I am so mad I could chew nails and spit out carpet tacks!

Slinky wrote:

OldLincoln wrote: ... good at puffery but I've found them lacking in substance.

Good 'un, OldLincoln. I like that! "good at puffery, but lacking in substance"

Like they say in Texas... 'All hat and no cattle'

Bookbear wrote:

Slinky wrote:

OldLincoln wrote: ... good at puffery but I've found them lacking in substance.

Good 'un, OldLincoln. I like that! "good at puffery, but lacking in substance"

Like they say in Texas... 'All hat and no cattle'

If they don't have any cattle, where do they come up with all that bull shiiiiii....... er, I mean BS?


Den

I think that must be standard language the DME's are trained in, to try to intimidate and dumb you down in order to make more money!

"Why would you want to worry your pretty little head about that?" Yeah, right!

Georgio

Hey you all
While your getting the Rx from your Doc for the machine remember
to have him write RX for the clincian book so you can change your own pressures
during your travels.
Moonbeam

kennasgrammy wrote:I have the Remstar Auto M-Series which I see on an earlier post is data capable. Excuse my ignorance, but I've only been on cpap 4 days. My DME set mine up with ramping, summary data, therapy usage, compliance check, sessions and system leak. She explained what the C-Flex was and I made the decision that I didn't need that enabled. Can you tell me what I'm missing in data that might be useful for me to know?

kennasgrammy, you have a much more helpful DME than many. Especially since she gave you an autopap and turned on the data info if you want to look at it. Personally, don't care one whit for seeing running weekly/monthly averages in the machine window. I want to see only what happened "last night", so I prefer using software to view detailed graphs of the overnight data. If a person doesn't have the software, ResMed machines can show the previous night's data, but to see just "last night" with a Respironics machine you'd have to re-set the therapy data to zero before the next night.

How to reset the M series machine "weekly"/"monthly" details back to zero, in order to view just last night's results the next day:

viewtopic.php?p=239127#239127

viewtopic/t29141/Resetting-the-data-on-Respironics.html

kennasgrammy, whether you decide to go into the setup menu on your machine yourself, or not...if you'd like to have the Provider manual for your machine, I'd be glad to email that to you. It shows all the menu settings. You'd need to register on this forum so that you can use the Private Messages feature, then send me a PM with your email address. If you do that, be sure to mention in the email exactly which M series Auto you have... there are two, and the exact name will be written across the top of the machine:

Respironics REMstar Auto M series (that's the one with just C-flex in it, even though C-flex isn't mentioned on top of the machine.)

or

Respironics REMstar Auto|A-flex M series (that one has both A-flex and C-flex in it, but mentions only A-flex in the name.)

I hope the Auto you were given was intended to be your permanent machine. Sometimes a new person is given an autopap for a one month period for additional "titration" at home. At the end of the month, the DME reads the "Smart Card" from the machine, the autopap is taken away and the person is given a straight CPAP set for a single pressure prescribed by the doctor. A pressure determined from the Smart Card data to show what the pressure(s) the autopap found to be effective.

Many of us like to look at that detailed data ourselves -- the Encore Viewer software was developed by Respironics for patients to use, to read the Smart Card themselves at home, if they wish. That's what I'd get if I were you -- Encore Viewer. You can see much more detailed leak, AHI, and pressures-used data than are shown in the machine window. If you go to cpap.com and search for Encore Viewer, you'll see the software and card reader there. Or do a Google search for it, and if you find it cheaper somewhere else, still contact cpap.com about it. They price match if you find something they carry at a lower price at another online store.

Even if you don't want to get that proactive about your own treatment, it sounds like you're in good hands with a very helpful DME. But no health care professional is as interested in our own treatment as we are, ourselves. Some of us, anyway. I just happen to be VERY nosy about every detail of my own treatment.

Welcome to the board, and good luck with your treatment, kennasgrammy.

I like the Craftsman analogy:

I have a dozen tools in my garage that if used inattentively would quickly and violently remove parts of my body.

