Had UPPP, Do I Have To Get A New Doc, To Get Help With This?

I will appreciate you reviewing it and seeing if it it is sufficient, then I will edit it out of the thread. Jan

You can buy whichever CPAP you want with that---from any source. You can also buy any APAP machine set at 8 cm H2O pressure from cpap.com with that script as Rested Gal had mentioned earlier.

However, there's a better than fair chance that CPAP modality is going to be friendlier to your physiology (than APAP modality) with your apparent past CompSAS tendencies.

SWS
Many thanks

SaltLakeJan wrote:I had read your post to Mar regarding the oximeter. For some unknown reason, I was going to wait for the results of my
sleep study before I ordered it. After reading your post - I ordered the CMS 50-D PLUS today. Great Idea. I can hardily wait.

Jan, get ready for a little CMS 50-D learning curve: there's only one button for everything!

And learning when to use short button presses versus long button presses can take some practice. When I first took my CMS 50-D PLUS out of the box, I played with it until I was comfortable controlling the LCD menu. That practice session meant absolutely zilch the following morning---when I woke up and accidentally erased all my recorded data, because I was too groggy to remember the right short and long button presses.

Also, turning it off after recording or uploading data can be tricky. Make sure that it's in the mode where it tries to measure (but not recording mode and not in the menu system either). Then five seconds without a good finger pulse and it will automatically turn itself off.

Another tricky caveat can be uploading the data. You want to push the USB cable into the CMS 50-D PLUS all the way---until it clicks. Then to upload data, you want the LCD display to simply be in the menu system (but without accidentally recording new data---thereby eliminating the previous good data). But you want to place the CMS 50-D into the LCD menu system, so that it doesn't automatically shut off while you're trying to upload the previous night's data. Good luck!

P.S. That's a swell picture, Jan!

SaltLakeJan wrote:the only thing she said was "I"ll print a copy of your prescription for you." How could it have been that easy, when I had already decided I would have to insist to get it?

LOL! Way to go, Jan!

You do have a sweet smile! Beautiful picture.

SWS & R.G.,

I am still in awe of how you two, Muffy, Ozji, Kathy, Den, Slinky, Gumby, Rooster and other "Pro Members of the Board" know the right words to say to encourage us. Then you go further, and spend your time, thought & energy working on our problems. It seems like a strange simile, but the gratitude we beginners feel if as through we were rescued from an impossible situation. The complexities brought about by my UPPP, Sleep Problems, and even the concern that I couldn't get a copy of my prescription seemed insurmountable to me. The simile that popped into my mind was your generous help, was like you had rescued me from a place I couldn't help myself - like being trapped in an accident. And you are training a back-up crew, including jnk, SleepDiver, Kyri, Hawthorne, Rip, Grandmma, and many many, others. My heart is filled with graditude to all, including our Host, Johnny. I shouldn't have mentioned names - all the regular posters are Stars.

My SP02 arrived, but I am not going to install it for a few days. I am struggling with Conjuctiitivis again. Not as bad as last time, but my eyes itch, & burn until I can't describe the intensity of how they feel. I think I stopped it from going into the massive situation it was last time, but not using cpap. I am apprehensive that Cpap is the root cause.

Oh well, what is life without a challenge.

I am waiting until 9:00 to call both my Opthomalogist, and Sleep Doctor - I need apointment with both.

Thanks to all - my mind is distracted today, I couldn't think of all the names I wanted to list - but you all add to this program.

Jan

OutaSinc -

I've really wanted to have a 'talk' with you, and read your thread again, but I had a hard time finding it. Somewhere in the more recent history of this thread, Muffy referred to Mar, Bb, and Me as the triplets. I posted that all we needed was to have "OutaSinc join our Merry Little Band. You were kind enough to post the link to your Big Thread. I thought I had posted the merry band quote in this thread, and I looked and looked - couldn't find it. I had to run through tons of your posts on different threads to find what I wanted - It wasn't time wasted, you have faced more problems and kept going than I knew could happen to one person. And all your posts were interesting, you offered help & encouraggement to lots of cpapers.

I have so many issues that you have that I thought you might offer some suggestions to me. You were a five foot eight, lightweight when you began cpap - yet you posted you had gained more weight than you wanted. Do you have any reason why? I am facing the same struggle. I am five foot eight, and while I am not close to weighing 125 pounds, you can see from the two pictures of me on this thread that I am not obese either. I began cpap in January 2009, 'bout 6 months ago.
I have gained 10 pounds in those same 6 months. My weight has hardily varied in years.

