Breathing rates

Last week when my RT was trying to figure out how to use the SL program with my BiPAP data, I noticed that very few minutes of my nights were spent at 10bpm or less. In fact, well over half - maybe even 2/3 - of the night was spent at 22bpm. Now, years ago (I'm not saying how many! ) while taking some First Aid classes, I learned that 12 is the norm.

Monday I asked my EN&T about it, thinking maybe the machine was driving that rate. He said that when people have weakened breathing muscles, their body finds it easier to take short shallow breaths rather than long deep ones, sort of like panting. Now, I have long been explaining CO2 build-up as being caused by us not breathing deeply enough often enough, but never saw just HOW infrequently that happens or saw it graphically displayed like that! WOW!!

And our choir director STILL wants me to sing with them! (Just because I have a good voice, perfect pitch and can read music. She overlooks the part about my vocal chords getting weaker, it hurting to sing, and being short-winded! <LOL>)

- JB

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[quote="ahujudybear"]Last week when my RT was trying to figure out how to use the SL program with my BiPAP data, I noticed that very few minutes of my nights were spent at 10bpm or less. In fact, well over half - maybe even 2/3 - of the night was spent at 22bpm. Now, years ago (I'm not saying how many! ) while taking some First Aid classes, I learned that 12 is the norm.

Monday I asked my EN&T about it, thinking maybe the machine was driving that rate. He said that when people have weakened breathing muscles, their body finds it easier to take short shallow breaths rather than long deep ones, sort of like panting. Now, I have long been explaining CO2 build-up as being caused by us not breathing deeply enough often enough, but never saw just HOW infrequently that happens or saw it graphically displayed like that! WOW!!

And our choir director STILL wants me to sing with them! (Just because I have a good voice, perfect pitch and can read music. She overlooks the part about my vocal chords getting weaker, it hurting to sing, and being short-winded! <LOL>)

- JB

SilverLining 3.6. They had to special order it because it is the only software that works on the Puritan 425.

It's actually part of the compliance data in this program.

- JB

Tbone too lazy to log in wrote:
What software are you using? BPM would be helpful, I'm not sure of thats something the encore software could capture.

Its not the software but the machine its self that captures the breaths per minute (BPM) and it is pretty standard with BiPAPs. I use a Synchroncy BiPAP ST with Encore software and BPM is recorded along with a lot of other things that APAPs don't record.

I have a Respironics BIPAP Pro II, and I don't think I've seen it anyware.

Now, it does report a variable breathing, I wonder if I can use this?

Anyone else have the device I do and get BPM?