I have on my nightstand a palm-sized air-compressor I'm officially not allowed to adjust!

Joy_Of_Sleep wrote: When I first started, I was in such a sleep-deprived state that I let the DME, doctors and insurance provider lead me around by the nose.

DME's must learn this first in their "how to screw over the patient 101" class

Can I say one thing in their defense .. look at the compliance percentage .. if they gave a higher end unit to EVERYONE .. and only 50% actually use it .. and, of the 50% that do use it, how many still know the difference between the machines and how many just blindly follow?

AuntieNae wrote:Can I say one thing in their defense .. look at the compliance percentage .. if they gave a higher end unit to EVERYONE .. and only 50% actually use it .. and, of the 50% that do use it, how many still know the difference between the machines and how many just blindly follow?

Good point. I went to an AWAKE meeting which had an interesting presentation, but I was sincerely shocked when a woman who said she'd been on CPAP for over five years did not know that CPAP hoses can come in 6, 8, or 10 foot lengths, nor that you could make or buy a hose covering to reduce rainout.

That's a chicken-and-egg sort of question, it seems. I feel I got a very good machine (ResMed Autoset II) at a time when I knew nothing of CPAP and wasn't yet a pro-active patient. Having a good machine has made my initiation easier. CPAP is a job to be done, and having the right tool for the job is fundamental.

As for the 50% compliance rate - that means failure, to me, if you call it a medical procedure.

If you call it a "doctor's order" directive for a lifestyle change, 50% compliance is pretty good - much better compliance, I'd guess, than for the doctor's advice to eat a balanced diet and exercise each day!

**
I have to say, though, that if my only support were my DME, I'd probably have given up in frustration. The crew here has taught me more than the so-called professionals, and the sense of simply not being alone in this therapy is essential.

AuntieNae wrote:Can I say one thing in their defense .. look at the compliance percentage .. if they gave a higher end unit to EVERYONE .. and only 50% actually use it .. and, of the 50% that do use it, how many still know the difference between the machines and how many just blindly follow?

The flip side of that argument is that while compliance for CPAP is 50%, it is over 70% for APAP.

AuntieNae wrote:Can I say one thing in their defense .. look at the compliance percentage .. if they gave a higher end unit to EVERYONE .. and only 50% actually use it .. and, of the 50% that do use it, how many still know the difference between the machines and how many just blindly follow?

IF the medical professionals (doctors, RTs and DMEs) gave the "HOW TO" instructions to the users about getting the data out of the machines and to monitor their therapy, I think that 50% figure would change drastically. The problem with that scenario would be that it would require that the medical professionals ALSO know how to do that sort of thing......and as we have been witness to, they are few and far between.

Something that popped into my head while reading some of these threads today was about prospective patients (clients) asking their doctors, RTs and DMEs what percentage of their other patients/clients have been compliant and successful with their therapy. How many of their patients use FULLY data-capable XPAP machines? How closely do they follow their patients' therapy? Stuff like that......like you're screening them for a job application. After all, YOU'RE paying THEM for a service......don't you want to get your money's worth from someone who is qualified?

Unfortunately, we know the answer to most of that......WE are too brain-dead to be asking too many questions at the point when it would be worthwhile. And, we don't know what questions to ask then, either.

Den

By the time your done chewing these nails you will be too tired to be mad

Yes, just go to your local AWAKE meeting .. many folks there who are not awake and clueless .. sorry, reality.

I am so glad to read posts "I was just diagnosed and need advice" .. just hoping they, like you, stick to your guns about getting what you need.

And yes, I was told that patients should not have the data card readers or software .. but once my DME learned I had it, and I showed them my print outs .. I felt we came to that understanding not to mess with me anymore.