When I started cpap, I immediately noticed that I suddendly developed a large appetite - no, it is more than an appetite - it is a insane constant craving for food. I am a Diabetic, and my Diabetes Doctor has told me I am one of his star patients because I have worked to have a low AC, and have kept a weight he says is good for me. Now I have upped my B.G. tests to 3 or 4 a day as a means to force myself to see the high B.G numbers. I see them and feel concerned, but at the same time my hunger is raging inside of me . Did you have this extreme change because of Cpap. I feel my hunger, Cpap, and weighr gain is somehow linked to Diabetes.

Oh, did anything work for your Gerd - that I missed in your thread. I saw that you really struggled with it. I have too, I haven't mentioned it, because I thought UPPP was a more difficult situation, one I didn't have a clue to solve and I didn't want to distract Miffy and SWS from that. Rooster kindly gave me his diet - but it did not relieve the gas/Gird problem.

Your struggle with Masks was familiar to me - Mine didn't hurt the bridge of my nose as yours did, but all the four nasal pillows masks I used made my nares sore. My new F&P 608 eventually healed my nares, but I don't I could ever use a pillows type of mask again. That eliminates a whole bunch of masks. I currently have a F&P Zest mask and a ResMed
nasal micro. I prefer the F&P - it is lighter and a better fit, But I think both of them are causing the recurrent conjuctitivitis. I have tried F.F. but the whistles, bells and leaks that sounded from them could have been heard in Europe.
Do you have any thought about masks?

I would appreciate your advice - I have struggled with all of the same issues, What caused your weight problems. I mean was it an unusual circumstances? I didn't read your more recent posts, is weight still an issue and same for Gird and Gas - I hope not, you were bombarded with complications, time after time.

You have been so encouraging to people - I hope I haven't bugged you too much with my issues. But I also grew to like your spunky spirit while reading your posts.

Jan

Jan,

I had to take a minute (or two!) to catch up on your posts. I have decided that I have to limit myself to time on Cpaptalk only after exercising for at least half an hour a day. I've been doing pretty well, actually running close to an hour a day with my new Wii. I can't believe that they have invented something that can get me out of the chair and moving! When my grandson comes over he has to work hard to beat my scores. lol

I thought that my rather sudden weight gain was due to the lexapro, which I was prescribed about the same time I started CPAP. But I quit taking that nearly a year ago and continued to gain weight. I, too, am ravenously hungry almost all of the time. But I think I've always been that way. My last AIC was 5.8, not quite diabetic, but high for someone who maintains a healthy diet. I'm not quite sure why it's that high, unless maybe it has something to do with all the adrenaline rushes and hot flashes that I continue to have. I'm hovering between 143 and 146 now with all that extra weight around my belly! I continue to fill up with air during the night and release air throughout the day. Rooster's diet didn't work for me, either. I can't help but wonder if the weight gain is associated with the constipation that I believe is caused by all that air going through and drying out my system. I don't know what the realtionship is, but I can swell up pretty big when I'm carrying around 5 days of waste that hasn't exited. Okay, too much information!

GERD continues to be a problem. I take a generic Prilosec every day and try to remember not to bend over after eating or drinking. Yikes, it comes right back up.

I had to customize my Activa LT to fit my large nose bridge. I trimmed back the silicone to fit the bridge. That, along with the protectors made by Karen at Padacheeks.com, have made the mask almost tolerable. I still have leak issues, but the tape I put over my lips actually lessens the draft of the leaks and makes it easier to sleep. They aren't major leaks, in fact I have a pretty straight leak line, they are just small annoying leaks that wake me up or keep me figiting with it so I can't get to sleep.

Thanks for posting your picture. I like being able to "see" who I'm talking too. Most of the people around here look like monkies. I know that you have been in good hands here on the forum and a whole bunch of us reading, learning and encouraging you from the side lines.

Bev

SaltLakeJan wrote:I am struggling with Conjuctiitivis again. Not as bad as last time, but my eyes itch, & burn until I can't describe the intensity of how they feel. I think I stopped it from going into the massive situation it was last time, but not using cpap. I am apprehensive that Cpap is the root cause.

