3 Month follow-up....I'm concerned

I got my CPAP back in early January after having done a home and in-lab study. It's a DreamStation. I use the P10 nasal pillows.

Last week I went to my doctor to check in and discuss progress/observations. I won't give a play by play but the one thing that seriously concerned me is that I told him I did not feel more refreshed when waking up than I did prior to using the CPAP. Without skipping a beat he goes "well, sometimes it'll take 6 months to a year and even then you may not feel any better, but I'd still encourage you to keep using it just for the physical benefits (ex. less strain on heart, better breathing, etc.)" That response got me pretty close to pissed. Then I asked him what the data from the machine showed him and I told him I could get the DreamStation's app to work for me once registered. He said..."well, I can see you're using it at a 93% rate which is good. You've only missed 1-2 nights.".... I said "ok...and...?" He said the only other thing he would tell was that, although the machine was set to 9 based on my study results, I was consistently at an 8.8. I asked him if that meant for 100% sure I didn't need higher than a 9. He said yes but then agreed to turn it up to 12.

After reading the plethora of info people have talked about getting from their machines I was shocked to know he had no other data prepared to address my concerns!! Couldn't tell me any patterns, how many times a night I relied on the machine (had apnea), what my breathing rate was...nothing!!

Then we're walking out and he said "ok, see you in a year." I said "a YEAR!?!...I just told you I'm not feeling any better! I really don't want to wait a year!"...his response "oh, ok, we can do 6 months.". And he is one of only a few doctors in this area and supposedly some grand poo-bah of a big sleep/medical org.

I could really use some advice on how to be my own doctor at this point.

Thanks!

emt1581 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:28 am

I got my CPAP back in early January after having done a home and in-lab study. It's a DreamStation. I use the P10 nasal pillows.

Thanks!

taking control is both easy and hard. start out, please, by reading here-

viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

tl;dr you are going to want to download the sleepyhead software and start posting charts here. i apologize if your post says you ARE using sleepyhead already. i skimmed your post and didn't read the whole thing.

once the experts here see your charts, they'll be able to offer advice tailored to your needs.

good luck!

zonker wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:36 am

emt1581 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:28 am

I got my CPAP back in early January after having done a home and in-lab study. It's a DreamStation. I use the P10 nasal pillows.

Thanks!

taking control is both easy and hard. start out, please, by reading here-

viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

tl;dr you are going to want to download the sleepyhead software and start posting charts here. i apologize if your post says you ARE using sleepyhead already. i skimmed your post and didn't read the whole thing.

once the experts here see your charts, they'll be able to offer advice tailored to your needs.

good luck!

You are correct, I do still need to dl sleepyhead. I had an S3 before last week and now have an S8 so I can get going with sleepyhead.

Thanks, and thanks for the link.

emt1581 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:46 am

You are correct, I do still need to dl sleepyhead. I had an S3 before last week and now have an S8 so I can get going with sleepyhead.

Thanks, and thanks for the link.

you are most welcome!

Did the doctor’s office setup the Cpap equipment for you too or did it get sent out to a DME? A lot of times when patients come in for office visits the docs don’t have the downloads on the data to even discuss. Sadly, this happens a lot. About the most he would have to look at is the basic data the cpap unit provides unless he had a tech perform a download and provide detail reports. Regardless, many Sleep docs are lazy and just push patients out the door like cattle down a chute.

Dreaming1 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:22 pm

Did the doctor’s office setup the Cpap equipment for you too or did it get sent out to a DME? A lot of times when patients come in for office visits the docs don’t have the downloads on the data to even discuss. Sadly, this happens a lot. About the most he would have to look at is the basic data the cpap unit provides unless he had a tech perform a download and provide detail reports. Regardless, many Sleep docs are lazy and just push patients out the door like cattle down a chute.

The medical equipment company in his office set me up with the machine. He had the print out from the machine and I have a copy of it as well. But compared to the info I've seen shared from sleepyhead it was a joke.

Welcome to the "failed by the doctors" club, that's why we're here.