Skeptical family member doesn't think a CPAP would help--how do I let them try out my machine?

Julie wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 22, 2019 6:10 am

You might tip off his MD though, but beg them to not say where the tip came from... they can ask leading questions without mentioning the 'tip'.

Although the doctor is bound by law and custom not to discuss patients, (s)he can't prevent you from calling him(her) and volunteering all this information.

As others have said, I would not start it at 4. Sometime during the day, I would have them try on the mask and then starting at about 6, start adjusting the pressure until they said, "that's too much", then back it off by 1 or 2. Leaving the top end at 20 might be a bit of a risk for aerophagia for a first timer, but on the other hand, you don't know how high the machine will want to auto-adjust for them... Maybe warn them it *might* happen and not to freak out about it.

Even so, I think under the best conditions it takes a few nights or more to get used to pap therapy. Hope they tolerate it long enough for you to get some notable data. Good Luck!

-JD

I don't think it's possible unless you can first connect the dots for the family member and illustrate to them why they need help. I was a HUGE skeptic and seriously anti to getting therapy. However, I had different "road signs" that became increasingly difficult to ignore, showing me the way to realizing I needed help. My current therapy was probably ten years in the making. I regularly had different family members and friends telling me that either A. While sleeping, I stop breathing and then have a gigantic snore explosion emanate from me, B. I fall asleep while talking to people.

Those were the two big ones, I'd also regularly sleep drive across town but ofcourse I was alone and didn't know that was connected. I didn't know what sleep apnea really even was and what was happening to me.

And then there's all the various mental deficiencies thrown in. Once your family member realizes that he actually has a problem, and not sleeping peacefully through the night (like we all thought we were) then it would be a sweet deal to show him the mask and machine and knock down the big scary cpap monster (like my sleep coach did for me). Maybe once you get through all of that and convince your loved one to try it out, think back on your first couple weeks on the machine went for you. THAT was a hump of a learning curve to get over, I regularly woke up in the middle of the night with the head gear and hose and mask disassembled, in my hands, I'd ripped the thing off my head, for probably a week or so straight. When I put on the mask sometimes I'd lay there and let my heart rate come down before turning on the machine (which now sounds really weird and counter intuitive..duh..) I had to ready myself for it.

It's the most unnatural thing you can ask someone to do, strap this thing on your head and breathe through this tube and mask and go to sleep. Are you kidding? This is a joke, right?

They need to know all of the good that will come from therapy: Snoring stops, weight goes down, mental clarity and efficiency goes up, memory improves, dozing while driving lessens dramatically, risk for heart attack and heart disease goes down, blood pressure goes down, (for me atleast) I stopped getting stabbing cramp pains in my diaphram.

I'm in the same boat with one of my friends, I've told him he needs a sleep study just to see where his numbers are at, PLEASE...he still hasn't gotten it done. I believe in this sooo much, I'm not ashamed to talk about it with people that aren't in the club and I don't care who knows that I sleep with a goofy contraption on my face and head.

You can lead a horse to water, but they have to realize they're dying of thirst to take benefit.

I have found generally most people WILL NOT seekout medical advice from even family members. That person will have to realize there is a issue themselves and self-check themselves in. Sound the alarm all you want it doesn't matter until the person realizes their is a problem on their own.

Diotima wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 24, 2019 6:16 pm

I have found generally most people WILL NOT seekout medical advice from even family members. That person will have to realize there is a issue themselves and self-check themselves in. Sound the alarm all you want it doesn't matter until the person realizes their is a problem on their own.

Yet I'm sure we've all got family members that dish out non-stop "medical" advice. I know I do.

Janknitz wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:54 pm
On Orange is the New Black, one of the characters has a "CPAP". But it's really an oxygen concentrator being used with a CPAP mask. Clueless set designers and prop people.

Janknitz, How can anyone use a CPAP Mask directly on a Oxygen Concentrator ? When using a Concentrator with XPAP, You add a ”T” Connector between the XPAP and Hose with the Mask. I do this with my VPAP III and EVERFlo Q OPI.

The Oxygen Tubing and the XPAP Hose are different in size and their connectors have different ends and match on their own.

Oxygen Tubing and XPAP Hose Tubing CanNot Match I meant. Sorry about that

WARREN_S7__VPAP_III wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 25, 2019 4:21 pm

Janknitz wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:54 pm
On Orange is the New Black, one of the characters has a "CPAP". But it's really an oxygen concentrator being used with a CPAP mask. Clueless set designers and prop people.

Janknitz, How can AnyOne use a CPAP Mask directly on a Oxygen Concentrator ? When using a Concentrator with XPAP, You add a ”T” Connector between the XPAP and hose with the mask. I do this with My VPAP III and EVERFlo Q OPI.

The Oxygen Tubing and the XPAP Hose are different in size and their connectors have different ends and match on their own.

Because Orange is the New Black, is a TV show. What they did was created a prop, one that wouldn't have functioned, but good enough for most of their audience.