titration, Respironics & no report

Went for my titration last night, and didn't sleep much again.
They didn't want me to use my own masks, they only use Respironics
equipment.
The tech was much nicer, showed me three masks to select from. I
chose the Optilife. It wasn't so bad, after I got home & looked at
it I think I can configure it even better.
So now I have three masks & no machine.
I was on an auto bipap. (probably set to cpap) Although I do have
very mild copd. I woke up several times with the feeling that I
wasn't getting enough air. Like I couldn't get a breath. The final
time I woke up was because air was blasting. Does that mean Respironics
may not be a good machine for me? Or did they set my range wrong?
I asked for my reports, but was told main office has to send them.
Tech says she thinks I slept long enough, but isn't certain. Took me
forever to get to sleep.

allergyridden wrote:...So now I have three masks & no machine.
I was on an auto bipap. (probably set to cpap) Although I do have
very mild copd. I woke up several times with the feeling that I
wasn't getting enough air. Like I couldn't get a breath. The final
time I woke up was because air was blasting. Does that mean Respironics
may not be a good machine for me? Or did they set my range wrong?
I asked for my reports, but was told main office has to send them.
Tech says she thinks I slept long enough, but isn't certain. Took me
forever to get to sleep.

I feel your pain - 3 masks and no machine - and I laughed. I did a post a short time ago where we gave a crown/plaque to those who had the most masks. I think you deserve one for having the most masks and no machine!



I have no idea what brand of machine I used in titration. In my case, and in most other cases, I believe the tech has control of the pressure and delivers it in response to what the sensors that are glued all over the body are telling them. Then they come up with your ideal pressure - which for me was 5 - 15. I don't think your experience in titration should determine what brand of machine you want or need.

There are many posts here on the ins and outs of many machines available today. Do a search and read about them so that you can have an idea of what you want. From what I've read, most doctors prescribe BPAP, CPAP, APAP and the like versus what kind of machine you'll get. Then your DME will choose the machine you get. Here's where you can get the machine you want with a little diligence.

For example, the sleep lab said I needed a flexible pressure therefore I was prescribed a C-Flex. I have asthma and have a hard time breathing when my asthma is flared up, and found out there was a new Respironics machine out called the A-Flex. My doctor then changed my prescription to the A-Flex. I love it because it doesn't feel like air is being pushed at me, but that it breaths with me when I'm awake. It pushes air when I need it when asleep and my numbers are quite good from 1.x to 5.0 most of the time.

Best wishes!

I know how you feel! It also took me a while to fall asleep. Part of it was the hospital surroundings. Part of it was the excitment on my part at finally being able to sleep with a machine to see what it was like. I didn't go into REM at all! My doc perecribed an APAP for two weeks with an open range. That narrowed my pressure settings down a bit. When I had trouble with straignt CPAP, I went back on the auto. They may do a similar tryal period with you too. IT makes it different being in your own house, in your own bed. If they give you an auto, don't let them take it back!

allergyridden wrote:I woke up several times with the feeling that I
wasn't getting enough air. Like I couldn't get a breath.

If that was during the first half of the titration night, it may have been because the pressure was still pretty low. If the tech started the titration down at a pressure of 4 and worked up slowly (as they should, as far as I know) you probably really weren't getting "enough air" to breathe comfortably.

allergyridden wrote:The final time I woke up was because air was blasting. Does that mean Respironics may not be a good machine for me? Or did they set my range wrong?

Not necessarily either of those things. Could be that's the pressure it takes to keep your airway open. The tech was handling the pressure changes, so no matter what machine was being used in a straight "cpap" titration, pressure is pressure. At this point there's no reason to think the brand of machine would make a difference in the "blasting" air you felt during your last awakening.

Of course, the brand of machine you use at home could make a huge difference in "comfort", especially if you end up being prescribed a rather high pressure.

I'd want a Respironics M series Auto with A-flex or the Respironics BiPAP Auto with Bi-flex. Either of those machines is about as comfortable as a person can get, imho. Either of them can be set to operate like straight single pressure "cpap" too, if it turned out that a single pressure suited you best.

When a person feels like pressure is too much, it's almost always difficulty EXHALING against the pressure. High pressure when inhaling isn't usually a problem. It's breathing OUT against the pressure that can feel like being blasted.

A-flex and Bi-flex both provide essentially the same kind of "natural breathing" feel, dropping the pressure some at the beginning of each exhalation and smoothing out the transistion to regular pressure when you inhale.

allergyridden wrote:I asked for my reports, but was told main office has to send them.

When the reports are ready, do ask for the full report that was sent by the tech to the sleep lab's doctor...not just a one page summary report dictated by the sleep lab doctor when he writes the prescription. The full report will have charts and histograms showing things like the stages of sleep you were in, the pressures used, the number of events (apneas and hypopneas) you had at each pressure, the positions you were sleeping in, etc. Quite a bit more information than just a one or two page summary report which is what's usually given to the patient, if they get anything at all.