Loud noise upon inhaling when machine first turned on

[klutzo]

Hi everyone,
I did a search on this topic first and got no matches, so here I am with another question. Do most of you automatically replace your machines every five years, even if they are working normally?

Due to the severe effects of the economy on my husband's income, I've been trying to make my machine last as long as possible, since I am on Medicare and will have to pay monthly rent for the first two years with a new machine. I am not sure if the problem I have is fixable or not, which is why I am asking if any of you have had it.

Unfortunately, due to another sleep disorder I have, I get up 6 times per night to pee and/or take meds, so the machine is being turned on and off 6 times, plus a 7th time to dry it after I wash the nasal pillows and adjacent area every morning (air drying does not work for me and leads to mold). I do remove the computer card before drying, since it would look like a total leak otherwise, and I put the humidifier in passover mode, but can't remove it, or the noise would be deafening. I am betting most of you don't turn your machine on anywhere near 7 times each day.

Every time I turn the machine on, for about a year now, and getting louder and lasting longer as time goes on, the machine makes a moaning noise when I inhale, and only when I inhale. It can last from 2-5 minutes to who knows how long?, because I am so tired I fall asleep despite the noise. When I wake up the next time, the machine sounds normal, but I must turn it off to get up, and when I turn it back on, the moaning noise starts again upon inhalation.

My DME says they will make an appt. for me to come in and check the machine, but I don't think they realize they will have to be able to do it right away, since I will have to be there with my headgear, hose etc. so I can breathe using the unit, otherwise they will hear nothing wrong. Also, my husband will have to take off work without pay to bring me there, since I can't drive anymore, so we can't hang around all day waiting. I also must get faxed prescriptions from my sleep doctor before they can fix or replace the machine if they find anything wrong with it. I have an appt. at the sleep doctor, where they would fix it right there or hand me a script for a new one if needed, 27 days from now, which is the soonest I could get in, but the noise is getting so much louder, it is even waking me up sometimes, and I'm now afraid the machine won't last that long. It is 5 years old and is a Respironics RemstarPro M Series with C flex and heated humidifier.

So what's the big deal with my going without the machine for maybe a couple of weeks? Why can't I avoid this hassle with the DME, etc. by just waiting for my doctor's appt.? Am I just being paranoid and neurotic? (don't answer that one, lol!) The big deal is that I have been 100% compliant every single night since the first night I got my first machine, 7 years ago, and when I tried to test sleeping without it to help me make this decision, found to my horror that I appear to be addicted to the machine and my body will not let me fall asleep without it. Each time I drift off, I get jerked awake over and over until I become positively nauseous from it. I've tried sleeping without it twice, with the same result both times. If it conked out, I could rush to the DME the next day and they could call my doctor to get a stat fax for a new one, but with my usual luck, it would almost certainly conk out on a Friday night. Then what?

I just learned you're supposed to buy a backup unit after your machine is 2 years old, but we don't have that kind of money. I just found out I was supposed to have it retitrated and checked for problems every two years. Nobody ever told me that either, so it's never been checked.

I was also told I may not be allowed a new machine until I have another sleep study, since I've not had one since 2006 and the doctor has never brought it up, maybe due to my excellent AHI when I get my computer card checked at my yearly appt. Getting into the sleep lab could delay getting this resolved for another month, not to mention the sleepless night I always have at those labs due to the rock hard beds they must buy from the Flinstones, the inevitable awful panic attack when they titrate, and the huge copay we can no longer afford. Yikes!

My question is whether any of you have experienced this problem with your machines and possibly know if it's a big deal that I should take care of ASAP, no matter the hassle, or a minor problem that can wait another 27 days for resolution. Sometimes, moving the machine a bit, or hitting it will stop the noise, but that is working less lately. My husband thinks it's a loose ball bearing in the fan. Logically, it seems to me like the motor is dying and is moaning as it tries to rev itself up when starting.

As always, thanks for your excellent help in advance. I would not be using CPAP at all if it were not for somebody here who told me 7 yrs. ago that I could try to use nasal pillows despite a deviated septum when I proved chemically sensitive to the squishy mask materials, and someone else here who told me to get the largest nasal pillows that would fit in my nose. The rush of cold air was unbearable with the small size they gave me, but disappeared when I tried one size larger. You all may have saved my life.

klutzo

[ChicagoGranny]

I think most of us have arranged to own a backup machine because most of us would not dare want to sleep a night without CPAP. Some have even arranged emergency electrical generators or batteries in case of power failure.

Your machine may be getting ready to go belly up on you.

You need to get a new machine as soon as you can manage it. I am not big on repairing machines unless they are very new.

Maybe you can work with the DME to get a new machine through Medicare. If you have been consistently compliant and the doctor has the evidence of your compliance, you can get a new machine every five years with Medicare.

The DME has an obligation to get you a new machine through Medicare or get yours repaired and provide a loaner so you don't miss a single night. But again, I am not at all in favor or repairs. Push their asses for a new machine before yours goes kaput.

Best of luck to you!

ChicagoGramps

[herefishy]

I have a "brick" I can loan you - pm me your address.

[klutzo]

Thanks for your replies and for reading my long explanation.

I have felt like using a brick sometimes, lol!

