How do you change pressure settings

I have a RemStar Pro CFlex machine and have it set on 8. I changed to a new mask, FF HC431A, from the Ultra Mirage FF mask. The Mirage was leaking too much. Anyway with the new mask it doesn't feel like there is enough air pressure as before and I'm real tired when I wake up and also during the day. Does anyone know how to change the pressure settings?

The new mask will not have any affect on the pressure setting you require. Were you feeling OK using the Mirage? You said it was leaking too much, this will usually cause you to get bad treatment. If anything the new mask (that leaks less) should make you feel better. Are you sure the new mask is working better than the old?

What you are saying is perfectly logical, but I definitely feel more tired and it does not seem to leak much that I have noticed. What I have noticed is that it feels like I do not have enough air to breathe. It seems like there is more air flowing out of the exhalation port than on the Mirage.

Tom,

The machine will compensate for the mask exhaust. If the mask leaks do not wake you there is really no way of knowing whether or not the mask is leaking without looking at the data.

Take the plug out of the back of the machine and then plug it back in while holding down the two gray buttons until it beeps it will be in the clinitians mode. You can use these same buttons to toggle thru the settings menus.

You can experiment a little but I wouldn't stray more than 1-2cm above your recommended pressure without consulting with your Doc. If the small increase in pressure does not help, I would talk to the Doc anyway about why you are not doing well.

wading thru the muck! wrote:Take the plug out of the back of the machine and then plug it back in while holding down the two gray buttons until it beeps it will be in the clinitians mode. You can use these same buttons to toggle thru the settings menus..

I have a REMstar Plus but want to get a PB 420 for my trip to Scotland.
I wasn't given my settings. If I go thru the settings above and press the on/off (enter) to get the next screens, will it be obvious what each screen means so I can set or have set on the new machine?

I'd suggest that anyone who decides to walk through a therapy set up menu, arm themselves with:

1. a magnifying glass - to be sure you can clearly see the symbols or letters in each screen.

2. pencil and paper - to write down each setting, each symbol, each set of letters, "as is", in each display on the screen, WITHOUT MAKING ANY CHANGES during the first walk though...just in case future tweaking causes you to want to go back to the way the DME set it up.

Be sure you know which button on the machine does what, before going into the therapy menu. You don't want to accidentally change something by pushing a button that you thought would simply take you to the next screen.

Provided you've first used the "secret code" to get the therapy set up menu to be displayed in the window on top of the machine....use only these buttons to move through the menu screens without making any changes:

On Respironics machines, the right/left arrow buttons on top of the machine take you from screen to screen, as Wader said, without making changes to the settings.

On the Puritan Bennett machines, the "Information Access" button (has a slanted symbol on it) takes you from screen to screen without making changes to the settings.

Actually, it's very simple to just step lightly through those machines' menus, if all a person wants to do is look at the settings and take note of them. Just be sure you know which button is which.

Final resort if you get confused and just want out of any machine's menu - but can't remember how to "exit" from the menu - just unplug the machine. When you plug it back in, it will be as usual; providing you didn't accidentally make a change by using other buttons while you were going through the menu.

Oh, (obligatory, sarcastic disclaimer of sorts coming...) be sure to ask your doctor for permission to stroll through the menu. You can be trusted with a full bottle of tablets sitting on your nightstand, which, if all taken at once might kill you. You can be trusted to learn how to administer insulin to yourself, which done wrong could kill you. But the medical world has deemed that you aren't capable of looking at the settings on a glorified leaf blower. After all, just like a small child, you can't be trusted not to "tamper" with the settings!! But the DME who fits you with an unsuitable mask is trusted with the keys.

rested gal wrote:On Respironics machines, the right/left arrow buttons on top of the machine take you from screen to screen, as Wader said, without making changes to the settings.

Okay, since I don't want to change the setting by mistake, please make things clear for me.

On the Remstar Plus, there are three button below the little display.
The single button on the right is the power on/off.
The upper button on the left is the humidifier on/off.
The lower button on the left is the ramp button.

In normal user mode, the power button goes to the next screen or is the "enter" button.
The two buttons on the left are up/down buttons to scroll thru the settings on each screen.

In tech setup mode, are you saying the buttons work differently?

Way to go rested gal!!!! Absolutely the best disclaimer I have ever seen on this board! You rock!!

I wish I could think of all the pearls I've read from everyone else to combine into a paragraph or two... Will start with:

Headline: Wizards of Wind continue to insist layperson incapable of adjusting glorified leaf blower.

Thanks, Guest! I should have said, "On the Respironics autopap the right/left arrow buttons...etc."

