Greetings fellow sufferers

Hi all I just joined your ranks. I'm sure you have heard this before but thought I would tell my story. I have suffered with fatigue for years and mistakenly blamed it on all kinds of things. About five years ago my Wife mentioned that I snored very badly and she thought I sometimes quit breathing. I mentioned this to my DR. and he suggested that maybe I should do the sleep study... I scoffed at this and left. Fast forward to the last year.. Waking myself snoring, falling asleep at the computer multiple times a day, waking feeling much worse than I did before bed. Oh yeah worse of all.. falling asleep in my service truck and fighting with all I had to not fall asleep at the wheel.
I had my sleep study on July 1st and about halfway through the night they woke me and told me I had suffered enough. I had 50 episodes an hour and there was a time that I slept 45 seconds stopped breathing, woke then repeated this multiple times.
Picked up my CPAP last Wednesday and am trying to get used to the idea I'm likely to sleep with it from now on. I guess all the years of abuse won't go away overnight but I am starting to feel some better.

Welcome to the forum.

You have the PR System One Remstar Plus showing in your profile. Are you aware that if you ever want to do more than judge "how you feel" the machine won't be able to help because all it will ever show is hours of use.
Other machines show events, pressure, leaks... helps you check to see if something needs worked on.

Time to get it swapped out for a fully data capable machine is now before it goes on too long.

There is software easily available to monitor your therapy. Useless with the Plus machine.

Welcome, Exterminator.

I second what Pugsy said. Get the DME (the store that gave you the Plus machine) to swap it for a Pro machine.

You've already "met" with the DME, but this info by Janknitz might help you:

LINK to Janknitz's excellent - "WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU MEET YOUR DME Part I"
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/what-y ... me-part-i/

Hope you start feeling better and better!

What if a diabetic was handed a glucometer without a DISPLAY?

Welcome to the forum, Exterminator, but please don't call me a "sufferer." (I don't suffer from sleep apnea anymore. I treat it successfully. )

rested gal wrote:
You've already "met" with the DME, but this info by Janknitz might help you:

LINK to Janknitz's excellent - "WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU MEET YOUR DME Part I"
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/what-y ... me-part-i/

Wish I had found this site before I got my machine, My lousy insurance won't cover any on a machine so I payed dearly out of pocket to get the one I have.

Exterminator wrote:

rested gal wrote:
You've already "met" with the DME, but this info by Janknitz might help you:

LINK to Janknitz's excellent - "WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU MEET YOUR DME Part I"
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/what-y ... me-part-i/

Wish I had found this site before I got my machine, My lousy insurance won't cover any on a machine so I payed dearly out of pocket to get the one I have.

Since you only have had it for a week, try to bring it back and tell them this wasn't what you needed and offer to pay for an upgrade. That you need full data capacity. If that doesn't work, buy a good one online and sell the brick on cpapauction or craigslist. Do what ever you need to to get that data. If it is on a credit card do a charge back . You are not helpless as a consumer.

I am no longer a sufferer, I am a sleeper . Welcome to the forum, you have come to the right place to get the help you will need on this journey. If it wasn't for the kind and considerate friends here, I would not be where I am today....I get my jammies on, hose up, hit the pillow and I'm out like a lightbulb.
Cheers
Nan

Pugsy wrote:Welcome to the forum.

You have the PR System One Remstar Plus showing in your profile. Are you aware that if you ever want to do more than judge "how you feel" the machine won't be able to help because all it will ever show is hours of use.
Other machines show events, pressure, leaks... helps you check to see if something needs worked on.

Time to get it swapped out for a fully data capable machine is now before it goes on too long.

There is software easily available to monitor your therapy. Useless with the Plus machine.

The DME says if I bring the SD card to them they have software that will show leaks and other data on a graph for my machine. I am running Win 7 64 bit and have a SD card reader in my laptop. What software would I need?

Check very carefully on your machine for the name.
The one you have displayed will show only hours used regardless of what incompetent DME personnel will believe. They either lie or they really don't know what they are talking about. Treat them as you would a used car salesman.

Exterminator wrote:
The DME says if I bring the SD card to them they have software that will show leaks and other data on a graph for my machine. I am running Win 7 64 bit and have a SD card reader in my laptop. What software would I need?

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64906&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... re+options

Either you don't have the Plus model machine or the DME is clueless.

Give SleepyHead a quick try with the SD card to see what shows up.
It works fine on Win 7 64 bit as that is what I am using now.
Smaller, quicker and easier than Encore Pro at the moment. At least you can see what is available data wise.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/sleepyhead/

Send me a PM if you want more information on Encore Pro. It can be problematic and for this reason I suggest you give SleepyHead a quick try.

Pugsy thanks for the info. I tried Sleepyhead and it got no data from the card.
I'm 99.9% sure you are right and he is clueless. I will be headed to him on Thursday With the card and see what he has to say.
It very clearly says plus on the machine.

