CPAPtalk.com

Perchancetodream wrote:Den, that was my initial reaction to this thread. But then it occurred to me, how many of us have seen this attitude in the flesh?

At the risk of generalizing, I have seen the same defensive "I'm right because I am older, more educated, more experienced and because I said so'" from parents, teachers and doctors.

There is still a strong tendency for medical practioners, of any level, to treat patients like children instead of adult health care consumers. And it seems that the less competent they are the more they resent a patient who knows how to spell his condition, much less participate in its resolution.

And they only get away with it because we let them.

Susan

Susan,

One reason I tend to think "Hit & Run Sniper" is that the posts just came out of "nowhere". The initial post in this thread sounds too "black & white" for somebody who supposedly has been around this therapy for some time. Kind of like the person has been hiding under a rock and is unaware of what's happening in this therapy.

Another suspicion......he/she may be a member of the ASAA forum (maybe an Admin) having "fun" over here because it gets boring over there not being able to actually HELP people with real advice other than "Go see your doctor."
Heck, ANYBODY can claim to have all kinds of credentials on the Internet.

Sorry if I offended any of you folks who frequent both forums.


Den

[quote="bear1mdr"]You asked for a reason not to tape your mouth closed so here is one reason that should make sense to most of you.

If you are using a nasal mask with your mouth taped closed and the device malfunctions or the power goes out what will happen? Well, other than the obvious events here's one you may not have though of... you continue to sleep as though your machine is still functioning properly and instead of your exhaled CO2 being flushed from your mask as it should be you re-breath your own exhalation for the entire night. What effect do you think that will have on your SPO2? Get the point?

After six years of higher education in respiratory care and 20 years in the DME industry and having set up, instructed, and followed over 1,000 CPAP/BiPAP patients personally I kind of doubt I am "in for a serious educational "adjustment"."

Opinions express by me on this board are not to be considered as medical advice and you should always consult your doctor about any medical conditions or symptoms you may be experiencing.

Wow

This guy really ruffled some feathers here today, I just got on and read this post and can you say CPAP POLICE i agree with those who say he came over from the other site to yank some chains here.

Dale

If he came here just to yank some chains, it certainly worked! I just counted 32 posted responses (some of them quite long)...and that's just since his last post. And this thread is less than six hours old! Amazing...you all are definitely a passionate bunch!

Just catching up with the posts and felt like adding my two cents. I've got Kaiser and they don't do PSGs to check for sleep apnea, except for in rare occasions. All they do is send you home with a pulse oximeter for a night and see if your O2 leves drop a bunch of times. If it does they proclaim that you have sleep apnea and then send you home with an APAP machine (the same one I currently own). They then download the data off the card and determine your pressure (using the same software that I own). Voila, you get a CPAP machine set to whatever pressure the APAP decided in a week. And good luck getting follow up. I finally threatened to sue and am getting a real PSG. The sleep tech thinks I was given the wrong machine and he figured out the pressure was wrong (2 weeks after I did)...hahahah.

Sarah

Yes I did mean to be rude with my remark about his RT crap.

Just as rude as his original post comanding us not to adjust our machines and comanding us not to tape.

As for his years of education, I would be willing to wager that there are numerous people on this forum with many more years of education than an RT. I would guess Engineers with MS and PhD's and Scientists etc.

As for experience, I for one have well over 500 days of CPAP experience. How does that compare to RTs, some of whom have never used the machine for real?

Enough said and I intend to let this thread die (or go on if others wish).

[quote="snoregirl"]Yes I did mean to be rude with my remark about his RT crap.

Just as rude as his original post comanding us not to adjust our machines and comanding us not to tape.

As for his years of education, I would be willing to wager that there are numerous people on this forum with many more years of education than an RT. I would guess Engineers with MS and PhD's and Scientists etc.

As for experience, I for one have well over 500 days of CPAP experience. How does that compare to RTs, some of whom have never used the machine for real?

Enough said and I intend to let this thread die (or go on if others wish).

First of all, I'm not addressing this to any one person in particular. It's merely my experience going back to being a SysOp in pre-internet days. (Anybody else remember GEnie?) In short:

Way too many people don't understand online dynamics.