In tech setup mode, are you saying the buttons work differently?

Yes, buttons can work differently in setup mode.

I dug the info below out of my computer from tidbits others have sent me. I've not used either of those machines myself, so hope they're correct.

To walk through the therapy setup menu of the Plus and the Pro without making changes:
_______________________________

Respironics REMstar Plus CPAP:
"To skip this setting or continue, press the right user button."
"Press the pressure start/stop button to exit the menu, or press the right user button to scroll through the settings again."

(my note: If the only "user button" on the right is the on/off button, I guess the on/off button is indeed the way to go to next screen... performing like an "Enter" key, as you said, Guest. "Ramp" and "humidifier" buttons would make changes to the settings.)
_______________________

Respironics REMstar Pro CPAP (I suppose this would apply to the Pro 2 also):

"During the following process, press the left user button to confirm a correct setting, press the right user button to change an incorrect setting. Holding the right user button down will cause the values to change more quickly. You can also use the humidifier or ramp button for up and down adjustments.
If the setting is correct, press the button below 'Yes' to continue to the next setting."

"At the end of the settings, the display will read 'Save and Exit?' Pressing the button under 'Yes' will exit the Setup Menu; pressing the button under 'No' will start it over."
_____________________________

LOL, neversleeps!!

_____________________________________
Disclaimer: Whether you received a clinician's manual with your machine or read somewhere about how to change therapy settings, it's advisable to consult with your doctor to see if he/she thinks it's ok for you to make setting change decisions on your own.

I've been using a FisherPaykel HC221 with a Breeze nasal pillow mask. My pressure was at 12. I was recently retested and the technician said I was better at 15. The F&P 221 was easily reset by turning a little button with a slotted screwdriver. I felt much better when I reset the machine. Now the DME has supplied me with a Fisher&Paykel HC234 which does not have the little adjusting screw and guess what? Yup! The pressure is still set at 12. Does anybody know how to adjust this model? I hate having to go back the technician, doctor and DME just to get this thing adjusted.

Thanks
Ron

...on a glorified leaf blower.

RG,

Priceless!!

Your pressure is a prescription, and as a clinician, I would only be allowed to provide the directions to change a CPAP if a physician wrote an order and told me to teach a patient how to change the pressure. There is a very good reasons that they don't teach this to patients.

If you give yourself too much air, you could sleep even worse because it can cause "stomach bloating" a very real side effect of too much air pressure. I experienced this myself. And if someone has a physical condition such as emphysema, lung cancer, etc. it could cause more problems than stomach bloating if your turn up your pressure and don't need it. Your doctor will work with you on your air pressure if you go back and tell him that you're not getting therapeutic benefit.

Beyond that, your exhaustion could be due to something else besides sleep apnea, and your doctor needs to know that your waking up unrefreshed. There is a condition called idiopathic hypersomulence that causes similar symptoms as sleep apnea and this should be ruled out if your cpap doesn't help.
please be sure to go back to your doctor if your cpap pressure isn't working.
joyce

If anyone knows how to change the pressure on an Fisher & Paykel HC234 I'd greatly appreciate knowing how its done. Despite the argument of the pressure being a "prescription" I don't see any difference in my taking the unit into the clinic to have them change it - if they'll do it without a doctors prescription, and doing it myself. After over a year, I'm finally getting used to sleeping with the lousy mask on, and found myself getting a much deeper sleep. But lately I'm finding I'm waking myself up snoring. I'm a terribly light sleeper, and want to avoid going back into the sleep clinic - where you get anything BUT sleep.

cyal8r wrote:If anyone knows how to change the pressure on an Fisher & Paykel HC234 I'd greatly appreciate knowing how its done. Despite the argument of the pressure being a "prescription" I don't see any difference in my taking the unit into the clinic to have them change it - if they'll do it without a doctors prescription, and doing it myself. After over a year, I'm finally getting used to sleeping with the lousy mask on, and found myself getting a much deeper sleep. But lately I'm finding I'm waking myself up snoring. I'm a terribly light sleeper, and want to avoid going back into the sleep clinic - where you get anything BUT sleep.

Try these two threads:

Den

viewtopic.php?t=6825&highlight=hc234

viewtopic.php?t=10495&highlight=hc234

When I first got my CPAP machine the pressure was set to 13 cm water and within a couple days I had a sinus infection which took 2 months and 3 antibiotics to clear up. The jerks that supply the machine will not give the directions as to how to reduce the pressure and seem only to be in the business to get filthy rich quick. So, if anyone has the secret code to change the settings on the Remstar 200 please let us know.