CPAPtalk.com

chunkyfrog wrote:I believe that in SOME clinics, overtitration is the rule.
CYA fails to consider comfort.
At the very least, we need to be able to check our ever-changing pressure needs--if only at home.

Absolutely!

My sleep study was a split study, and during the titration, I only did short stints on my back. So, they knew what worked well on my side, but had to guess for my back, hence the 11-17 range. But I was lucky, and it works well for me. My ahi is almost always under 1.5, and the spikes past 15 are 2-3 a night max, maybe totalling 5 minutes. I do believe that if my pressure were topped at 14, I would stay on my back longer and have a lot more events. The pressure going up bothers me a little bit, so I tend to roll over, so it prevents events in a different way.

There are also times when we may need different settings. Medication change. Cold/cough/allergies, etc. Position change in sleep due to injury/illness. Weight gain/loss. Rather than waste time and money on sleep studies, it is nice to be able to look at data, make educated choices, and then test our choices and see how well they work.

Around 5 times in 12 years. Mostly when I got my second a APAP, I played around with the settings, new toy and such, got in trouble changing too many settings at one time, I got lost in what was happening. A friend Den (Wolfman) helped set me straight. All in all I've been 14 cm to 15 cm for 12 years, went back to my orgional CPAP (A Tank), trying to wear it out, it won't wear out. The APAP new from cpap dot com, sets in the wings to take over still almost New, plus another one to back it up.

A lifetime supply! Jim

I recently started changing the clinical settings. It helped a lot. My auto sense machine self adjusts to about 9, so I set it to start there. Also Adjusted the EPR (exhaust pressure relief) until I could breathe well. Adjusted humidity to eliminate water droplets in mask.

I have been using a Resmed Air Sense 10 Autosense with an Amaraview full face cushion for about a year.
I was getting up about once an hour all night.

Then realized that the real problem is that the mask forced me to sleep on my back.
I have bronchitis and produce thick fleghm which I cannot clear from my throat when on my back. Actually, I can't swallow even saliva when on my back. I was in the hospital a while back, and the nurses said I would stop breathing for up to 3 minutes.

About 6 months ago i bought a Swift FX mask. It works great, but the air exhaust is very annoying. Slept great some nights, hardly at all on other nites.

Tried a dreamware mask. The side tubes kept me awake.

Bought a Resmed P-10 mask. Works great. I can even push my face into the pillow.

My insurance only supplied me with the mask and no extra pillows for the first 6 months. After about 2 months, the pillow collapsed, and the head gear became stiff, and uncomfortable. Possibly because I am now using a SO Clean machine.
I found pillows and head gear on eBay.

Now, my cpap machine fan went crazy. Since it was under warranty, they replaced it for free. I asked if the ozone from the So Clean could have caused the problem, and my supplier said no.

I have now made an adapter for the end of the hose, and disconnect the hose from the cpap in the morning, and connect the hose to the So Clean. Then I wash the water chamber by hand. That way no ozone goes thru the cpap.

Using the So Clean for the hose has had a dramatic improvement for my breathing.

I challenge you to stop using SC on your hose x a week and see if you feel any worse. Ever hear of the placebo effect? Do you realize that a great number of people here never clean their hoses at all - in decades - apart from maybe a twice yearly rinse, etc? You've brainwashed yourself into thinking the SC has some profound effect on things, but you're just wrong.

Because a placebo isn't 'working', it's just feeding an expensive delusion.

Julie wrote:Because a placebo isn't 'working', it's just feeding an expensive delusion.

And you feel it is your role in society to keep people from spending their money how they wish and using things they believe are beneficial, no matter what your opinion of their selected device is?

SC is not a placebo.
It is a SCAM.
Good placebos alleviate psychomatic symptoms,
but must be AFFORDABLE, and cause NO HARM.
SC fails on both counts.
Any patronage they receive is wasteful.
Waste is not harmless.

chunkyfrog wrote:SC is not a placebo.
It is a SCAM.
Good placebos alleviate psychomatic symptoms,
but must be AFFORDABLE, and cause NO HARM.
SC fails on both counts.
Any patronage they receive is wasteful.
Waste is not harmless.

They may have stopped feeding their pets, to pay for that new billfold cleaner. Not many have that kind of money to waste, but they still do. Jim

Crap. I find myself agreeing with xx... I fear that I will lose my libtard staus. That ought to wreck my sleep

TASmart wrote:Crap. I find myself agreeing with xx... I fear that I will lose my libtard staus. That ought to wreck my sleep

NA! It's a lifetime membership, read the card, right hand bottom. no expiree, no learn! Jim

First, I am no expert on aerophagia, but did find that I get it when my chin hangs down towards my chest while I am sleeping. Adjusting the pillows so that this does not happen (it was suggested by other forum members) resolved that problem.

As to changing the settings on the machine, I think most people on this board have done it to improve therapy. Many people abandon cpap long before their doc appointment because they need their problems resolved NOW, not in 2 months and they get no help over the phone (because the office can't bill for the time, usually).

As mentioned, there are no cpap police checking what you are doing because you and your family members can freely change the settings.

My sleep doc entered my self-modified settings into my permanent record.
I like him--he's a keeper.

TASmart wrote:Crap. I find myself agreeing with xx... I fear that I will lose my libtard staus. That ought to wreck my sleep

I was about to say the same thing when I saw your post. Ya beat me to it.

If a placebo works, IT WORKS! It's a great word and is used in many different ways about many things. It's called the placebo effect -- if it works, IT WORKS!

I listen to relaxing music when I decide it's time to sleep. It works for me. Would some call that the placebo effect? Who cares! And it costs money that I feel I can afford... and it WORKS! Is it the placebo effect? Who cares!

Julie wrote:I challenge you to stop using SC on your hose x a week and see if you feel any worse. Ever hear of the placebo effect? Do you realize that a great number of people here never clean their hoses at all - in decades - apart from maybe a twice yearly rinse, etc? You've brainwashed yourself into thinking the SC has some profound effect on things, but you're just wrong.

Julie,

Phil may be wrong about the effect of SC has on his various situations but I am curious as to why you reacted the way you did. People simply view situations differently. Also, he didn't advocate his experience applied to everyone as he was just sharing his situation.

49er