BlackSpinner wrote:Check very carefully on your machine for the name.
The one you have displayed will show only hours used regardless of what incompetent DME personnel will believe. They either lie or they really don't know what they are talking about. Treat them as you would a used car salesman.

BlackSpinner, that's an unnecessarily rude and insulting comparison. Expect to get a complaint from the used car dealers association.



Exterminator, don't get too discouraged. Your "Plus" machine will do CPAP just fine as long as you have the right pressure on it. Use it.

Do not let all of us griping because you got screwed on the machine make you less willing to do CPAP. Your treatment with your current machine will probably help you a LOT, even if it's not quite as good as it could be with a "real" machine. If you have an AHI (events per hour) of 50, "you in a heap a trouble, boy," unless you do CPAP.

Your doctor would have chosen a pressure for you based on your sleep test. In theory, this is the pressure you need. You will almost certainly be a lot better with that fixed pressure than with no CPAP at all. If it's not right, you can adjust the pressure on your own. Your DME or doctor may tell you that's a terrible idea, impossible, or even illegal. It's not.

A good sleep test is the best way to set your pressure. Unfortunately, you may sleep differently at home, your pressure may change over time, etc. You want to be able to monitor your therapy at home. Your machine won't let you, the doctor or the DME, do this. CPAP is still good for you.

A better machine will record "events" that tell you if the pressure is working every night. Using these events, you can adjust the pressure up and down to make your therapy work right for you. Once you find the right pressure, your "Plus" machine gives you exactly the same therapy as the "Pro" machine they should have sold you. It's simply a lot harder to find your "correct" pressure with a dumb CPAP machine.

For now, use the CPAP and expect some benefits. It may take a while, but it should help.


There are a few things you do need to do.

1) Do the CPAP. It's still good treatment that you really need.

2) Look on your machine near the display and tell us what it says. Does it say something like "REMstar Plus with CFLEX." Be sure to look carefully at the "PLUS". The good one says "PRO" in that spot.

3) Get a prescription on paper from your doctor. This will help you buy supplies or even a new machine in the future. By law, they HAVE to give you a prescription if asked.

4) Let the DME try to read the data from your card. Do NOT pay him any money if it doesn't show leaks and therapy flags. He'll probably try to bill you for the reading.

5) With your prescription in hand, see if you can nag the DME into upgrading you into a better machine. However, don't let him screw you too much again. With your prescription you can buy a fully data capable machine from our the sponsor of this web site, cpap.com for under $500. (I do NOT work for cpap.com, I'm just a customer.) Or find another local DME to buy a good machine from.

If, during your discussion, he offers to let you turn the machine in, ask him if he's really serious. Try to bluff him. Get him to commit to it. Then take it, turn in the machine, and buy your machine and humidifier online for under $600. Don't be surprised if he tries to back out of the deal if you agree. Or find another local DME and negotiate for a good machine. He'll probably tell you humidifiers aren't returnable. That's a lie. Maybe the humidifier chamber isn't returnable. A new chamber is $25 online. Eat the humidifier if necessary. You can use it with the new machine. A humidifier is less than $150 online. You'll probably have to eat the cost of the mask and hose, but they'll work with any machine.

6) If you can't get anything from the DME, continue doing the CPAP. It may work just fine for you. If you have problems that indicate you may need a better machine, you can simply buy one later. (If you have your prescription.) You can buy one if you simply want to manage your therapy better. You can also watch craigslist or other sites and may find a better machine at a good price. I watched my local craigslist for 3 months and found my current top of the line PRS1 Auto machine with humidifier for $225. It works fine. I also saw a good new ResMed S9 Elite machine for $175.

7) Be sure to get your prescription and use it to buy your supplies at an online supplier. Your DME will probably REALLY screw you on supplies like mask parts, filters, etc. You may need the prescription to get some of these supplies online.

8) Let us know how it's going. We can help with a lot of the problems you may experience.

By the way, did the DME just hand your the machine and say, "this is what you need," or did he discuss any choices?

BleepingBeauty wrote:Welcome to the forum, Exterminator, but please don't call me a "sufferer." (I don't suffer from sleep apnea anymore. I treat it successfully. )

That's right - we "suffered" from fatigue and the threat of dying in our sleep - now we proudly march to a different drum - that which we proudly call - THE HOSEHEADS!!!!!!!

All of the above suggestions are all well and good but I think everyone has missed the point here - he had to pay for everything out of pocket himself - his insurance didn't cover it (for whatever reason - it's lousy - his words) so he probably got the best he can afford.

So exterminator - I used what we call a "brick" for months too and it did me fine until I knew I could afford my co-pay and then I got the "real thing" because I'm a techno-geek and gotta know the numbers. The "numbers" machine doesn't do anything different for my breathing than my brick did except this on has c-flex+ and I'm finding that, regardless of my previous thoughts on the matter, I do like the c-flex+ ability even tho I didn't have any problem with not having c-flex.