CPAP.Com way more helpful than some DMEs

Hi all,

Great forum, I've learned a lot about CPAP, about a zillion times more than my DME could tell me. When I received my machine a couple days ago (ResMed S-8 Elite), I read the manual and discovered the machine has a leak alarm that one can enable or disable. Then I found out that one needed the "advanced" menu, and my machine did not have that feature enabled.

All I wanted to do was use the leak alarm for a few nights to make sure all was well. Then I wanted to shut it off. If I suspected some problemsin the future, I could reenable it.

So I drove over to my DME to have her set me up for advanced. I'm extremely tech savy, having worked with computers for nearly 30 years. But my DME sure isn't. We spent 20 minutes discussing this menu - she kept saying that the advanced menu was the clinical menu and I couldn't have access to that because I might accidently change my pressure setting and send the planet spinning into the sun or something.

I even showed her the advanced menu in the users guide (called Detail Menu in the users guide, but ADV on the on screen interface). She was certain that was the clinical menu, even when I pointed out the differences.

But thanks to this board, I found out how to access the clinical menu (hold down the down and right arrows for about 5 seconds). 3 minutes later I found the menu option that my DME said didn't exist, and now I have the abilities I wanted.

There's been a consistent theme on my journey to deal with OSA, and that is all the "professionals" treat me like a moron. For instance, I go to my sleep doctor for my first appointment, and describe how I wake up and can't breathe, have many people say I snore like a banshee being cut up by a chainsaw, and my wife says I frequently wake up gasping during the night, plus I'm tired all the time even though I'm in bed for 10 hours. But my word's not good enough, I need a sleep test to prove I have OSA. Fine, we do it, and the tests confirm my diagnoses.

So I go to get a machine. I ask for a smart card system so I can monitor my results. My DME and my doctor's nurse both wonder why in the world I would want such a thing - I can tell if it's working because I sleep better they say. When I point out that many people have sleep apnea and don't even know it, and my observations are clearly not enough to determine whether therapy is working, they reluctantly agree to upgrade me to a ResMed S8 Elite.

OSA would really suck if we didn't have the net.

Amen, Brother!

TGregg, wonderful post! I believe that most people "out there" who are prescribed "cpap" aren't interested in anything more than how to turn it on and off. But for people who want to take an active role in their own treatment, the message board is where it's at!

TGregg, good for you. Unfortunately, your story is typical of the majority of the people here on this forum. That's why we're here.