CPAPtalk.com

CPAP By Proxy wrote:I mentioned that I slept one night with mom's APAP to convince her that it wasn't going to kill her (she's 84). I slept like a LOG! It leaked a little but it didn't wake me. It went up to about 10 and I had about 3.3 apneas per hour. So, I asked my doc for a home sleep study. I had an AHI of 33. So now, I'm not in the CPAP by Proxy category anymore. I'm on APAP.

I use the same equipment mom does (Airsense 10 machine and the F10 for her mask). Right from the beginning, I have had no problems. The most important thing it has done for me is take away the FOG I was living in. I had such a hard time thinking and remembering anything. (I just thought it was all the stress I was dealing with) The fog went away almost immediately. I've been so busy worrying and caring for mom, I haven't really dwelt on my therapy. It works, I'm glad I discovered that I had OA because I KNOW most of mom's problems stem from untreated OA.

I understand your problems with sleeping on your side. This all started for us when Mom fell and broke her hip last August. It took a LONG time to get everything sorted out. She was in two different hospitals (actually 3 if you count the one night she spent in the rehab hospital). The first hospital released her (to a rehab hospital, essentially a care home) without realizing she was in acute congestive heart failure. I'm just stymied by this as the very next day, when they weighted her at the rehab hospital, this normally 113 lb little lady weighted 143lb, she was retaining 30 lbs of fluid and could barely breathe. So, off she went to another hospital. They got a cardiologist and a pulmologist on board and determined that she also had Atrial Fibrillation and severe right atrial enlargement along with the CHF. And, without a doubt, the afib and the right atrial enlargement were caused by her untreated OS which she has probably had for years.

Mom's hip has done a fairly good job of healing, however, she can't sleep on her left side because it hurts. And, she can't sleep on her back because then she has tons of OA. But, she is adjusting. She sleeps with a backpack full of towels so that she won't roll over on her back. Me, I toss and turn and sleep on both sides and my back, but not on my stomach. Just not a sleep position for me. I think others here are stomach sleepers and will probably have some advice for you.

One other thing I wanted to say, mom is doing well on the therapy, for the most part. The FIRST thing I noticed when she started therapy is that her mind is BACK! I really thought she was in the beginnings of senile dementia. NOT! It was the lack of O2 at night. Now that she isn't desaturating every night, she is really with it. She is even back to driving (but only around our small town).

I was really worried about our first meeting with the DME guy too. But, it turned out really well. He was very helpful and cooperative. I also insisted that we get the autoset model so that I could track mom's therapy with ResScan software. (I didn't tell the DME I was going to do that). They had no objections to giving her the latest Resmed autoset. Altho the DME is slower than a snail when shipping supplies, on the whole, I haven't had any other problems with them.

I REALLY recommend tracking your therapy with software. Having the feedback every morning REALLY helps mom. She sits at the computer with me every morning and goes over whatever happened during the night. We did make changes to her therapy. It was set to 4 to 20. She had tons of apneas while the machine built up pressure so, little by little, I raised the bottom pressure. That brought down the number of apneas considerably. It is now set to 10 to 17. I eventually brought down the top pressure because she couldn't handle 20 cm H20. That mask would go flying across the room every time!!

On a good night her AHI (at her current settings) is 5.5. On a not so good night, it's around 9 to 10. (That would be considered mild sleep apnea). We HAD to make some sort of compromise because mom just couldn't breathe OUT (even with EPR set to 3) when the pressure got up to 20.

You can handle all of this. I didn't have any knowledge of sleep apnea or dealing with doctors and etc. I've learned! You will too.

((HUGS))

archangle wrote:

JV1967 wrote:I don't know if I am locked out of the settings on the machine. I suppose I will just have to ask them when they get here. I don't want to mess with it too much, because I want the therapy to work correctly. By the way, in an earlier post, I had mentioned how cute your avatar is; the Pupito. I don't know if you saw that, but the picture makes me smile.

Taco puppy sends puppy kisses, too.

Don't ask them about being locked out. You are not locked out. You can easily change the settings yourself. Asking will only stir up trouble.

The medical mafia believes in the mushroom theory. Keep them in the dark, feed them manure, and when their heads pop up, cut them off. If you ask, they'll tell you it's impossible, it's illegal, that the machine will explode and that it will blow you up like a balloon and cause your eyes to pop out.

