What if you scored a $1,000 CPAP machine? Can you hack into it (with 40 years experience of knowing your sleeps patterns) to try to cure a 40-year sleep problem (snoring, holding my breath, etc.)?
I had a cpap/respiratory system that is more complicated. It monitors my heart and Oxygen level and adds oxygen while controlling my breathing..
I had a power surge and wiped mine out but I typed in the model number and got the instructions for it to do a self diagnostic and self sensing reprogram. It took a couple nights for it to get it done but it worked. They have sense given me a knew one that makes oxygen from the air.
A CPAP machine basically is designed to keep your airway open by forcing you to breathe through your nose. Once the unit is turned on, it is almost impossible to breathe through your mouth as well as talk. They are custom fit and the airflow is custom programmed based on the sleep studies that they do on you and the type of sleep apnea that you have.
Usually the machines start out at a low volume and ramp up to a pre-set flow. In part, that's so you can go to sleep before it reaches full pressure. If the pressure is too high, the seal against your face blows out and you start to get what some call Face Farts.
My wife has been using a CPAP and more recently a BiPAP machine since the mid 909's. The CPAP machine had to be programmed by the sleep center. Periodically she would go in for a sleep study and they would make adjustments based on the result. It can be adjusted by an individual, though. Our daughter, a paramedic, has adjusted that one for my wife. The information is online. She adjusted it down when we loaned it to tbone42, a few years ago, but he had difficulty with claustrophobia and couldn't use it. Attaching a line from a concentrator can help to reduce or eliminate that. Practice-wearing it during the day can also get one used to the machine.
As for the BiPAP machine, that one was also set by the sleep center after a study. It, however has a small SIM card plus a radio receiver/transmitter that plugs into the back. The sleep center downloads monthly information, then uploads an adjustment if needed. It does have buttons and a screen, so it can also probably be manually adjusted.
Boon, if you have a ResMed machine, maybe my daughter or son-in-law can help you.
This is probably a stupid question, but I was always under the impression that people who used a CPAP had to do so because they were generally overweight or badly out of shape? Would not simply exercising be a better option than spending money or fiddling with a CPAP machine?
This is probably a stupid question, but I was always under the impression that people who used a CPAP had to do so because they were generally overweight or badly out of shape? Would not simply exercising be a better option than spending money or fiddling with a CPAP machine?
Or am I completely wrong?
I believe that is generally the case, but there might be a few people that are at healthy weight and still need it.
All the people I know are generally older, say 40+, overweight and out of shape. I personally known two people who stopped using it by losing weight and exercising. One of the dude's went through gastric bypass surgery in order to loose weight, but lost a lot a weight and started walking every day and was able to stop using the CPAP.
Both guys were never smokers, so I'm not so sure how much smoking habits play in people needing CPAP. Also, fierofool's wife might not be Gilbert Grape mom big, but generally overweight people is all I know.
I sometimes wonder if CPAP users always dream of scuba diving or being a fighter pilot?
[This message has been edited by Wichita (edited 06-29-2014).]
In my wife's case, she has Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. High blood pressure in the lungs. It's a genetic disorder where the blood vessels of the lungs are constricted so that they don't exchange Co2 and Oxygen as efficiently as normal lungs.
Our bodies has two separate blood pressures. Systemic which is the one we see from the blood pressure cuff, and pulmonary. Pulmonary pressures can only be read by catheterizing the heart and lungs. Yes, people using C or Bi Pap machines are often or maybe usually overweight and are inactive, but that in itself may not be the reason for needing the machine. in the opposite, because people cannot breathe, they become inactive and overweight.
My wife was around 135-140 until she eventually got to the point that she required some degree of oxygen. She could perform normal activities, but couldn't run, swim, or walk very far. That, and combined with the steroids the doctors began to prescribe, she began putting on weight. A lot of weight. A new regimen of medication that slowly reduced the steroids has caused her to loose more than 150 lbs in the last 6 years.
It is a catch 22. Weight problems adds to breathing problems. Breathing problems adds to weight problems.
If you think you may have obstructive sleep apnea (which is what this machine is used to treat) You really should see a doctor that specializes in sleep disorders. The only efficient way to find the correct settings for a CPAP is with a sleep study.
If you think you may have obstructive sleep apnea (which is what this machine is used to treat) You really should see a doctor that specializes in sleep disorders. The only efficient way to find the correct settings for a CPAP is with a sleep study.
This is quite true. When the do a sleep study they monitor just about everything on you, from O2 level, to leg movements. The do what is called a titration. This is where they slowly adjust the pressure of the CPAP to see how you do. When they get to the point where your O2 levels are proper then that is basically where they set the pressure.
I have used one for over 10 years and my pressure has remained constant. The masks though have changed significantly so that what used to be restrictive, claustrophobic and down right uncomfortable is now pretty good. I have a little thing that goes under my nose with soft pillows on it and a strap around my head. It is comfortable, open and doesn't leak like crazy.
I would recommend you see a sleep specialist if you are concerned with your sleep patterns especially if you are like me that snore loudly and stop breathing regularly when you sleep.
