Still Snoring

rested gal wrote:

techgirl wrote:btw... a note to EVERYONE... since you are unable to run an eeg/eog/emg/ecg on yourself, let alone have an oximeter at your house, DO NOT CHANGE YOUR PRESSURE SETTING WITHOUT A DOCTOR'S ORDER!! since you are unable to watch yourself sleep, it is more of a dangerous move than a smart one to change the pressure on your own.

techgirl, I think you're overreacting.
I agree with every word Den (Wulfman) wrote in response to your post.

btw... a note to TECHGIRL... when you have time, you might want to take a look at this research study:

Link to a study that concluded, "yes."
"Can Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Titrate Their Own Continuous Positive Airway Pressure?"
http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/reprint/167/5/716

Whatever you decide to do, No REM, welcome to the board! It's a lively one.

rested gal, in general I concur with what you say, with one exception. I think after the initial titration study is done, this can be a safe thing to do. However, before that there may be too many issues that are unknown. That first titration study should clearly show if there are significant problems (periodic breathing, central apneas, mixed apneas, or worse yet an interaction with the heart). If no problems were found and (as in this case where No REM did this) you gain the input of your healthcare team, it certainly makes sense.

And may I also offer my greetings, No REM. You are doing the right thing. You are working with your doctor. You are taking charge of your therapy to make certain your needs are met. That will help you better use and comply with the therapy. It will allow you to reclaim you life. Good for you!

I agree that adjusting your own pressure (within reason) is relatively safe. Then again, I only had one central on my sleep study, so it's not really an issue for me, which is where I agree with John. As long as you know you have the garden variety of obstructive sleep apnea, I don't see the issue since it is OUR therapy.

Welcome No REM.

Thank you all for your advice. my results from my sleep study did show i stopped breathing for as long a 30secs. more than once. that is probably not good...??? what i am planning to do is ask my Dr. if i can make the pressure change myself, if he says i will need to go to Apria to do it, i am doing it myself. Yeah right, wait 3 months for someone at the DME to pick up the phone, all the while missing out on some good sleep. Also going to ask for copy of the sleep study results.
thanks again for the great advice and the warm welcome
happy snoozing.

JohnBFisher wrote:rested gal, in general I concur with what you say, with one exception. I think after the initial titration study is done, this can be a safe thing to do. However, before that there may be too many issues that are unknown. That first titration study should clearly show if there are significant problems (periodic breathing, central apneas, mixed apneas, or worse yet an interaction with the heart). If no problems were found and (as in this case where No REM did this) you gain the input of your healthcare team, it certainly makes sense.

And may I also offer my greetings, No REM. You are doing the right thing. You are working with your doctor. You are taking charge of your therapy to make certain your needs are met. That will help you better use and comply with the therapy. It will allow you to reclaim you life. Good for you!

I'm not sure that exception is true. I was prescribed an APAP and never had a titration study due to an intolerance to the sleep lab (never slept enough). Anyway, I can look back at my first week of therapy data and the machine working on a range of 4-20 immediately averaged the pressure I use today (10). I have since narrowed the range to 9-12, but have never been back to a sleep lab. In my opinion, the auto-titrating machines are good enough to do the job that patients are being asked to pay thousands of dollars to accomplish. There is certainly some value in sleep monitoring by professionals if those results end up unsatisfactory, but I disagree the average OSA patient requires professional titration if they are given a data-capable machine, and some basic knowledge in understanding how it works.

We were on a rental for 13months ending in Oct, and neither DME or Medicare ever asked to read the card. We did have one followup visit with our Sleep Dr after about the first month just to have it on record that he was in agreement with our adjusting our own settings according to daily data. We've never seen him since. Also wanted to mention that my husband also started with the ComfortGelFF and it did not work for him so we switched to the UltraMirageFF,of course everyone is different . I do remember that we needed to replace our UM mask every 3months for the first half-year or so because of all the fiddling and improper fitting until we settled into a better routine. Now we've had this last one since June and it's still going strong. So you might want to think about a replacement CG mask or a different one if your insurance allows. Or you could try cpapauction.com for some good buys. Good luck.