[CPAP] Philips REMstar SE

[Ugly]

For Respironics machines you rotate the knob to "Setup". Then press down on that knob and the ramp button at the same time for several seconds. At least that's the way it is on all the Respironics machines I've looked at.

There's no knob on the REMstar SE machine. Just some pushbuttons.

Uh, yeah. Exactly. That does put a wrench in things. Not so simple.
Still, they managed somehow to set the pressure to "8" so there's a way to do it. Nobody wants to let me in on it. Hm. Did I get an email from Philips? No such luck.

[Sleepster]

You'll not get those instructions from Respironics. They direct their suppliers to remove the clinician's manuals before giving the machine to their patients.

Apnea Board makes great efforts to make these clinician manuals available, but I don't think we have one yet for the SE.

Do we? Anyone? Anyone?

[SuperSleeper]

You'll not get those instructions from Respironics. They direct their suppliers to remove the clinician's manuals before giving the machine to their patients.

Apnea Board makes great efforts to make these clinician manuals available, but I don't think we have one yet for the SE.

Do we? Anyone? Anyone?

Not that I know of... if anyone ever gets a copy of the Clinician Setup Manual for the PR REMstar SE... please email it to apneaboard@gmail.com and I'll make sure it goes on our CPAP Clinician Manuals Page.

Or, if anyone figures out how to get into the Clinician Setup Menu, please post instructions here and I'll make sure that gets onto the CPAP Clinician Manuals Page also.

[Ugly]

You'll not get those instructions from Respironics. They direct their suppliers to remove the clinician's manuals before giving the machine to their patients.

Apnea Board makes great efforts to make these clinician manuals available, but I don't think we have one yet for the SE.

Do we? Anyone? Anyone?

Not that I know of... if anyone ever gets a copy of the Clinician Setup Manual for the PR REMstar SE... please email it to apneaboard@gmail.com and I'll make sure it goes on our CPAP Clinician Manuals Page.

Or, if anyone figures out how to get into the Clinician Setup Menu, please post instructions here and I'll make sure that gets onto the CPAP Clinician Manuals Page also.

Well I got ink for my printer finally. I can combine the available information and try them one by one. Hopefully something will be similar. I was never asked to use an SD card although I stuck one in anyhow. I doubt there's anything directly useful there either but at least I can print things out.

[Ugly]

I feel that I spent enough time fighting with this infernal machine that seemed to have very few users and even less information. Part of it is that the buttons just don't work very well. My wife complained that it had an annoying glow and it took me half an hour to change the settings for something that should have taken only a minute or two. That was but one of the problems. Now, Monday, a new week, I called up VitalAire and they arranged an appointment for me. First I was told there seems to be no problem with the machine. But as I started to demonstrate what was giving me trouble she realized, yeah, it's a royal pain. So the machine is gone. I traded it in for a ResMed S9 Escape. Yeah yeah I know I can't get top of the line when I'm not paying anything for it. But I hope it works.
Meanwhile my otolaryngologist won't take appointments directly - I have to be referred through my family doctor and I can't get an appointment with him until December. AARRRGGGHHH!!!!
Luckily this model seems to have sufficient information to get to the clinician's menu. Meanwhile at VitalAire when my therapist was setting up the machine she deliberately did it in a way so I couldn't see what she was doing. I guess they want their information to be their little secret. I'll give it a few days. Then bump my number up a notch if I'm still having trouble.

[Sleepster]

So the machine is gone. I traded it in for a ResMed S9 Escape.

That's a brick. Take it back and get the ResMed S9 Elite.

[SuperSleeper]

Yeah yeah I know I can't get top of the line when I'm not paying anything for it.

Hi Ugly,

Here's the issue: you ARE paying for it. You've either paid for it via private insurance premiums or taxes if some type of government program like Medicare/Medicaid.

And, even if you're never paid a dime into Medicare/Medicaid, the rest of us taxpayers would like you to get a machine where you can monitor your progress with data such as AHI, leaks, etc., allowing you to optimize your CPAP treatment for effectiveness. That will get you better treatment in the long run and actually reduce your health care costs in the future, saving taxpayers more money in the future.

Insist on the bare minimum of a data-capable CPAP machine, as Sleepster suggested.

You owe it to yourself, and to the rest of us who pay insurance premiums and Medicare Taxes. The only thing that's happening by accepting a "brick" (non-data reporting CPAP) from the Durable Medical Equipment Supplier (DME) is that the DME is getting richer by convincing you to accept a low-end CPAP machine. They get a flat fee generally speaking, no matter what machine they give you - so it's in their best financial interests to hand you a low-end, dumb brick rather than a data-reporting machine.

Go out there and insist upon getting what you paid for.

[PaulaO2]

The insurance company pays for items according to their medical code. CPAPs, APAPs, and I think bilevel PAPs all have the same code. So DMEs (suppliers) like to sell us the cheapest models to maximize profit. Bully for them but crappy for us.

Take it back. You do not want a Resmed with Escape in the name or a Respironics with Plus in the name. Both of those are not data capable machines. They only collect compliance data.

[genes]

I understand how you can measure the pressure output of the cpap machine by marking the cm of pressure on the hose and submerging it in water to a depth where the flow stops. This is the no flow or static pressure.

Another thing that can be done is to measure the pressure at the mask under actual flow conditions. I use a pressure gage calibrated in psi and cm of water that has a tubing connected to it that will fit on the oxygen port on my nasal mask. I remove the rubber cap from the oxygen port and hook the pressure gage to it when I am using the cpap. I can look at the gage and continually read the pressure at the mask during cpap use (with flow)
The pressure varies during inhaling and exhaling. You could also put a T in the tubing just before the mask and connect another tube that goes to the water and use the immersion method the check the pressure. It will then be the pressure near the mask under flow conditions.
GeneS

[Sleepster]

I think the pressure at the mask end of the hose is just a bit higher, like a fraction of a centimetre.