Jan, I wonder if you saw this product that JeffH mentioned in his post a couple weeks ago:
http://www.eyeeco.com/home/file/product ... hiled.html

The Onyix is a new, very soft flexible shield made from silicone. It was developed to help patients suffering from Sleep Apnea shelter their eyes from the drafts many C-PAP masks create. Unlike the tranquileyes goggle, Onyix is foamless and seals against the skin. It is very lightweight and comfortable. Highly recommended for sleep and air travel. Onyix is designed to shelter the eyes. It isn't designed to create moist-heat and cold therapies like the tranquileyes goggle.

Available in black. The kit comes with one shield, one microfiber cleaning cloth, manual, packaged in stainless steel container. Made in the U.S.A. Latex free.

Perhaps some kind of eye shields can help protect against future bouts of conjunctivitis---assuming yours are brought on by excessive CPAP air movement around the eyes. The above eye shields really don't look all that different from swimmers goggles found down at the sporting good store. Perhaps they're more comfortable.

I have also heard of people treating pink eye with moist chamomile tea bags of all things. I have no idea if that works. But they might make for an interesting pair of improvised eye shields!

Jan, get ready for a little CMS 50-D learning curve: there's only one button for everything!

And learning when to use short button presses versus long button presses can take some practice. When I first took my CMS 50-D PLUS out of the box, I played with it until I was comfortable controlling the LCD menu. That practice session meant absolutely zilch the following morning---when I woke up and accidentally erased all my recorded data, because I was too groggy to remember the right short and long button presses.

Also, turning it off after recording or uploading data can be tricky. Make sure that it's in the mode where it tries to measure (but not recording mode and not in the menu system either). Then five seconds without a good finger pulse and it will automatically turn itself off.

Another tricky caveat can be uploading the data. You want to push the USB cable into the CMS 50-D PLUS all the way---until it clicks. Then to upload data, you want the LCD display to simply be in the menu system (but without accidentally recording new data---thereby eliminating the previous good data). But you want to place the CMS 50-D into the LCD menu system, so that it doesn't automatically shut off while you're trying to upload the previous night's data. Good luck!

Well, there's absolutely no rush on getting the CMS-50D plus up and running, Jan. But here's one more little learning-curve caveat to add to the list once you're ready to get that puppy up and running:

OwlCreekObserver wrote:Downloading the data this morning was also a bit of a challenge, but once I got the right combination, it worked flawlessly and only took a few seconds. I figured out that I had to enter patient data (name, height, weight, etc.) before it would save the file. It will assign a meaningless file name unless you specify something more recognizable to you.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42129&p=372741&hilit=CMS50#p370596

Hi SWS,

Things are looking up around here. My eyes have healed . . again. Thanks for the information on the eye shield, I'm taking it to my eye-dr. for his opinion.

I thought I had lost the few computer skills I had when I couldn't install the oximiter. A relative had his systems guy come over. After his first try failed - he tried to trick the computer into accepting it, didn't work for him either. There was no sign of the hardware. We went back to his office where they an old XP lurking the corner. I connected the cord, put the disk in, and before I knew it, I was looking at a graph of my pulse rate and oximetry readings. No big surprises there, however I dind't have the chance to do an overnighter on it. Pulse rate was around 60, and oximeter ticked right along all 95, but one 93.

I read on SE Medical'sSWS DA Plus was Vista Compatable & I sent then an AE-Mail asking what I should do if it wouldn't install.

I'll call today to get their O.K. to return. I am going to ask if I would have a better chance of the SMS 50AE installing. If so, to send that one out. Otherwise, I will try the SWS 50 Plus again.

Thanks for being the Go-To-Guy - I appreciate the help you give me. Jan

Jan

SaltLakeJan wrote: After his first try failed - he tried to trick the computer into accepting it, didn't work for him either. There was no sign of the hardware.

Jan, I initially experienced that "no sign of hardware" on my Windows Vista machine right after software installation as well. So don't feel bad. These were the two steps I had to perform to get around that dead or missing hardware symptom:

1) I needed to make sure the USB data cable was pushed in all the way at the CMS50-D+ end (until it literally clicked), and
2) The pulse oximeter needs to be powered on, and in a menu "holding pattern" with the LCD displaying these text words:

Settings
Record off
Exit

Placing the oximeter in the above LCD menu "holding pattern" ensures that the CMS50-D+ does not automatically power down to save battery---rendering it temporarily "data dead" or "hardware dead".

Also note that you'll need to fill out the name, age, weight, height data fields before EACH data upload. Data-entry as a prerequisite before each data upload is extremely counterintuitive IMHO.

