Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
Yesterday, after many years of asking the VA, my husband and I went to get trained on operating his brand new insulin pump. He was taught how to program it, and adjust settings. Insulin can kill you if done wrong. But they trust us to deal with the pump, with suggestions on settings from his doctor.
And yet, if I buy my cpap/apap from a local DME, they will not give me the clinician manual (DME guy said he could be fired if he did). Unlikely a cpap/apap will ever kill anyone by their tinking with settings.
So, the device that won't kill you, you are not trusted to adjust, but the device where you could easily die if you don't set it right, you are given complete control over?
Makes you wonder doesn't it?
It was just a thought pattern while sitting listening to the insulin pump trainers.
Have a good week's end all.
RE: Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
DME instructed to remove the clinical manual.
important: remove this guide before handing the device to the patient
pressures should only be adjusted by qualified personal
______________________________________________________________
manufactures and insurance colluding together in fraud of the century
here insurance don,t play any part just manufactures fix prices and suppliers happy to keep prices high
50% of patients quit PAP therapy in the first month
nobody cares in helping and encourage patients to be compliant
there is more money to be made in sleep studies and selling machine to new patients
there is no shortage of new patients with the obesity epidemic
people who come to sleep apnea forum seek help and help others makes far more significant contributions than all sleep doctors, insurance and manufactures put together bc they are not motivated by money just by helping others who struggle on their journey just like themselves
RE: Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
Yep. That's the same argument many of us use.
My neurologist give me 9 bottles of lethal medication, including narcotics, each month and trust me to take them according to the directions. Some of my medications are PRN (as needed) and I have to decide for myself when taking one is warranted.
My doctor trusts me to take my blood glucose test and adjust my diet accordingly. Not understanding this can result in me having very high blood glucose (potentially deadly) or, most likely, very low blood glucose (potentially deadly). Yet, my doctor trusts me to take care of both problems on my own.
My CPAP blows air into my nose. Yet, I am not allowed to understand how to adjust my treatment based on how I feel and the data (if the machine even collects data).
Yeah, something wrong with that.
I cannot imagine taking my blood glucose every day for a year, then taking the machine to the doc for her to view and adjust my treatment. Yet, that's how CPAP data works.
PaulaO
Take a deep breath and count to zen.
RE: Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
Preaching to the choir friends! I've lurked some of the other Apnea forums, and you can get censured/kicked off just for having this opinion.
Let's all thank Super for keeping the lights on on this forum. In fact, if you haven't kicked in a couple bucks recently now would be a great time to hit the DONATE button.
RE: Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
While I do believe we should have the right to have the clinician's manual and adjust our own equipment, there are some legitimate drawbacks.
1) Some patients can't set the time on their digital watches, but they'd still tinker with their CPAP and get it wrong. I'm a professional geek, and I set my machine wrong and screwed myself up.
2) Some patients will decide to tinker with their settings and get them wrong to the detriment of their own health. I suspect a lot of new CPAPers would turn the pressure down and leave it too low forever.
3) You can induce central apnea if you do it wrong.
4) Some people would become CPAP hypochondriacs and obsess over their treatment, and tinker all the time, and lose sleep because they saw something odd in their data if they had the software.
As I said, I support patient knowledge, and support this site. I'm not sure it would be a good idea to give the "secret" information to all patients. I do think the patients should be allowed to download ALL the manuals and software for free, including the "secret" providers manuals if they want it.
Get the free OSCAR CPAP software here.
Useful links.
Click here for information on the main alternative to CPAP.
If it's midnight and a DME tells you it's dark outside, go and check it yourself.
RE: Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
Word to the wise:
If your DVD or VCR player is still flashing 12:00 a year after you turned it on... it's probably not a good idea to fiddle with your CPAP machine's settings without professional help.
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com
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.
RE: Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
(10-18-2012, 11:19 PM)SuperSleeper Wrote: Word to the wise:
If your DVD or VCR player is still flashing 12:00 a year after you turned it on... it's probably not a good idea to fiddle with your CPAP machine's settings without professional help.
I bought my dad two watches so I didn't have to try to talk him though the daylight savings time shift over the phone twice a year.
Get the free OSCAR CPAP software here.
Useful links.
Click here for information on the main alternative to CPAP.
If it's midnight and a DME tells you it's dark outside, go and check it yourself.
RE: Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
(10-18-2012, 11:37 PM)archangle Wrote: I bought my dad two watches so I didn't have to try to talk him though the daylight savings time shift over the phone twice a year.
Now that's an excellent idea. Sometimes 'ya just gotta make your life simple and effective.
My parents are both around 80 years old and it seems I have to explain how to copy & paste for them once a month or so because they forgot how from the last time I explained it... Computer help-desk isn't easy over the phone, especially for folks who didn't grow up with computers.
Parents... gotta love 'em.
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com
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.
RE: Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
(10-18-2012, 10:20 PM)archangle Wrote: 4) Some people would become CPAP hypochondriacs and obsess over their treatment, and tinker all the time, and lose sleep because they saw something odd in their data if they had the software.
Yes, some people might get so obsessed that they create a special area on the internet where they do nothing but talk about apnea treatment. They might even label themselves by the level of their compulsion, preferred, master, monitor, or moderator.
Just joking guys!
RE: Thoughts on cpap clinician manuals and insulin pumps
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com
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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