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

[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?

I'm sorry Pugsy, his is an xpap he said. That's all I know right now because he took it to his sleep study tonight...only to be told they had not gotten the orders faxed from the neurologist who ordered it. It's supposed to be done using his machine but the tech said he doesn't know anything about his machine and he is having to use the one in the sleep clinic. So...tonight might be a wasted study unless he actually gets some quality sleep using their machine. I'll keep you posted and give you more info on the machine tomorrow evening.

[Seekinganswers]

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.

Oh I am hanging in there...I have to. I love him! I know he is exhausted and stressed and thinks there is no end to this. I try not to put any additional stress on him, that's why I'm here asking questions and trying to see if there are others who have went through this with their husband. I called his neurologist and told him he needed to have a sleep study with his own machine because he just isn't able to keep it on all night...4 hours tops and doesn't remember throwing the mask off in the night or pushing it up onto his forehead. Everyone on here is saying his setting is too low at 4cm and that very well may be the problem. But the tech that happens to be doing the study doesn't know anything about his machine so he is having to use the clinics machine. They also lost the order from the doctor and are just doing it because they believe my husband! So it's just a mess. But don't worry, I know we have a long road ahead of us and i'm right here beside him all the way...

[Seekinganswers]

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.

Oh thank you for your reply. That makes me feel so much better. Of course I'm standing beside him all the way and he knows that. I have no expectations other than I want to see him well again and back to the man I have loved for 21 years. He is 15 yrs younger than me. We had been married 15 years when all of this started with the sleep apnea. Just since the beginning of February has he changed so much right before my eyes. He says he has felt a "strain" between us for months...I had no clue! Everything seemed fine and normal until my mother died and we both sat at the hospital day and night for 3 weeks during her illness. I think that may be what pushed him to the brink because ever since her funeral, he has been this way. So, I'm hanging in here and hoping that he can get good help soon. At least he has been using his machine every night this past week although 4 hr is about the max. He is also using flonase morning and evening. I think after the surgery scare he decided he HAS to try to use the machine. Hopefully the sleep study he is having tonight will prove beneficial. Thanks for the post...helps me to realize that I'm not alone in this and that there is light at the end of the tunnel...

[Seekinganswers]

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

trying to keep up with who all i've answered here...but he is at a sleep study..machine in tow...I will get more info for you but it will be tomorrow evening late. Thanks for the trouble you go to for us folks who are new to this. I do know he said his machine is an xpap.. Maybe that helps?

[Seekinganswers]

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.

OH believe me, it is on the back burner....sex or the lack of it is not what has me in a talespin. It's trying to figure out if his total "no feelings there" is from the exhaustion and low T or not. I don't pressure him at all...I know his little bit of energy is being used to survive and work. I hope everyone understands that and doesn't think I'm some ogre who is only concerned with myself..that is far from who I am. But know that it is just hard to see your spouse turn into a complete stranger. But I'm looking to brighter days when he gets to sleeping and feels human again.

[zoocrewphoto]

Also know that once we know what model he has, we may be able to help you figure out more of what is going on because some models have data. Some doctors look at data, and some don't. So, if your machine has data, we can look at typical nights at home *with his machine* and see what is going on. It's like a sleep study every night, only cheaper and in a natural sleep setting. Often times, the therapy isn't optimal yet and needs some tweaking to get it better. Hopefully, his machine will be one that has full data.

xpap is generic for cpap, apap, vpap, bibap, etc. In other words, we often refer to xpap so that people know we are using some type of machine, but the type of machine is not important.

For example, I use an apap. But when I talk to friends, coworkers, etc, I always say cpap, because that is the only one that people are familiar with. Here on the list, I may use xpap when talking about something in general since it applies to all machines. And sometimes I specify that I use an apap. It can be very confusing to somebody who is new to all of these terms.

[Seekinganswers]

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.