I've been doing some reading online and it seems the Respironics M Series is especially notorious for making these noises due to the tiny intake hole. They sell a "Whisper Cap" for $14.95 which is considered quite effective at lowering the noise.

I agree I should just get a new machine. It is the Medicare monthly rental copay that has stopped me so far, since we are so tight on money now. A second machine is out of the question, but I own my present machine and can keep it as a backup, since it does still run. I am alloted one mop bucket worth of water to wash myself daily except when washing hair, have not had a haircut or gone to the dentist since the economic crash, we practice "if it's yellow, let it mellow", and I am making one can of beans provide my protein for 4 meals. No meat or fish for over a year now. Lots of eggs for hubby. All food is eaten cold or nuked, as the gas stove is too expensive to use now. I had to drop a medication that is necessary for me to continue to live in the long run and cut doses of two others. You get the idea. My husband is self-employed, so he cannot get unemployment and I am disabled. We are not considered poor enough to get any help by our government, which prefers to print billions to kill people all over the world instead. We have zero debt, but our income has dropped by 45%, so every dollar counts.

We do have constant short power failures in summer here, which cause me to wake up suddenly with my lungs empty, an awful feeling. I usually just stay up until the power company gets the power back on. Due to the hurricanes here we do own a generator, bought back when we had a middle class income, but still in great shape.

I will make the appt. with my DME and have it checked out ASAP despite the hassles. If it needs anything but that Whisper Cap I'll ask for the new machine and just eat even less.

Thanks again,
klutzo

[ChicagoGranny]

They sell a "Whisper Cap" for $14.95 which is considered quite effective at lowering the noise.

If your description of the noise is accurate, it will not be solved with a Whisper Cap.

I have used a Respironics M since they came out and it is a bit loud, but nothing like you describe.

ChicagoGramps

[klutzo]

To: HEREFISHY

Thanks for the PM. I have replied and my computer said it was sent, but then it appeared as being still in my Outbox, so I do not know if you got it. So, in case you didn't get it, I just want to say thanks very, very much. They have texted my doctor to try to get me a script for a new machine this morning. Fingers crossed.

[klutzo]

To Chicago Gramps,
I agree the Whisper cap will not be enough, except maybe to help me use the old machine as a back up, since it still runs.

That is why I called my doctor's office this morning and begged for a script for a new machine right away. I told them I don't think this one is going to last until my appt. one month from now like I'd hoped. They are upset that I have not been in there for 13 mos. and Medicare requires me to be there every 12 months to keep getting any supplies, let alone a new machine, but it is their fault I did not come in, since they told me they had it in the computer to call and remind me to make my once a year appt. but they never called me.

I am terminally ill and have 6 doctors to keep track of, as well as all my husband's drug renewals and appts., my own drug renewals, and I must run his corporation from home, and take care of our dying cat, no matter how sick I am. The brain damage is so bad now, I can hardly remember my own name and absolutely everything must be written down. I can't keep up with all this, let alone remember to make an appt. a year later.

I have learned my lesson about trusting them to call me, and will put it in my day book to call them next April and make an appt., if I am still around. Fingers crossed they will get back to me today and fax that script to my DME. My previous pressure and C-flex settings were perfect and my AHI with those settings was 0.8, so hopefully they can just set it up for that and let my husband pick up the machine. I am probably dreaming that it will go that easily and will be lucky to even get a return call by tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

I got spoiled because my previous DME, put out of business by Medicare for reasons of not keeping up with paperwork or some such thing I am not sure about, used to send a personal rep assigned to me to my home for things like this. She would have brought me a new machine by now, after calling my doctor herself. Nothing ever took long with them. Real humans answered the phone there. When I ordered supplies, they were in my mailbox in 24-48 hours. When my first machine's humidifier leaked all over and ruined the wood on top of my nightstand, on my word alone they delivered an upgraded machine with a different humidifier design by Fed Ex the very next morning at 8 am, and had me mail the old one to them in the same box. Naturally, any place that efficient had to be shut down by our (expletive deleted) government.

klutzo

[imfletch]

Thanks for your replies and for reading my long explanation.

I have felt like using a brick sometimes, lol!

I've been doing some reading online and it seems the Respironics M Series is especially notorious for making these noises due to the tiny intake hole. They sell a "Whisper Cap" for $14.95 which is considered quite effective at lowering the noise.

Herefishy wasn't joking about sending you a brick to use on your head. A "brick" is a cpap machine that records no data other than basic compliance.

[khauser]

To: HEREFISHY

Thanks for the PM. I have replied and my computer said it was sent, but then it appeared as being still in my Outbox, so I do not know if you got it. So, in case you didn't get it, I just want to say thanks very, very much. They have texted my doctor to try to get me a script for a new machine this morning. Fingers crossed.

That's OK ... the message is in your Outbox until the addressee see's it, at which point it moves to his Inbox. It's not like Email in that regard...

It sounds to me like you do qualify for more assistance than you're getting. I obviously don't have specifics. But either way, your income and expenses are your business. The question I would ask is: "When you say a second machine is out of the question" I wondered if you considered second hand machines.

But then judging by your (in)ability to afford basics I'm guessing that doesn't change anything.