I had a friend of mine who had bad sleep apnea who was kind of thin. He had surgeries on his upper nose cavities, the back of his throat and the lower part of his throat. That seemed to reduce the snoring a lot, but he still ended up dying of a heart attack due to his sleep apnea problems at 40. So it is something that is very important to take care of if you have that type of problem.
This is probably a stupid question, but I was always under the impression that people who used a CPAP had to do so because they were generally overweight or badly out of shape? Would not simply exercising be a better option than spending money or fiddling with a CPAP machine?
Or am I completely wrong?
my stepdad is 6 foot 7 and maybe 190 pounds and has too wear one for a few years now
[This message has been edited by fierobrian (edited 06-29-2014).]
especially if you are like me that snore loudly and stop breathing regularly when you sleep.
.
I do, and have not slept well in 40 years. It is only recently that I started putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Ideally, yes, a full-blown sleep study would be perfect. But financially, this is a do-it-yourself project.
On the other hand, if this is indeed dangerous, the project does lose a considerable amount of interest for me. I mean, I've survived 40 years of crappy sleep, what's another 40?
This is probably a stupid question, but I was always under the impression that people who used a CPAP had to do so because they were generally overweight or badly out of shape? Would not simply exercising be a better option than spending money or fiddling with a CPAP machine?
Or am I completely wrong?
There are many causes of obstructive sleep apnea, not just body weight. That said, sleep apnea can cause serious damage due to spikes in blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks and death. Treating that with a CPAP could help you live long enough to lose weight.
If your doctor told you to lose 30lbs, could you do it? By tomorrow?
I'm still researching. I don't want to die in my sleep or nothing (but for the life of me I can't figure out why).
I don't think that machine can record and automatically adjust to you. Not if it fits in a bag. What I was talking about is the size of an end table. It has a hand attachment and a little finger light to monitor your vitals and O2.
How did you get a ResMed 5 without a prescription? The sleep study determines among other things, just how much oxygen you're getting while sleeping. CPAP is one-way Continuous Air Pressure. Even when you exhale, the machine is still putting in the same air flow to the mask, but is exhausted through the ports.
BiPAP machines actually decrease the pump pressure when you exhale. BiPAP machines are also much quieter and have less tendency to break the face seal. Once the seal on either is broken, the machine increases flow to try to attain the programmed positive pressure required for the patient. The result is Face Farts.
If you've had the sleep study and have privately gotten the ResMed to save some money, then get it programmed for your personal needs, or as I offered, maybe my daughter or son-in-law can help you. My wife says the programming instructions are available on the web, but you need to know what values to enter.
It is odd that we can't purchase medical oxygen for our own use, nor can we purchase oxygen concentrators or anything that will provide medical oxygen unless we have a prescription from a pulmonologist. That's one of the reasons that Oxygen Bars were put out of business. They weren't approved by the FDA.
[This message has been edited by fierofool (edited 06-29-2014).]
How did you get a ResMed 5 without a prescription?
Networking. When avoiding the costly medical profession for 30 years, you learn other avenues of acquisition for the medical supplies you need, bypassing the imposed requirement of needing someone else's permission. It's a lot like working on your own car instead of taking it to a shop.......you just need the smarts and the tools.
[This message has been edited by Boondawg (edited 06-29-2014).]
Networking. When avoiding the costly medical profession for 30 years, you learn other avenues of acquisition for the medical supplies you need. It's a lot like working on your own car instead of taking it to a shop.......you just need the smarts and the tools.
Understood and supported. That's why we sent tbone42 our CPAP. He'd had the study but couldn't afford the machine. That's how we got our first concentrator. Insurance copay was $100 a month. We found that if we ha a prescription we could purchase one for less than $800 (price in the mid 90's), so we bought one from a private individual, along with a bunch of tanks and regulators and a nebulizer, for $250.
[This message has been edited by fierofool (edited 06-29-2014).]
I do, and have not slept well in 40 years. It is only recently that I started putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Ideally, yes, a full-blown sleep study would be perfect. But financially, this is a do-it-yourself project.
On the other hand, if this is indeed dangerous, the project does lose a considerable amount of interest for me. I mean, I've survived 40 years of crappy sleep, what's another 40?
If you want to be treated for sleep apnea without a ful sleep study the best way would be with a APAP instead of a CPAP
Networking. When avoiding the costly medical profession for 30 years, you learn other avenues of acquisition for the medical supplies you need, bypassing the imposed requirement of needing someone else's permission. It's a lot like working on your own car instead of taking it to a shop.......you just need the smarts and the tools.
So you have spent some time down at the east docks..
Understood and supported. That's why we sent tbone42 our CPAP. He'd had the study but couldn't afford the machine. That's how we got our first concentrator. Insurance copay was $100 a month. We found that if we ha a prescription we could purchase one for less than $800 (price in the mid 90's), so we bought one from a private individual, along with a bunch of tanks and regulators and a nebulizer, for $250.
I got the ResMed S7 Lightweight with the heated humidifier:
My wife uses one, she noticed a difference the first night. But sometimes it ramps up too much and "fart" so she wakes up and turns the machine off and back on and it starts the cycle over.
I do think they have the final air flow set too high but it works.
