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Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
#41
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
Thanks to what I’ve learned here, OSCAR charts, and little help from my significant other I was able to convince my Dr. to change my pressure prescription from 4-20 to 9-20. After we explained to her how a higher starting pressure improves therapy she was agreeable to whatever pressure settings we wanted. Surprisingly she did not know what AHI was but recognized apnea, hypopnia index. Had no idea what RDI, RERA, and flow limitations were and complained that the DMEs never explain the data to her. We didn’t tell her that was her job. Big Grin I was just pleased she was willing to listen and was willing to look at data. She’s family practice but Melman says his sleep specialist isn’t interested in data. She says from now on she’s going to call him whenever she has an apnea patient. We suggested she look at apneaboard.com. She wrote it down so perhaps……..


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#42
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
I applaud a doctor that listens to her patients and acts on their behalf to improve their lives. The alternative that we see too often is an egotist that stubbornly holds to the idea he knows best in the face of obvious discomfort and complaints, and actually works against the wishes of his patients. Happens more than you know. My doctor, and internist, is a pretty good judge of his patient's feedback and facilitates changes they ask for. We are fortunate to have a number of medical practitioners as members. Most keep a low profile and some have even helped in developing Oscar to do more of what they would like to see. We often make harsh comments towards doctors, clinics and suppliers that seem more concerned with keeping insurance providers happy, or clearly don't work to improve their patient's lives, but set them up for failure. I hope that does not deter the professionals that come here for insights and to learn.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#43
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
Agree with the above.

My first assumption when I see a medical team recommend something I wouldn't is what did I miss. After all they have much better access a patients history than we do here. Why did they make that recommendation? When a doc seems to move in the right direction I actually prefer to more inform the user than lead them and arm the user with facts on their situation. After all they have had more formal education in this than I have.
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#44
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
I've learned to make the pressure changes myself. Today going through the clinical menu I saw there is a setting for response. The choices are standard and soft. Can anyone explain the difference. My setting is soft. Is it possible standard would be better? I thought my home brain trust could tell me but he has no idea.
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#45
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
The Autoset response algorithms "soft" and "standard" change how quickly the Autoset increases pressure in response to flow limitation. The soft response is a bit slower and may be less disruptive to some people. The standard algorithm works more quickly to head-off events. As long as your pressure is optimized and your minimum pressure not too low, it should not make a lot of difference. Try both and go with the one that gives you the best sleep and results.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
Download OSCAR Software
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing Therapy
Organize your OSCAR Charts
Attaching Files
Mask Primer
How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#46
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
Here are my results from last night. They look a lot better than those from the 17th (I didn’t use the machine for 3 nights because the F30i caused sore spots on my face.). Results were so much better that I have trouble believing them. I used an airtouch F20 because of a difficulty with the new Brevida. Because the F20 had to be uncomfortably tight and still seemed to leak if I moved at all I had some trouble falling asleep but don’t believe I was awake for 5 hours. Maybe an hour but probably less. I was awake for a few minutes before I took the mask off just after 5. Can you tell from the data when I was asleep? The only other changes from the 17th were that I slept in the inclined position again and we increased the minimum pressure from 8 to 8.4. Could such a small increase have such a big effect? (Melman wanted move it to 9 but I vetoed that.) Ignore the time after I put the mask back on. I couldn’t go back to sleep at all a nd gave up for the night.

Oh, I used the soft setting.

Let me know if I’m taking up too much of your time. I feel like a terrible bother but want this to work.


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#47
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
First and foremost, it is not a bother to answer questions.

A different mask for your consideration. the Oracle HC452 Oral CPAP Mask. It fits in the mouth with a simple strap around the head. another different mask is the "Bleep DreamPort CPAP Mask" a nasal pillow mask that attaches with adhesive patches. Your thoughts?

On settings, keep these for a few days at least.
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#48
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
It's no bother. Surprisingly yes sometimes a 0.x increase can make things notably better. We're each individuals and need to make it your own specific to you setup. The method of why to adjust certain settings stays the same, but the results are your own.

Agreed with Gideon, build a trend a few days with this setup.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#49
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
You've come a long way in improving your therapy. Just a short time ago you could barely keep the machine on 3-hours, pressure was running away, flow limits were out of control and leaks were shooting into your eyes. I'm sure you will see further improvement, especially in how you feel. Your instinct to make smaller pressure changes as things get closer to where you want to be, shows you have really grasped the management of your own therapy and will be successful. I'm really glad you joined Apnea Board and not only benefited personally, but shared this journey so others can learn too. Please continue to ask any question, but I suspect you now know the answers and we will mostly confirm your own thoughts. Well done!
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
Download OSCAR Software
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing Therapy
Organize your OSCAR Charts
Attaching Files
Mask Primer
How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#50
RE: Granny7 - Newly Diagnosed- Looking for Help
Gideon, thanks for your encouragement. Also thanks for the mask recommendations. I'm not strictly a mouth breather but doubt I could use just a nasal mask because I will very probably have large mouth leaks. Also almost any tape adhesives irritate the skin on my face so I doubt I could tolerate the Bleep mask. The Oracle mask looks interesting but I'm not comfortable with the thought of having my nose plugged. I've made note of it for future consideration. If I want to experiment with nasal pillows my hubby has a set of P10 nasal pillows that didn't work for him because he couldn't prevent mouth leaks.
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