on the back burner for now. If it doesn't resolve with optimal treatment of the sleep apnea, there are other avenues to pursue. I'd take some pressure off by even stating explicitly that you understand he's exhausted and that sex is not in the cards right now, and leave it at that. Tell yourself it's temporary (it probably is). Work on the sleep. That's my two cents.

[caffeinatedcfo]

I'm a newbie to CPAP but based on the research I've done and consultation with my doctors, the surgeries are a huge risk and a majority of patients still require CPAP after weeks (or sometimes months) of excruciating recovery. Surgery should always be the last resort.

[MrPresident]

I have read some of this thread but it is quite long. I have not read it all so if I am repeating previously given advice I apologize in advance.

Has anyone suggested an oral mask? http://www.cpapxchange.com/HC452-oracle-cpap-mask.html

It would completely take the nasal passage out of the equation. The other thing is that somehow he has to find something that works and stick it out. Very few get used to CPAP in a few weeks. I remember when I started and spent a lot of time here on this forum. I was having a lot of trouble for several months and I read a post where a guy said that when he puts on his mask it puts him right to sleep. He said that when he puts his mask on he can't stay awake for more than a minute or so. I did not believe him. I didn't think that could ever be possible. But it is. I am the same way now.

In regards to his low T make sure he is on bio identical testosterone replacement and that DHEA is checked as well. I am not a physician but my wife is an RN and a voracious reader when it comes to medical research. Most mainstream physicians are not very well studied on hormone replacement but to the extent that they are, they usually get their information comes from the drug companies. This is not a rant against drug companies but that is just the way it is. Bio identical hormone replacement products can not be patented so they don't come from drug companies. You need to search for a doctor that specializes in bio identical hormone replacement. They are out there. Bio identical is just what it sounds like.....identical to what your body produces. For example most mainstream estrogen or progesterone products are made from horse urine. Not good. If you are on those you also need to look into bio identical as well. I don't know what the manufactured testosterone products are made out of but it can't be good either. You will also may have to find a specialized pharmacy that can make compounded creams as that is the most effective way to take bio identical hormones. It's like rubbing on a lotion. It really does work. I was never in the libido situation that your husband is but my wife was so I feel your pain. And she was using the traditional horse urine byproducts for estrogen or progesterone. When we both got our hormone levels corrected with natural replacement products it was amazing. No really....I mean amazing. But he has to get some sleep too. The two go together.

There is another interesting point about hormone replacement. Cholesterol. Cholesterol is a hormone. It is the basic building block for all other hormones. So when our testosterone or estrogen are low our body says "Oh crap, we better make some more cholesterol so this guy can make some testosterone and start making varoom varoom with his sweetie again." High cholesterol in the aging population, which is almost universal, is the direct result of hormone imbalance. My wife works for a large cardiology practice in our area. About the 3 months after I got my hormones in balance I got new lab results. My cholesterol, bad LDL good LDL and all of that stuff which I don't remember the right names of went from very far out of range to within normal range and I am off of a couple of drugs because of it. Also my BP is dropping due to both hormones and CPAP. A drug rep came to my wife's office promoting a new drug for controlling cholesterol, but the test showed some pretty scary and dangerous side effects. So my wife took my baseline labs and the labs after three months of bio identical hormone therapy and showed it to her nursing supervisor, who was so impressed that she showed it to one of the cardiologist. The results were so dramatic that he said he didn't believe it. He said he had never seen that kind of dramatic improvement under any circumstances. I would bet the farm that your husbands cholesterol and LDL's are way out of whack and that is another dangerous thing to add to the rest of your his problems.

My point is that all of these things go together in a holistic way. I am a radical right wing crazy christian conservative so I don't throw the word "holistic" around lightly. It give me the creeps. But what it really means is that you have to treat all of the problems together because they are all connected. Fixing one will make you feel better but getting all the cylinders firing will make you feel like a teenager gain. (yes even in the varoom varoom department). Don't give up. Life can be awesome again. But your husband is in a pretty bad place. As Winston Churchill famously said "Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!" He said that because he believed that they were in a fight worth winning. I believe you are too.

God bless you.

