[Health] Pardon me if this question has been asked. It is multipurposed and might be rambling

[stevenm1955]

Greetings all-

I have just joined, have much to say, a bunch of good stuff to share, and a few questions.  I hope this is not too rambling, and I shall try to stay organized.  I have not searched through the prior threads, and that might be against the philosophy of the group, and I am sorry.  I hope my sharing creates more answers than questions, and more solutions than controversy.

i shall begin, and thank you all for your time, energy, and consideration.

I am male, 68yo, 6'01", 227#.  This sets up a lot of info as an intro.  I have been doing the CPAP/BiPAP thing now for 7 years, use a FF  ResMed F30, and love the 15/10 CM H20 flow, full blow w/ no ramp on start.  I use a ResMed "gray cover" so I do not need a humidifier.  I know I had SA for many years, I know also that laying on my back while sleeping, well, I am over the top as goes AHI/desats go.  I came to know I needed a machine, 2/2 a serious suggestion by my spouse.  Serious Suggestion.

Before I begin rambling, I must say that on 7/28 I purchased & received, off Amazon, this adjunctive device by isleepfit.  It consists of a 1.5" wide elastic belt with 3 adjustably placed 3" balls that can be placed wherever one might need the placement to "train" the sleeping body to stay off that part.  It also has a buckle for securing the belt along the thorax or upper abdomen.  I have the balls placed along my back, and my AHIs are down to 1.5/noc.  This in itself is a solution.  Total solution.  FULL STOP.

I have lost faith in these neurologists turned "sleep specialists" for the $$$$, and the full noc test & following noc titration by this fancy, dancy university med center in Palo Alto, CA, as they attempt to charge ($15K) for each noc session, while my insurance pays ($1,400-ish/session) with no back billing.  

I had CPAP, BiPAP w/ ST settings over the past 7 years, 3 separate tests, and no one, not one focused on my back sleeping. isleepfit, for $39.00 solved this many year problem.  As I digress, this has only been one week now.

They had me on ST BiPAP for the past several years.  It is timed/spontaneous, and when sleeping on my back, the numbers were wacko, truly wacko.  As ST settings do not understand when I sleep on my back, the machine independently pushes 15 cm h20 pressure into my lungs, while dinging me w/ high AHI numbers.  I lost faith.

So; I switched my machine several months ago to a  Vauto setting at 15/10 with a PS of 5.  This is a question-  Why did I suggest a PS of 5.  I do fine at 15/10.  Should I DC the PS?? I was 5-15 AHI/noc.  Then came the isleepfit device last week- the AHIs now are 0.00-1.5, and I am totally off my back 2/2 this adjunctive device.  The system is so corrupt that a $40 belt fixes a problem that US healthcare, a nasty broken system panders to.  It is shameful, sinful, and morally & financially reprehensible this US healthcare system.

So- hope you all enjoyed my intro- and the question I had, within this golden nugget above is shall I get off the PS setting of 5 that I myself ordered, and the 15/10 was from my prescription,  but not sure if I need that either, at least w/ Vauto, it is not timed, and with the elastic belt/spheres keeping me off my back, should I go with less pressure???

Thanks all- sorry for all this words 

Steven M
   

[Jeff8356]

stevenm1955 

It might help if you posted a few daily graphs's from OSCAR (v1.4.0) so others can see what is going on with your therapy.  For Windows use the F12 key, for Mac use fn + F12.  Or if you prefer "point and click" you can also use the OSCAR menubar and select View > Take Screenshot.
There is also links in my signature for organizing  and posting your charts/graph's.

As you have discovered the "professionals" in the sleep field are not always helpful.  But you will find some well experienced and knowledgable CPAP users here that will likely be able to help you get better therapy.  It looks like you are on the right track yourself so far, good job!

Get a graph or two posted and someone will be along who can offer better therapy advice than I can.....

[cathyf]

The system is so corrupt that a $40 belt fixes a problem that US healthcare, a nasty broken system panders to.  It is shameful, sinful, and morally & financially reprehensible this US healthcare system.

Pretty similar story with me, except it's the $11.99 soft cervical collar that fixes my problem.

(except that I can no longer tolerate wearing it, as the pressure on my throat causes me to panic and I don't sleep *sigh*. But it certainly helped train me to keep my chin up.

The MyPillow has also seemed to make a huge difference with whatever I've got going on. When I was a kid I thought having multiple fat fluffy pillows was the ultimate in luxury. Now I've got OSCAR data that shows what a total train wreck it is to sleep like a princess!)