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Waking up from apneas with Cpap
#11
RE: Waking up from apneas with Cpap
Hi ScrewtapeJenkins,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I would say to skip the oximeter and get the S9AutoSet.
As you pointedout, the machine you are using at this point is old. I think you can adjust pressure with it but you need a manometer to help you adjust it. I think there are a couple screws that control pressure on that older machine but I'm not sure about that. I think somewhere on this board there is a thread about making a homeade manometer.
If you get the S9Autoset, you'll have a fully data-capable machine and it offers a feature called maskfit that the machine you are using now probably doesn't have.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.
Good luck to you and do keep us posted.
trish6hundred
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#12
RE: Waking up from apneas with Cpap
(07-29-2013, 10:48 AM)ScrewtapeJenkins Wrote: So, did you not have a sleep study at all? I had a sleep study and I think I'm in the ballpark (upping my pressure to 13.4 seemed to do wonders for me last night). Could I skip the wrist oximeter (which amazon lists at $250) and just go with the S9 Autoset? And does the SleepyHead software come with the S9 or is that a separate purchase?

I think I actually saw the S9 when I went to pick up my new mask and have my pressure set. It was the only auto-titrating cpap they had in the store. The price was similar. I'd pretty much made up my mind even before reading your post that I was going to have to find a way to save up $700 to get an auto-titrating machine. One of my early plans before I used a year saving up the $2000 to have my sleep study done was to just have my dad (who had a prescription for a cpap) go in and buy an auto-titrating machine for me, and skip the sleep study and just do that. I decided to do the thing honest because I thought a doctor would give me more precise help than a machine. I'm starting to think I made exactly the wrong decision.


A complete Sleep study in my area is over $16,000 so I have been unable
to come up with that kind of money in a timely way.
If the cost of that kind of medical care were more attainable like $1,600,
I would be more likely to do things in a traditional manner but time and tide wait for no one.
So I did what I had to do in order to get treated.



"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable." - Thomas Foxwell Buxton

Cool
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#13
RE: Waking up from apneas with Cpap
(07-29-2013, 02:40 PM)Shastzi Wrote: A complete Sleep study in my area is over $16,000

Bug-eyed Crazy

A little north of $11k here, minus doctor fees (for a 2-night study w/ titration).

However, adjusted for insurance, it's about $6-7k before they pay their share.

That means that about $5k of the sticker price is just fairy tale fluff.
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#14
RE: Waking up from apneas with Cpap
(07-29-2013, 01:29 PM)trish6hundred Wrote: Hi ScrewtapeJenkins,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I would say to skip the oximeter and get the S9AutoSet.
As you pointedout, the machine you are using at this point is old. I think you can adjust pressure with it but you need a manometer to help you adjust it. I think there are a couple screws that control pressure on that older machine but I'm not sure about that. I think somewhere on this board there is a thread about making a homeade manometer.
If you get the S9Autoset, you'll have a fully data-capable machine and it offers a feature called maskfit that the machine you are using now probably doesn't have.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.
Good luck to you and do keep us posted.

No, I can adjust it on the machine. It has an LED screen and everything, it's not a hand crank, lol.
(07-29-2013, 02:40 PM)Shastzi Wrote:
(07-29-2013, 10:48 AM)ScrewtapeJenkins Wrote: So, did you not have a sleep study at all? I had a sleep study and I think I'm in the ballpark (upping my pressure to 13.4 seemed to do wonders for me last night). Could I skip the wrist oximeter (which amazon lists at $250) and just go with the S9 Autoset? And does the SleepyHead software come with the S9 or is that a separate purchase?

I think I actually saw the S9 when I went to pick up my new mask and have my pressure set. It was the only auto-titrating cpap they had in the store. The price was similar. I'd pretty much made up my mind even before reading your post that I was going to have to find a way to save up $700 to get an auto-titrating machine. One of my early plans before I used a year saving up the $2000 to have my sleep study done was to just have my dad (who had a prescription for a cpap) go in and buy an auto-titrating machine for me, and skip the sleep study and just do that. I decided to do the thing honest because I thought a doctor would give me more precise help than a machine. I'm starting to think I made exactly the wrong decision.