Also a comment that the CMS50-D+ comes with two programs that appear after installation. One of those programs is called "SpO2" and has a red heart as the shortcut or icon. That's not the program for reviewing recorded data. Rather, that's the program to display live data on the computer screen. I personally don't bother with that program.

The other program is for uploading recorded data. That program is called "SpO2 Review" and has the green heart as its shortcut or icon. That's the program that requires you to enter name, age, height, weight, etc. before each data upload. Anyway, that "SpO2 Review" program with the green-heart icon is the one you're probably most interested in using. But you first need to have recorded data stored and ready to upload inside the pulse oximeter. And as I mentioned in the post above, you need to make sure the CMS-50 doesn't go into a battery-saving powered down mode when you're trying to upload that recorded data.

Good luck! You can record and upload 5 minutes of data as a test of sorts. The learning curve is a slight-to-moderate nuisance, Jan. But a few years ago you couldn't even buy a recoding oximeter for under $1,000 or so. So IMHO at only $99, the CMS50 learning curve and nuisances might not be so bad after all.

Hi SWS

Thanks, I needed help on the Oximeter "Learning Curve". While reading what you had written, I got an "Ah Ha" moment. So that's what that screwed-up Chinese Translation meant. I have borrowed an XP puter, (has to go back soon) SWS 50D Plus, works well on that machine. Even with the download from Southern Med. Supply, I can't get the oximeter working well on my Vista. It is half-way there, and I will have to leave it at that for a couple of weeks. I'm impressed with it so far.

I am very busy in the summers with important business . . . entertaining my youngest grandchildren None of our family lives close to us, so we have frequent one week visits from kids who like to be, and expect to be entertained. For the last 9 days an eleven-year-old grand-daughter has been staying with us. She was put on a plane this afternoon. A 7 yr old girl will be with us for a week, followed by a 5 yr old boy. I enjoy the kids, but it is a lot of work. I got too tired the final day, now can't sleep. (My sleeping habits are at least 90% improved, thanks to Muffs Sleep Guide.)

I will be busy seeing kid movie's this week etc. etc., I won't be able to follow the forum much until I get the results of my sleep study somewhere around July 9the. I will be anxious to come back and follow the threads by then, and hopefully any visitors we have will be adults. Your suggestions were very welcome. Thanks again.
Jan

SWS,

This post is from a confused Jan. Today I got a phone call reminding me of my Sleep Study Review 7-9-2009. As I spoke with the Tech, I asked if I could get a copy of the Sleep Study Documents before my appointment. She told me If I wanted the basic graphs, I could pick them up from their Lab. She didn't have a copy of the Final Report or other documents. The Doctor would give them to me Thursday.

I wasn't goin' to pass on the graphs and drove to the address she gave me. I think it is the same building where the 2001 sleep study was held. I asked her if my current sleep study was connected to the 2001 study. She had never heard of the doctor.

I glanced at the pages as I walked back to my car - - . Could this be my sleep study, with 846 Total Number of Leg Movements? I recalled briefly awaking several times during the study - I thought I dropped back to sleep immediately, and have no recollection of 846 leg movements.

I have a high leak rate, and the day of the study I picked-up a new chinstrap. It was so tight I thought I had a vise on my head, I tried to loosen it before I went to sleep, but it was an all-or-nothing-chinstrap. The next A.HM. the Tech said it had loosened in the early morning hours, and she had reattached it - Told her it must have been another patient, I awaken if a cricket sneezes. My jaw was sore for a week, and I never used that instrument of torture again.

I am looking for the last graph from my Resumed Machine before I switched it for FA & HP. If I kept it, I will send a to to you for comparision.

My sleep habits have continued to improve. I am sleeping better, and longer than I ever have. I did compromise on T.V. I allow my self a half-hour when I get in bed - then the T.V.timer shuts it off. I still awaken during the night, but I choose to go back to sleep - and it works. I awaken about the time I used to try to get to sleep. I either walk about 6 a.m. or wait for the first rays of sunlight to take pictures of my Daylilies. I still have an occasional night when night when I can't get to sleep , but I have been exhausted taking care of grandkids - and those are rare nights. I am currently taking 1/4 of a 1.5 mg Mirapex, and 75 Mg of Lyrica. I wasn't taking either on my 2000 sleep tests. I have enclosed the graphs - is there anything I should ask the Doctor on the 9th. I guess this is Jan signing this post.