Thank you for all that info. I checked out that link and that sure does look like something he could use...i'll let you know what he says. I too lean to the holistic way of life. My husband went to a big clinic in a nearby town for HRT. It was HRC medical if you've ever heard of them. They managed to get his testosterone to 1500 and he would go in there and say "but I'm still exhausted' and they would push more pellets. It wasn't until he was almost through his 12 month treatment, that I figured out he had sleep apnea and that was the reason he was exhausted. Now he is using Androgel. He gets labs drawn in the morning after his sleep study so we will see where it is at when he goes to see the PA who is following him for that. And YES..his cholesterol is high. He refuses to take statins so that isn't being treated at this time. PM me if you don't mind and let me know what area you are in and maybe if it's not too far across the country, I can locate a good place to get him in for Bioidentical HRT. I know there are not very many around our area that specialize in that. They all push the shots and gel. However, I see the same guy for my HRT and he has me on a compounded one that i put on my arms every morning. And boy howdy, you are right about it helping in the "varoom varoom" department. About the time I went on mine and started chasing my hubby around the living room, his libido went south!! But I have done enough research in the last 3 or 4 years, I know that all of the problems he has with hormones, hypothyroidism, high cholesterol, fatigue, brain fog etc., is call coming from the sleep deprivation. But honestly, we haven't found a doctor yet that care enough to figure it out and help him. It's very discouraging (and I work for brain surgeons) when you go to several different doctors and think each one will be the one that helps you, then when it doesn't happen, you lose total faith in them. Lucky for us, our faith is in the Lord and we know HE is the great physician and ultimately will be our help and healing...just don't know yet when that will come. Hubby is too exhausted to care anymore....sad

[Seekinganswers]

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.

I'm sorry...I was mistaken. It is an xpap he said. It is with him at his sleep study. I will make a picture of it tomorrow and post on here so you all can see what it is.

[Seekinganswers]

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.

I've been trying to think of a way to get a tennis ball sewn into a t-shirt..thanks for that little tidbit of info. I will be on that tomorrow!

[Drowsy Dancer]

I'm sorry...I was mistaken. It is an xpap he said. It is with him at his sleep study. I will make a picture of it tomorrow and post on here so you all can see what it is.

As was mentioned above--I know this is confusing--the term "xpap" (also written "xPAP") is a generic term for all the different times of machines which can deliver air pressure in a variety of different ways, for example:

CPAP, where "C" stands for "continuous." Same pressure all the time.
APAP, where "A" stands for "automatic." The pressure varies within a set range.
BiPAP, where "Bi" stands for "bi-level." The machine has two pressures, one for inhalation, one for exhalation.
The list goes on.

Saying the machine is an "xpap" doesn't give us any more information to help us help you.

[Pugsy]

When your husband comes home with his machine just look on the top of the machine..up by the little LCD screen and tell us all the words that you see up there and if there are any words on the top of the humidifier.
There are many, many xpap (generic for all the positive pressure airway devices) out there and that's a substantial number.
If we know the exact make and model we then know what specific capabilities that machine might have. Each brand ...ResMed, Respironics, F & P or Devillbiss has several different models within their brand line and each model has some different capabilities.

Right now we are just trying to determine if the machine that he has is a full data machine so that we can point you to the software that would help us have an idea if his therapy is even optimal or not. Are events a problem or are leaks a problem?
We already now hours of use is a problem but maybe there's something going on that screams "fix me"...like leaks.

[SleepingUgly]

I don't understand this business about how they were going to do his titration on his machine. Don't they need a machine they can control from the other room? Anyway, he doesn't need to do the titration on his machine as any pressures they determine are optimal should work on his machine, unless his is defective. That can be tested by the DME with a manometer or whatever the heck it's called. Just make sure you find out what pressures were optimal, not some generic idiotic advice like "set it from 4-12" or "4-20". That's not a pressure prescription, it's a shotgun approach.

[tetragon]

I don't understand this business about how they were going to do his titration on his machine. Don't they need a machine they can control from the other room?

I've done a sleep study in a sleep lab with my own machine, and my own heated hose (that place was quite cool). Instead of having a cable to the machine to give airflow-related data, they hooked an adapter to my hose, and grabbed some numbers that way.

Titration was not the goal for that study. Instead, they were looking at how I slept on my machine. That was how they found that even though my pressure was good, I still had a less than ideal arousal index.

[herefishy]

I have had good luck adding niacin to my statin, maybe that would help in lieu of the statin. At least a little bit.

[archangle]

I just never imagined that someone could change so drastically because of sleep apnea. of course he has been dealing with it for several years and never has really never gotten the right treatment going.

That does make sense, but just think of what happens to us when we don't get enough sleep. With apnea, you may be asleep, but you may be getting woken up or partially woken up every few minutes every night even though you don't remember it. Then throw in stress and oxygen deprivation. You are basically being strangled every few minutes through the night.