I WAS FIRST DIAGNOSED WITH OSA IN JULY 2008 AND LIKE EVERY ONE ELSE WHO HAS THIS DIAGNOSES,IS WAS TOLD ABOUT THE GOLD STANDARD.EVERY APNEA WEBSITE THAT I GO TO YOU READ THE SAME THING.FIRST OF ALL I AM NOT IN DENIAL,I HAVE APNEA AND IT CAN KILL ME.FOR SOME PEOPLE THEY ARE TOLD OVER AN OVER AGAIN THAT CPAP IS THE ANSWER.APNEA PATIENTS ARE BRAIN WASHED INTO THINKING THAT THERE IS NO THERAPY BUT CPAP.AT TIMES I THINK THAT MOST SLEEP DOCTORS HAVE A LOT OF STOCK IN THE CPAP COMPANIES AND THE DME'S.AND MAY BE GETTING KICK BACKS FROM THOSE COMPANIES.THE DOCTORS AND THE DME REPS TELL YOU JUST GET USED TO HAVING HURRICANE KATRINA STRAPPED ON THEIR FACE.JUST GET USED TO THE OVER PRICED MASKS THAT LEAK AND THE 50 LBS OF TIGHTNESS ON THEIR STRAPS JUST TO HOLD THE THING ON YOUR FACE THEN THEY TELL YOU THAT THE PERFECT MASK IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER.IT REMINDS ME OF THE SCENE IN THE FIRST ALIENS MOVIE WHEN THE HALF SQUID AND HALF CRAP CLIMBS ON TO YOUR FACE.FIRST OF ALL CPAP'S ARE OBSOLETE.THEY TELL YOU YOU WILL GET USED TOTHE RESISTANCE OF YOU LABORED BREATHING OUT AGAINST THE INCOMING PRESSURE. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN,IT'S LIKE BREATHING INTO A BALLON ALL NIGHT LONG.I AM A AIRCRAFT MECHANIC i KNOW ALL ABOUT OXYGEN MASK REGULATORS. PILOT DO NOT HAVE TO BREATH AGAINST 300 LBS OF PRESSURE.THERE IS ABSOLUTLY NO REASON THAT YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT YOU CAN'T EXHALE NORMALLY. THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY.BIPAS AND CFLEX ARE OPTIONS FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE.THEN YOU HAVE PEOPLE LIKE ME,THAT EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE A HUMIDIFIED FISHER AND PAYKIIL AND A HUMIDIFIER IN YOUR BED ROOM.YOUR RINITUS MAKES YOU APNEA THROUGH YOUR NOSE.THEN THEY TELL YOU THAT THEY HAVE TO CUT OUT YOUR SEPTUM AND PACK YOUR NOSE COMPLETELY WITH GAUZE FOR THE NEXT 6 WEEKS SO YOU CAN'T BREATH. THE ONLY REASON THAT I AM WRITING THIS IS TO SAVE YOU FROM WHAT I HAD TO GO THROUGH.I DECIDED TO GO THE ORAL APPLIANCE ROUTE AND I AM SURE GLAD THAT I DID. SINCE I HAVE NO TEETH A TAP WILL NOT WORK FOR ME BECAUSE I CAN NOT MOVE MY JAW FORWARD. AND THEN A DENTIST IN COLUMBUS OHIO FOUND A SOLUTION FOR ME. iT IS CALLED AVEO tsd AND IT IS MADE IN NEW ZEALAND BUT IS APPROVED BY THE FDA. APNEA IS SIMPLE MECHANICS. YOUR TONGUE BLOCKS YOUR AIRWAYS. THE TOUNGE STABILIZING DEVICE THROUGH SUCTION HOLDS YOUR TONGUE OUT.IT REALLY WORKS.100% COMPLIANCE FROM THE FIRST DAY THAT YOU USE IT.iT COST THE SAME AS ONE CPAP MASK $150.YOU JUST HAVE TO GO TO A DENTIST AND YOUR SLEEP DOCTOR CAN FIND A GOOD ONE FOR YOU. BUT IF YOU STILL WANT TO BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT CPAP GO AHEAD AND KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT IS IS THE ONLY THING THAT WORKS OUT THERE.kEEP LISTENING TO THE BULL THAT YOU WILL JUST GET OVER IT