Husband Joining the Hosehead Brigade

Well, I've been concerned about my husband continually falling asleep in his chair, etc. for some time. Getting him to a doctor is another matter. However, he landed himself in the hospital with pneumonia in May, and they wanted him to follow up with a pulmonologist. We had that appointment two weeks ago. While we were there, I told the pulmonologist that I wanted Hubbie to have a sleep test and why; he agreed.

The sleep test was last night. Since he has a full beard and handlebar mustache, I fitted him with one of my TapPap masks before we went -- I like to keep a spare on hand. As I told him, it would be easy enough for me to refit it if, as we hoped, he did not need it. BUt if he did, it would be easier to have a pre-fitted mask.

He conked out about 10p. They woke him at midnight to put the mask on him.

It'll take two weeks, they say, to get the results to the pulmonologist. I plan to call his office tomorrow and tell them I want an appointment for the moment they get the results.

Today, after most of a night on the mask, Husband is not dozing off in his chair all the time.

I couldn't pry any information about what pressures were used from the tech. But I've got my elderly retired ASV which could easily be re-set to anything.

The problem is that the software I used with it doesn't work on the computers we have now. And I do not think either Sleepyhead or Oscar would read the old Smart Cards, either, even though I still have both card reader and cards, would it?

Wondering what settings might work. I do not want to wait another couple months to have him getting solid sleep.

Kiralynx wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:26 pm

The problem is that the software I used with it doesn't work on the computers we have now. And I do not think either Sleepyhead or Oscar would read the old Smart Cards, either, even though I still have both card reader and cards, would it?

Wondering what settings might work. I do not want to wait another couple months to have him getting solid sleep.

Nope, SH/Oscar won't read the smart cards... I've heard that they require some special interfacing that's not documented, and nobody's ever figured out (maybe because they decided it wasn't worth the effort to do so... not sure..) so you do have to use Encore to read that data... and it's rudimentary compared to modern machines.

However, the 960 *is* supported by Oscar, if that's the machine you're saying he's using.

I'd suggest a moderate setting, something like a min pressure of 8, max 25, and minimum PS settings, (I forget off the top of my head what it will go down to ... )

Then pop the card into Oscar or sleepyhead tomorrow and let's see what happened.

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:43 pm

Nope, SH/Oscar won't read the smart cards... I've heard that they require some special interfacing that's not documented, and nobody's ever figured out (maybe because they decided it wasn't worth the effort to do so... not sure..) so you do have to use Encore to read that data... and it's rudimentary compared to modern machines.

However, the 960 *is* supported by Oscar, if that's the machine you're saying he's using.

Nope. The 960 is my travel CPAP, so it's not available.

I have two of the Ancient of Days Bipap ASV that doesn't even have a range on the EPAP. My original, and the one that was my travel machine / back up. (Paranoid? Who, me? Once I found what my Beastie could do for me, no way I am doing without it -- it's why we now have a whole house generator, fer ghu's sake.)

I'm pretty sure no-one ever bothered because by the time Sleepyhead was coming along, the ASV model I had was Ancient Technology -- on a par with the Remstars.

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:43 pm

I'd suggest a moderate setting, something like a min pressure of 8, max 25, and minimum PS settings, (I forget off the top of my head what it will go down to ... )

Then pop the card into Oscar or sleepyhead tomorrow and let's see what happened.

Yeah. I have the card. My husband has put the smart card reader in, ghu help us, a safe place. And he doesn't remember where he put it. (SIGH)

My thought would be to go with an EPAP of 6, set the MinIPAP (this machine does not have pressure support) to 6, and then set the MaxIpap to, say, 14 or 16. This should give the effect of an auto-CPAP set between 6 and 16. I think.

Hmm. Better go find the manual.

Hubbie slept with the 6-14 settings last night.

Said he thought it was lighter than what he had in the lab, so I may bump it to 8-16.

Nonetheless, it was at least partially effective because he did not end up sleeping in his chair last night, and he made it through the night.

But I want to check for leaks -- gotta rig a brandy keg for him. My four inch one isn't large enough.

When I saw this thread my first thought was to wonder if you'd have matching brandy kegs. I had not thought of the Tap Pap mask as being a solution for those with beard leak issues who didn't have to have a full face mask. Excellent!

kteague wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 27, 2019 8:43 am

When I saw this thread my first thought was to wonder if you'd have matching brandy kegs. I had not thought of the Tap Pap mask as being a solution for those with beard leak issues who didn't have to have a full face mask. Excellent!

We're both using brandy kegs. But mine is a 4" diameter, and Harry's is a 6" diameter. He said my extra 4" clopped him in the Adam's apple.

I was able to find a place which had CL2 straps, and ordered some for us. (I cut them in half.) Also ordered a 4" and a 6" piece of closed cell foam and cut the pieces, then drilled holes in the centers. I have covers for mine from Pad-a-Cheek, and when Karen gets back from her trip, I'll get covers for Harry.

We have two sets of everything -- we travel a bunch for dog shows, and it's WAY handier for me to use my former 960 for travel, and have everything in a rolling case so I can just pop it in the car and know I have everything. Depending on what machine Harry ends up with, I may check Secondwindcpap.com for a second one so he can have a similar case. (That way, we both have spare masks, extra nasal pillows, extension cords, the power cord for the machine, the machine, etc. etc.)

Well, the pulmonologist's office called this morning.

They got hubbie's sleep study.

We have an appointment with him next Thursday.

I wonder what he'll say to the fact that Harry has already started therapy, using my old machine.