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Greetings from a newbie
#1
Exclaimation 
Greetings from a newbie
Hello all,
I am so new, that last night was my first night sleeping in my own bed with my brand new bpap machine. I was able to pull off 7.7 hours worth of results, but I woke up feeling like a Macy's day parade inflatable. And the next hour was similar to Robin Williams colenoscopy comedy skit. Other than that it was a great nights sleep, well I can't say I'm actually happy to be here, but we are all in a similar situation. So if I have to be somewhere, it might as well be here.

I'm a mouth breather and I have a mask the goes under the nose and around the mouth, pretty ingenious design actually, my bpap is a dream station or dreamworks, it's made by Phillips. My pressure is 22/18, and I have no idea what I should set my humidifier at 1-5???

I haven't set up any sleep software on my phon yet, as I still have lots of reading left to go on this board. I hope to get to know most of you in the coming days, weeks.....ect.

Sincerely,
Russ

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#2
RE: Greetings from a newbie
Hi Rjhoeper! (Russ) Welcome

What you describe is very common. It takes time to adjust to your new treated environment. You didn't get to your condition overnight. . . Or did you?

Here is something to keep in mind: There is a high degree of dropouts in xPAP therapy due to impatience and/or the willingness to accept the therapy. Hang in there. Time is your friend.

Good luck!
Crimson Nape
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com
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#3
RE: Greetings from a newbie
IMHO the phone software is not great. I tells you the same smiley face information that the front panel does. Get sleephead and start getting used to your data. Just kind of cruse around and check out what things look like. Your data is your best friend.

The treatment pressures are the ONLY prescription things on the machine, everything else is comfort and only you can tune those in to what you like.
Make one small change and try it, if you know right away it's wrong then change the other direction and see how it feels for a few nights.

You are in the right place.
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#4
RE: Greetings from a newbie
I appreciate the input and the advice, I fully intend to keep with my treatment, but i do feel that my starting pressure is awefully high. My wife has been telling me for years to go get a sleep study and one I do..... all of the sudden I need a bpap machine because a cpap machine doesn't put out enough pressure. I just worry that since I got my machine from the place I did my sleep study, are they wanting to sell the more expensive machines, or do I really need that high of a pressure.
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#5
RE: Greetings from a newbie
install sleephead and you can know if you need that pressure or not Smile that is why we use it. install it, read the data off the card (pay attention to locking the card), post a screen shot (links at the top of the page to tell you how to do all of this. goes on your PC or MAC, not the phone.

Sounds like your mask is the Amara View, I use it and love it.

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#6
RE: Greetings from a newbie
Hello, Russ. Welcome!

Did the sleep study people give you any printed out results from your sleep study? If they did, that should show info. about how they arrived at the conclusion that you need a treatment pressure of 22.

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#7
RE: Greetings from a newbie
Thanks poolq, I will be downloading sleepyhead, but unfortunately I have teenage daughters. Last night was national honor society, tonight is their youth group, rainbow girls. It will probably be Friday before I have an opportunity to download the software and check the data. But I really value the insight and knowledge available to me from the membership here.
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#8
RE: Greetings from a newbie
G'day Russ. Your starting pressure of 18 is unusually high and would be difficult for a newbie to accommodate. If you haven't already done so, turn on the ramp feature. This will gradually increase pressure from a low base up to your therapeutic pressure. The idea is to make the ramp period as short as is comfortable but long enough that you would be asleep before you reach full pressure.

I'm not familiar with your machine but there may also be settings like "flex" which manage the transition from inhale to exhale, and could provide some additional relief. I'm sure somebody with a Dreamstation Bipap will be able to give the correct details.

If these tweaks don't help it's probably worth reducing your pressures to a comfortable level then gradually build up to the prescribed levels. Talk to your doctor before making this type of change.

Finally, I agree with the posts above that using SleepyHead is a very good idea as it will give you a detailed analysis of what's happening during your sleep. It will give you the evidence needed to adjust or fine tune your therapy.
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#9
RE: Greetings from a newbie
Hi Rjhoeper,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
You have a good attitude and that will go a long way toward your CPAP therapy.
Hang in there for more responses to your post and much success to you as you start your CPAP journey.
trish6hundred
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#10
RE: Greetings from a newbie
(04-14-2016, 12:39 PM)Rjhoeper Wrote: I just worry that since I got my machine from the place I did my sleep study, are they wanting to sell the more expensive machines, or do I really need that high of a pressure.

If you have insurance then they would probably prefer to sell you a CPAP and a dumb one at that because insurance companies generally will pay the same amount for any machine. Since they pay less for the cheap machine they will make more if they sell it to you.
Ed Seedhouse
VA7SDH

Part cow since February 2018.

Trust your mind less and your brain more.


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