NYC A.W.A.K.E. meeting was absolutely amazing tonight!

Muse-Inc wrote:

GaryG wrote:...http://www.eigusa.com/nozovent.htm...

THAT looks positively painful!!!

Not at all. I experienced a little discomfort the first night, but its easy to get used to and really opens up the nares.

GaryG wrote:...Not at all. I experienced a little discomfort the first night, but its easy to get used to and really opens up the nares.

Do you use it in place of xPAP?

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secret agent girl wrote:

he made his point by noting that someone with no symptoms beyond measured numbers may not need treatment, much in the same way that someone with symptoms but low numbers may still need further treatment. He was not discounting the usefulness of the numbers when he said that, but was stressing that the goal should be feeling better and being healthier so that results can be measure beyond simple reduction of RDI

Hmmm...wish I could follow up with him on that. I'll have to give that recording a listen.

I may not have stated it very well. I'm sure he did better than I stated it.

The thing is, as I understand it, technically everyone is a candidate for ENT surgery in that no one has a perfect septum so, they are all deviated. Similarly, there are always surgeries that can be done other places to "make things better." But that doesn't mean every human being should have surgery just to see if it helps anything for them.

Likewise, with PAP, there is a line in the sand that says a person with a certain number of events is allowed to get a machine paid for by insurance. But that line, too, is arbitrary in the sense that some patients above the line feel fine and seem to have few health effects whereas some patients below the line feel terrible and find they benefit from PAP therapy.

So numbers are important, yes. But numbers aren't everything. The point of providing treatment is to help someone in some way that is clinically significant or that improves quality of life. Humans are more than numbers, even though, scientifically speaking, numbers are all we have for quantifying improvements. That is why I have always considered Epworth a useful scale as a way to try to quantify, objectively, some improvement in (subjective) quality of life.

jnk wrote:... That is why I have always considered Epworth a useful scale as a way to try to quantify some improvement in quality of life. ...

Exactly!

We use numbers to try to objectively qualify subjective situations. Epworth attempts to capture that. Of course your "8" answer to one of those questions and my "8" answer might be infact objectively quite different. I might fall asleep in the middle of a conversation, but think I'm only "8" on answering sleepiness. You might take only two minutes with your eyes closed and for you the same "8" answer is appropriate. Epworth captures a very subjective value in an objective manner.

This is why I often suggest to posters that in addition to machine numbers (AHI scores) how the poster FEELS is just as important. It's one reason I have followed SAG's progress. She continues to get GREAT numbers but actually feels worse on xPAP therapy. In this case the "feel" value is more important than the sleep measurement number.

jnk wrote: .... and the need for one of the smaller companies to target self-titrators with some patient software based on what we want, not what DMEs want. They seemed genuinely interested and promised to stop by here. etc.
jeff

Jeff, Thanks for taking the time to give us your report.

Regarding patient software, I was very glad to see this in a ResMed press release:

Furthermore, ResMed just announced the launch of its S9 flow generator platform to enhance patient comfort, compliance, and connectivity. .... In terms of compliance, the device will have an easier-to-use patient interface, and patients will receive much more biofeedback data.

Muse-Inc wrote:

GaryG wrote:...Not at all. I experienced a little discomfort the first night, but its easy to get used to and really opens up the nares.

Do you use it in place of xPAP?

No, I use it in addition to xPap. The theory being it will enlargen the nares and so treatment will be more efficient. Well that's my theory. In practice, I haven't noticed much of a difference with it than without it.

[quote="GaryG] I experienced a little discomfort the first night, but its easy to get used to and really opens up the nares.[/quote]

GaryG wrote: In practice, I haven't noticed much of a difference with it than without it.

1. So which is it Gary?

2. Do you think the Nozovent could be worn with nasal pillows without causing leaks?

rooster wrote:

GaryG wrote: I experienced a little discomfort the first night, but its easy to get used to and really opens up the nares.

GaryG wrote: In practice, I haven't noticed much of a difference with it than without it.

1. So which is it Gary?

2. Do you think the Nozovent could be worn with nasal pillows without causing leaks?

I think Nozovent is for use with nasal masks or FF masks. I don't think it would work with nasal pillows or Hybrids.

I'm using it with an Activa LT Nasal Mask. I did try Quatrro with it for a few days, when my Activa LT came apart and I couldn't get it back together right until I went to my sleep center.