It's always, always, always beneficial when you come to a new board to do a lot of reading to learn about the culture of the people before you chime in. The exact same statements are often taken radically different ways both by individuals and by communities (which have a culture made up of the individuals in it--it's a gestalt thing ).

Another thing to remember when writing online: 90% of communication is non-verbal. If writing is sloppy, then misinterpretation is easy. When you're talking to somebody, you have the benefit of body language and changes in the tone in a person's voice. In writing, the reader has to guess if the writer isn't clear. If you want your thoughts conveyed properly, you're most likely doing yourself a disservice by not thinking about how your message will be received.

Doug.

Oh yay, a puzzle!

bear1mdr wrote:I am new to this board and can not believe how many of you are adjusting your pressure based on your devices software program. This is a very unreliable practice and I strongly encourage you all to discontinue self adjusting your CPAP/BiPAP pressure based solely on the software readouts.

bear1mdr wrote:I don't know what bdp522 was thinking when she made that suggestion (mouth taping) but as an RT, I do not recommend that anyone try this.

bear1mdr wrote:You might have some luck with the "CPAP PRO".

bear1mdr wrote:After six years of higher education in respiratory care and 20 years in the DME industry...

What a coincidence! The most controversial discussions!

I don't think this person is a DME because they wouldn't get $$$ from pushing CPAPPRO.

For that matter, I don't think they're even an RT because CPAPPRO is just plain stupid.

I don't think it's an ASAA conspiracy (assuming that they are interested in conspiracies) because this generates more publicity, and the conspiracy would be to generate less.

So clearly, the only remaining possibility is...

...a ladies clothing internet retailer!:

Who's bear1mdr?

Or just the CPAPPRO salespeople again.

SAG

Or maybe a former Nordstrom's employee.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZbear1mdr

Perhaps being an RT doesn't pay enough money and this person has to "moonlight" in various other areas......maybe STILL flipping burgers.....
"Would you like fries with that?"


Good find, Dave.


Den

I don't believe that bear1mdr would fare to well in a debate with SAG!

http://www.cpapauction.com/auction-list ... ilife.html

I found this interesting:


I am also willing to walk you through the set up process over the phone and answer any questions you may have.

mommaw wrote:http://www.cpapauction.com/auction-list ... ilife.html

I found this interesting:


I am also willing to walk you through the set up process over the phone and answer any questions you may have.

Yep. Interesting indeed ... probably setting up his patients with used machines from those who quit and selling the new ones on the auction. The Vantage I "purchased" from my DME had like 40 hours on it .. it was not "new in box".

http://www.cpapauction.com/browse-cpap. ... mToShow=30

Since the box is unopened I assume then that the Buyer will get BOTH manuals (meaning the Clinician's setup manual as well as the User's manual).

So,

If you have a patient for whome full face masks will not seal without intense pain due to their personal facial geometry and they open their mouths when asleep, what advice to you give them? What is your solution?

I cannot wear full face. Doesn't work! I have tried every one on the market except the soyala brand. I have tried chin straps, both major brands. They don't keep the air from coming out of my mouth.

Tell me. What is my other option to keep my therapy from going out my mouth (and waking me all night long?). IF you can give me an option I will try it! I would rather not tape. I hate putting it on my mouth. If you can give me an option that will work, I will try it tonight.

Also, my doctor fully blesses any adjustments I make to my therapy. He recognizes that I am self educated and trusts that if I run into real trouble and need another sleep study, I will be smart enough to come in and ask for one.

I had a tonsilectomy recently. My pressure needs were HALVED. Was I supposed to continue at the more uncomfortable higher pressure until I could get another sleep study when I so obviously am sleeping well and doing fine and my machine is reporting low ahi's with my machine set the way it is now.

You may not be aware that there is some research into the efficacy of auto-titrating machines and that they are quite accurate at determining a patients needs, once other sleep disorders have been eliminated.

You may not have spent much time on online forums. You are going to meet all kinds of people here. Not everyone is going to react the way you want them to. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round. You have to just disregard any unsavory comments and move on if you are going to get anything out of the time you spend online.

What did you expect the response to be when you made such broad proclamations as though we are all idiots? Do you think we are trying to hurt ourselves? We are trying to help ourselves because the medical community has let so many of us down!

Jen