Need cpap adjusment proceedure....

Hello all!

I have been reading this forum for a few days in hopes that someone would post or link to an adjustment procedure for me to follow. I see that alot of you have taken your therapy into your own hands and I belive that is the correct step for me to take as well.

A little history:

Like most of you all, I spent a few years going to different doctors trying to figure out why I was feeling so bad all the time. After my sleep study, the mystery was solved. I was diagnosed with advanced apneia and had over 70 episodes an hour. When I got my capap, they adjusted the pressure to something like 15cm. It seemed very strong, but I got used to it when I woke up feeling like I had been reborn.

That was almost exactly one year ago. Several weeks into using the cpap, I began to feel an increasingly sharp pain in my side. I awoke on several mornings feeling very bloated and the pain seemed to follow the bloating. I went to the doctor who sent me to the ER. They discovered I had an acute case of Diverticulitus. I had never heard of it, but I stayed in the hospital for 5 days with no food or water until it cleared up. I told all of the "doctors" about my new machine and the bloating, but they attributed it to my diet. They told me to go low fat and it would heal. I already had a low fat diet, so that couldn't be it. Then they told me to not eat seeds. I am not a bird and don't really like seeds. The pain occurred again, so I stopped using the cpap. The pain never returned, but my fatigue did. I called the sleep center and told them what was going on. They said that the machine couldn't have caused it. However, they agreed to send someone out to lower the pressure.

The lady came and reduced it to 13cm, I believe and I tried that. The pain and bloating wasn't as bad, but I still had concerns. My sleep was great! I called her back in and they reduced it to 9cm. No problems at all after that. I moved in July last year and around November, I started feeling like the machine wasn't working properly. I called the center and they sent me new filters. The ones I had were clean, but I replaced them anyway. No help. Then sent me a chinstrap because they thought my mouth was opening during sleep. No help. Recently, I went on a trip and shared a room with a buddy who said that I snored with the mask on. Not badly, but it was noticable to wake him up from across the room.

So now, here I am. Looking for the answer that will bring me back to normal. I am thinking that I need to raise the pressure on the machine by about .5cm per night until I find what I have heard called "the sweet spot". I remember seeing the lady unplug the unit and hold some buttons down when she plugged it back it. I don't remember anything further. Also, I am not sure what mode of operation I am in. I think she changed that from automatic to non-auto.

I am going to order a new mask as the one I am currently using is almost a year old. I thought that may be an issue as well, but I do strongly feel that I need to raise the pressure at least slightly.

Could someone please aid me in doing this? A link, email, something? I do not trust the doctors any longer and don't need to end up in the hospital again. They basically just ask me what I would like it to be set to anyway and I have not known until recently the difference.

Any help would be worth a whole lot to me. My quality of life has regressed backward and I have accomplished so much in the past year that requires an alert and motivated individual to maintain it all.

Rich, if you will fill out the "equipment" portion of your profile, the additional information will help us help you.

It sounds like you are getting "aerophagia", which means you are swallowing air from the cpap - due to high pressure. You probably should have a bi-level machine with has pressures for breathing in and out.

List your equipment, and put your titrated pressure in additional comments. (See how I have mine listed below on this post). That will get us started.

Yes, upon reading this board for a few days, I learned all about the areophagia and it fell in line with my symptoms precisely. I do have a crack at the top of my mask where the plastic meets the gel, but have noticed no air leaks from this crack. As I said, I will be replacing the mask due to age if nothing else. Any advice on a mask would be of great help also.

Also, I belive my machine is a bi-level machine, but again, I cannot determine the two levels or how to view them. All I see when I turn the unit on is: 9.0cm H20

The Remstar Pro 2 you have listed in your equipment section is not a bi-level. If you click on bi level (in blue by CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): ), then you will get more info on Bi levels.

And probably the 9 they reduced your pressure to isn't enough to meet your needs. What were you originally titrated at? It must have been higher than 13, and dropping all the down to 9 is quite a difference.

and one last point - I see you have a Smart Card. Do you also have the card reader and software? Have you had the Smart Card read by the DME or your doctor?

There's lots of info here on masks. Just do a search for mask or best mask. I'm surprised you've been able to tolerate the Comfortgel for a year.

Ok, sol it is not a bi-level machine. The woman who set up explained that there was a setting for intake pressure and for exhale pressure. That confused me and let me to believe it was a bi-level. I think she said she set one of the settings at 4. I believe we started at 16cm, then reduced to 13 and then to where it is now, at 9.

I do not have a reader, but I will certainly investigate it and obtain one. It sounds like a very useful tool. I was just hoping to get some instructions to ajust this thing tonight and be a little closer to normal by tomorrow.

I have not had the card read by anyone. I have moved and have not established contacts in the area.

REMstar Pro 2 Setup

When in the Setup Menu, the humidifier ^ and ramp v buttons operate as up and down keys to change the settings, the left/right user buttons < > allow you to go to the previous/next question or setting, and the pressure start/stop button is used to exit the Setup Menu. Holding the humidifier or ramp buttons down will cause the values to change more quickly.

To enter the Therapy Setup Menu, hold the two top user buttons < > down while plugging in the power cord.
Continue holding the buttons down until the REMstar Pro 2 with C-Flex beeps.

Note: The word "setup" will appear on all of the screens indicating that you are in the Therapy Setup Menu.
If you press the Pressure start/stop button, you will exit the Setup Menu.

a. Compliance hours: (recommend leaving alone) Select next setting with >

b. Therapy mode: (CPAP or CFLE) select with ^ or v Select next setting with >

c. CPAP pressure setting: Select with ^ or v Select next setting with >

d. C-Flex mode (if you chose CFLE mode): Select setting 1, 2 or 3 with ^ Select next setting with >

e: Ramp time setting: Select with ^ or v (ramp time will be turned off with a setting of 0) Select next setting with >

f. Ramp pressure setting: Select with ^ or v Select next setting with >

g. Patient disconnect setting: 1 = on 0 = off Select with ^ or v Select next setting with >

h. Buttons lights setting: 1 = on 0 = off Select with ^ or v (Last setting. Use On/Off button to exit Setup)

Rich, I sent you a PM. Click on the upper right hand button for the message.