[Drowsy Dancer]

It was late last night and no time or energy to look up ipX1. Thank you DD for doing the work for me.

On my ResMed S9 there is a sticker that says ResMed ipX1...this a small white sticker on the side of the blower.

ResMed machines have EPR exhale relief not Flex relief. Hence my question still about exhale relief but your husband may have just been told Flex exhale relief which is of course a Respironics machine term but some DMEs may not be so anal retentive as I am and use the term for both machines

I looked on my Respironics machine and couldn't quickly see any such sticker but I haven't had all my coffee this morning and didn't want to take it apart to see if it is hidden.

Pugsy, you shouldn't have to do everything around here. I try to pitch in when I can.

My PR S1 550P is classified as IPX1, which I had never noticed, let alone understood, before this morning (pardon the lousy photography):



I didn't photograph separately the sticker on the bottom of my humidifier, but it is (no surprise) also classed IPX1. (To digress a bit, the humifier doesn't have the airline use designation. So much to learn about these little symbols!).

To the OP: we keep harping about the actual machine because you are talking about the machine being a BiPAP, which it may be, but when you talk about your husband's settings, you list what sounds like an APAP setting. Which is why we keep asking the same question over and over again.

[Pugsy]

My PR S1 550P is classified as IPX1, which I had never noticed, let alone understood,

I never noticed it either. Just went back and checked my new PR S1 660...it says IP22...no wonder I couldn't find IPX1.
Totally missed the IP thing earlier because I was looking for the other.
I googled it...similar to IPX1. Electrical stuff which my brain says "whoa, we don't go there". Stuff I don't need to assimilate and will leave to the electrical gurus. Curiosity satisfied and won't need to worry about it now. Learn something new every day even if I probably will forget it by next week.

[Drowsy Dancer]

My PR S1 550P is classified as IPX1, which I had never noticed, let alone understood,

I never noticed it either. Just went back and checked my new PR S1 660...it says IP22...no wonder I couldn't find IPX1.
Totally missed the IP thing earlier because I was looking for the other.
I googled it...similar to IPX1. Electrical stuff which my brain says "whoa, we don't go there". Stuff I don't need to assimilate and will leave to the electrical gurus. Curiosity satisfied and won't need to worry about it now. Learn something new every day even if I probably will forget it by next week.

Nothing at all to do with electricity.

Decoding IP22:

First digit 2: Object size protected against >12.5 mm, "fingers or similar objects." So you can't stick your fingers into it, even if you try.
Second digit 2: Dripping water up to 15 degrees. "Vertically dripping water shall have no harmful effect when the enclosure is tilted at an angle up to 15° from its normal position."

In truth, you probably can't stick your fingers in my old PR S1 either, so it could be labeled "IP21" I suppose. But your 660 is more water-resistant than my older machine.

[herefishy]

I haven't seen anyone mention putting on a t-shirt with a pocket on the chest - backwards. Then with the pocket in the back, you can put a tennis ball in the pocket which may help your husband keep off his back.

[Seekinganswers]

His machine is a ResMed ipX1. he said it is a Flex cpap machine.

Don't know what a ResMed ipX1 is....and ResMed doesn't have Flex.
Resmed has EPR exhale relief.
Phillips Respironics has Flex relief.

What are all the words that you see on top of the machine and humidifier?

Sorry pigsty it is an xpap. Does that make more sense? I got doc to order sleep study using his machine...he went this evening and they had lost the order!! . We know they had it yesterday because they called him with his arrival time. Then the tech tells him that he doesn't know anything about his machine and that he will have to use theirs. Tech is almost totally deaf too. So tonight may be wasted time unless he actually gets some quality sleep using their machine. We wanted them to ck setting on his and see if they could figure out why its on his forehead by 2 a.m. we'll see

[Pugsy]

Sorry pigsty it is an cpap. Does that make more sense?

No help...there are multiple brands and within each brand there are multiple models in each bran even in the cpap/apap model lines.

Look at the on/off button ....what does it say right up next to the on/off button?
Choices are for a ResMed machine.

Escape
Auto Escape
Elite
Autoset
VPAP S
VPAP Auto