No need to stir up the lowlifes by asking questions or mentioning that you're not going to be a good little peasant who does what she's told by your godlike medical betters.

CPAP By Proxy wrote:I mentioned that I slept one night with mom's APAP to convince her that it wasn't going to kill her (she's 84). I slept like a LOG! It leaked a little but it didn't wake me. It went up to about 10 and I had about 3.3 apneas per hour. So, I asked my doc for a home sleep study. I had an AHI of 33. So now, I'm not in the CPAP by Proxy category anymore. I'm on APAP.

I use the same equipment mom does (Airsense 10 machine and the F10 for her mask). Right from the beginning, I have had no problems. The most important thing it has done for me is take away the FOG I was living in. I had such a hard time thinking and remembering anything. (I just thought it was all the stress I was dealing with) The fog went away almost immediately. I've been so busy worrying and caring for mom, I haven't really dwelt on my therapy. It works, I'm glad I discovered that I had OA because I KNOW most of mom's problems stem from untreated OA.

I understand your problems with sleeping on your side. This all started for us when Mom fell and broke her hip last August. It took a LONG time to get everything sorted out. She was in two different hospitals (actually 3 if you count the one night she spent in the rehab hospital). The first hospital released her (to a rehab hospital, essentially a care home) without realizing she was in acute congestive heart failure. I'm just stymied by this as the very next day, when they weighted her at the rehab hospital, this normally 113 lb little lady weighted 143lb, she was retaining 30 lbs of fluid and could barely breathe. So, off she went to another hospital. They got a cardiologist and a pulmologist on board and determined that she also had Atrial Fibrillation and severe right atrial enlargement along with the CHF. And, without a doubt, the afib and the right atrial enlargement were caused by her untreated OS which she has probably had for years.

Mom's hip has done a fairly good job of healing, however, she can't sleep on her left side because it hurts. And, she can't sleep on her back because then she has tons of OA. But, she is adjusting. She sleeps with a backpack full of towels so that she won't roll over on her back. Me, I toss and turn and sleep on both sides and my back, but not on my stomach. Just not a sleep position for me. I think others here are stomach sleepers and will probably have some advice for you.

One other thing I wanted to say, mom is doing well on the therapy, for the most part. The FIRST thing I noticed when she started therapy is that her mind is BACK! I really thought she was in the beginnings of senile dementia. NOT! It was the lack of O2 at night. Now that she isn't desaturating every night, she is really with it. She is even back to driving (but only around our small town).

I was really worried about our first meeting with the DME guy too. But, it turned out really well. He was very helpful and cooperative. I also insisted that we get the autoset model so that I could track mom's therapy with ResScan software. (I didn't tell the DME I was going to do that). They had no objections to giving her the latest Resmed autoset. Altho the DME is slower than a snail when shipping supplies, on the whole, I haven't had any other problems with them.

I REALLY recommend tracking your therapy with software. Having the feedback every morning REALLY helps mom. She sits at the computer with me every morning and goes over whatever happened during the night. We did make changes to her therapy. It was set to 4 to 20. She had tons of apneas while the machine built up pressure so, little by little, I raised the bottom pressure. That brought down the number of apneas considerably. It is now set to 10 to 17. I eventually brought down the top pressure because she couldn't handle 20 cm H20. That mask would go flying across the room every time!!

On a good night her AHI (at her current settings) is 5.5. On a not so good night, it's around 9 to 10. (That would be considered mild sleep apnea). We HAD to make some sort of compromise because mom just couldn't breathe OUT (even with EPR set to 3) when the pressure got up to 20.

You can handle all of this. I didn't have any knowledge of sleep apnea or dealing with doctors and etc. I've learned! You will too.

((HUGS))

archangle wrote:Hugs

Buck up. Get a positive attitude.

Tell yourself, "I CAN be an A**HOLE" when I need to be. Make them do it right.

Don't worry about the rental machine bit. If you need to adjust the settings, it's easy to do. It's unlikely anyone will notice, but even if they to *$#&@! them.

However, don't go making changes willy-nilly. You can screw up your therapy if you do it wrong.

chunkyfrog wrote:I would bet my cute green butt that due to this infuriating "female problems" mentality,
a lot more women than men are going to the wrong doctor--and many need to get a better doctor before it kills them!
Even women doctors can suffer from this handicap, as the worst doctor I ever had dismissed my disabling cramps as something "I have to learn to live with". Guess what? I had huge fibroids! WTF was WRONG with her?