CPAPtalk.com

And its YOUR MONEY! Is your CPAP even fully data capable?? I didn't look to see which Respironics CPAP you have. IF it is a Plus you've been taken for a ride anyway as it is NOT even fully data capable. The software and cable couldn't do a dibblety-darn thing for you if it is a Plus.

Just now thinking that "self-pay" may make the software and tweaking even more important. Down the road when suboptimal CPAP therapy leads to maybe heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression, self-pay will become even more of a challenge.

MoneyGal wrote:Thanks to the help of folks on this forum (Tiropita, tattooyu and Rested Gal), I have figured out how to read the nightly indicators from the clinical settings on my machine.

I have two nights of data so far. On the first night, my AI was 0. Last night, my AI was 0.5 and my HI was 2.8.

I feel fantastic. I'm preparing for my morning kickboxing class.

If you were me, and assuming my numbers stay the same (or under 5 for AI per night), would you get the card reader and software? Or would you only consider it if: you started feeling unwell, or your numbers moved higher?

You will get varied responses on this... here is mine...

If I want to see when my apnea events are occurring and what duration they are I will use the card reader and ResScan. It can also be nice to see how the leaks are doing during the night.

However, the vast majority of the time I simply read the data off the LCD to get a handle on how the therapy is going.

Another data option available to you is to take the LCD data and populate a spreadsheet with it daily.

Yeah, but, the Respironics don't provide as much data via the LCD screen as the Resmeds do from what I understand.

MoneyGal: I have numbers (HI, etc.) as low as yours. I am buying the card reader and software for peace of mind, because I know that if the numbers go wonky for any reason, I can get more information. I could have used it during my trial period (during which I had an Escape, so even less information than you can get now), because I was never quite sure about how things were working, even though a few more days tended to resolve my doubts and it seems that my adjustment was mild compared to many here. But there are two factors that may make my situation different from yours. I will try to convince my insurance company to cover the cost of the reader and software, but if they don't, my income is high enough that I will feel only a slight twinge. Also, I know that I can distance myself from local fluctuations in my statistics and look at the big picture. I have online access to my bank accounts, credit balance, retirement funds, investment funds, etc., but I don't check these daily and obsess about their performance. If money is an issue, or if more information from your machine may lead to greater stress, then don't get the reader and software unless things deteriorate to the point where it becomes more necessary. As rested gal has said, you are getting a lot of useful information already, and a card reader on an Elite II will not give you as much additional information as an autoPAP would.

Slinky wrote:Yeah, but, the Respironics don't provide as much data via the LCD screen as the Resmeds do from what I understand.

You understand right, Slinky.