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[Health] CPAP nearly killed me.
#1
Angry 
CPAP nearly killed me.
I just don't understand. The doctor recently jacked up the pressure 1 more notch bec as the way he understood it I wasn't using it all night. This was mid-December 2017. I began to experience constant nasal congestion and post-nasal drip, memory was not as good. Then progressively it was headaches and weakness until I had to figure out something. Had been to 2 hospitals they were clueless. I knew that something happened in mid-Dec. but couldn't connect it. The headaches got so bad that suicide was looking as a possibility.

Somehow I thought to check the calendar and that was when the lights came on. I checked the CPAP which was up to 16! I've tried CPAP for over 20 years had 2 titrations with older machines and it was always 9. So I put the press down to 12 and BINGO, slept longer with it and felt an improvement. Next, I went down to 10 with a start of 5, it's an ResMed S9 autoset. Again, better sleep.

I'm thinking that the next step is to get a recording pulse/ox device, put my video cam in the bedroom to record movement and find a good malpractice Attorney. Advice/opinions?

Oh, forgot to mention that in the 20+ years of enduring this mask and machine crap I have NEVER (or rarely) woken up feeling better than when I went to bed at night. Now, someone tell me if this isn't screwed up. I feel like a pawn for the doc.
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#2
RE: CPAP nearly killed me.
While you're at it, get #Sleepyhead software and you will finally see what is going on, and see all the changes made to your settings. No surprises. If your doctor or DME is remotely changing settings, just make it clear they are not to do that without your explicit permission. You do have a right of denial as a patient.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
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#3
RE: CPAP nearly killed me.
Malpractice attorney will not take the case because you have no lasting injury. Don't know if you went back to that doctor, but I'd advise his office you will not be returning because of this (give details). Find a better doc and/or post your sleepyhead data here and others can help you improve your therapy. I thought that was screwy that he upped your pressure. The justification didn't make sense.
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#4
RE: CPAP nearly killed me.
In order to sue for injury, you would have to establish that you were uninjured to begin with at the time of the 'diagnosis' and prescription, and you'd also have to show how closely you adhered to the regimen over time.  Then, you'd have to establish that the regimen was deleterious and adversely affected your health and that no other factors or confounding factors out of the control of the person monitoring you were at play and that only the PAP, as prescribed, was the cause of the deterioration or injury.

You'd need a very good attorney.  And deep pockets.
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#5
RE: CPAP nearly killed me.
.....and a lot of "damage" (injury) to justify the time and effort even assuming you could establish causation.
Coffee

Happy Pappin'
Never Give In, Never Give Up




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. 
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#6
RE: CPAP nearly killed me.
(05-20-2018, 07:47 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: While you're at it, get [url=http://OSCAR Official Download Page ----> CLICK HERE ./]SleepyHead[/url] software and you will finally see what is going on, and see all the changes made to your settings.  No surprises.  If your doctor or DME is remotely changing settings, just make it clear they are not to do that without your explicit permission. You do have a right of denial as a patient.

Sleeprider has given you some very good advice, if you do what he suggested and seriously plug in to the forum, progress can be made. Assuming that you own your machine and are not in an insurance compliance period you can implement advice from the forum and expect improvement. 

Hoping the best for you,

Stan
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#7
RE: CPAP nearly killed me.
ZZDave,
Just a guess, but I'd suspect you were getting leaks from the high cpap pressures. And putting it in perspective, it was not the cpap that almost killed you... it was your poorly treated sleep apnea. Forget the idea of a lawsuit.

This forum promotes taking charge of your treatment. So you're in the right place. It took me a year to iron out all the difficulties I encountered but it was worth it. So welcome and hang in there.
JD
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#8
RE: CPAP nearly killed me.
Thanks,
I don't think there is a way it can be remotely done. IF there is then please LMK!

I am a Veteran and have been going to a particular hospital that has all the stuff including, I thought, a qualified sleep disorder specialist doctor. The way it works is that once a year I mail the SD card into them. They return it with a form letter which basically rates me on the amount of time I have used the CPAP. If I am having a problem then I call them and if necessary they have me send the SD card in for a look and get back to me with a phone call or letter.

So, changes are done through the card, I had thought.
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#9
RE: CPAP nearly killed me.
I should add more info which will be next but I wanted to mention that everyone, almost, says to use the Sleepyhead software. I can do that but I already downloaded (only) the ResMed software and some other related helpful info.

So it's important that we are all using the same program then I will delete the ResMed stuff and use Sleepyhead. Right?
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#10
RE: CPAP nearly killed me.
SleepyHead presents the data in a more comprehensive format. Also, SleepyHead has the same basic format display for different manufacturers. This means that once you understand its format you can understand most machines data.
Crimson Nape
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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