A complete Sleep study in my area is over $16,000 so I have been unable
to come up with that kind of money in a timely way.
If the cost of that kind of medical care were more attainable like $1,600,
I would be more likely to do things in a traditional manner but time and tide wait for no one.
So I did what I had to do in order to get treated.

You should spend some time in North Carolina. I got a split-night study for less than $1000. I didn't get the best care, but all I wanted was the ability to buy a cpap machine.

$16,000 is absolutely insane.
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#15
RE: Waking up from apneas with Cpap
(07-29-2013, 12:39 PM)ScrewtapeJenkins Wrote: I am correct, though, that a person on cpap shouldn't experience events of waking up gasping for air? Even if I had a mask that was leaking a little bit, that shouldn't happen, right?

Hi ScrewtapeJenkins,

You are absolutely correct that you should not be waking up gasping for air.

There are three things which are likely to cause this problem:

1.) Sleep position. When we roll onto our back our pressure needs are usually much higher, especially when we are in REM sleep stage. Solution: wear a snug fitting teeshirt with a tennis ball in a pocket sewn right between the shoulder blades. It really works great me. Or, I think Shastzi prefers a light knapsack with a couple tubes of tennis balls in the knapsack.

2.) Large leaks can cause the pressure to be too low and can allow apneas. This is one of the reasons a data-capable machine is needed, so you can see full details on what was happening while you were sleeping.

3.) On fixed CPAP machines, the prescribed pressure may be too low. Our needs vary from night to night, so often a titration sleep study will end up prescribing too low of a pressure.

During titrations, it is common for therapists to raise the pressure in steps of 1 cmH2O, or in steps of 2 cmH2O if time is short like sometimes happens in a split night study when the patient is unable to fall sleep right away. So I would not be hesitant to raise the pressure to 14 or 15. However, I suspect that if you can make sure you stay off your back when asleep (as per item 1 above), the waking-up-gasping-for-air will stay away and a pressure of 13 will likely be more than ever needed, because the 13 was likely measured during your titration while you were sleeping on your back.

By the way, do not get a ResMed Escape Auto. Avoid any ResMed machine with Escape in the name, or any Philips Respironics model with Plus in the name, because these are not fully data-capable machines.

A "gently used" S9 AutoSet with humidifier and heated hose is $569 from Supplier #2 on our supplier list.

In the mean time, be sure to change the air filter occasionally (like monthly) on your current and future machines.

Take care,
--- Vaughn
The Advisory Member group provides advice and suggestions to Apnea Board administrators and staff on matters concerning Apnea Board operation and administrative policies.  Membership in the Advisory Member group should not be understood as in any way implying medical expertise or qualification for advising Sleep Apnea patients concerning their treatment.
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#16
RE: Waking up from apneas with Cpap
So, it was happening again last night. I increased my pressure to 14, I slept on my stomach, my mask was as airtight as I could make it, and I was still waking up lightheaded with my heart racing multiple times. It's like sometimes I forget to breathe at night. I don't really know what's going on.
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#17
RE: Waking up from apneas with Cpap
(07-30-2013, 02:45 PM)ScrewtapeJenkins Wrote: So, it was happening again last night.

Hi ScrewtapeJenkins,

Have you been able to obtain a copy of your full sleep report, including time plots of events?

Does the sleep report show central apneas (several per hour)?

Take care,
--- Vaughn
The Advisory Member group provides advice and suggestions to Apnea Board administrators and staff on matters concerning Apnea Board operation and administrative policies.  Membership in the Advisory Member group should not be understood as in any way implying medical expertise or qualification for advising Sleep Apnea patients concerning their treatment.
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