Hiya! Cricket, here!

[Cricket D]

 I quit smoking January 26th so I couldn't care less about carbs.  (Okay, I didn't care before that, either)  Off to buy (good) whiskey.

[Hydrangea]

It seems you have a better DME than most. I've dealt with two and they hardly told me anything. Not only do they never call to see how I'm doing but they usually don't return my calls.

I'm on my 2nd DME now. They call me once a month, and beg me to plug my modem in; I tell them no, and that's about it.  



I concur that good whiskey is always a good choice. :-)

 A machine is set at either a fixed pressure (ie: 11) or a range (ie: 4-11).  If it's set to auto, it'll do the range of pressures, based on what your body is telling it it needs at any given time. Kinda nice. 

Ramp is a button you can push that starts your machine at a lower pressure (ie: 4), so you can comfortably fall asleep.  Then after a set period of time (ie: 20 min), it starts ramping up to the pressure the machine is set at (either the fixed pressure, or the minimum pressure in the range).

I started with a fixed pressure of 5.  I used the ramp, whicy started me at 4, and after 20 min went to 5.  After a couple weeks, I was feeling starved for air while trying to fall asleep.  I realized that 4 (the beginning ramp pressure) was just too little pressure for me. I stopped using ramp (so my machine just went straight to its fixed pressure of 5), and I was more comfortable. But the ramp was nice for me for my 1st week or 2 on CPAP, to help me get used to something blowing into my breathing space.

[Sleeprider]

I Googled Jerkwater, AZ and learned you do canoe and kayak trips...There's snow on the ground here today, so where do I sign up?

[Melman]

Cricket,

For your machine there is no ramp button. You turn ramp on or off in the clinician's menu and then set a ramp time period. I don't know too much about it because I don't use it. I'm quite comfortable with a starting pressure of 8. Just because the sleep lab gave you a pressure of 11 doesn't mean it's the best pressure all of the time. Sometimes you may need a higher pressure , and much of the time you may not need 11. My lab titration result said 10. Until I got the ResMed machine I ran at a constant pressure of 10. My ResMed was initially set up at 10 and when I saw the data (my old machine was not data capable) I saw I had problems. With the help of this forum I got my AHIs down from above 5 to less than 2 most of the time by going to autoset with a minimum of 8 and a max of 14. My machine goes to 12-13 several times almost every night but mostly for short periods. My average pressure are between 10 and 11. So a constant pressure of 10 was not sufficient for me, in spite of the lab result.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Cricket D,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
You’re gonna do fine with your CPAP therapy and you have a great sense of humour.
I’m kind of a “picky witch”, too. I tell the docs where they are going to take my blood, (I know what works for me and what doesn’t,)what tests I will and will not take, what meds I will, and will not take, which is most of them, by the way, so I understand what you are saying about that. Anyway, I have gone on enough but I wish you good luck on your CPAP journey.

[Sleeprider]

Cricket, a pretty good option for you, aside from whiskey, is to set your machine in Autoset mode with a minimum pressure of 8 and maximum pressure of 14. That gets you lower pressure until you need more to prevent apnea. I think Beej has it right, and I was just waiting for him to spit it out (I don't think he does booze). Anyway, your machine is capable of a lot more comfort than you have it set to deliver. I think your husband will even let you go so far as to buy a Snugglehose hose cover (Supplier #1). They cost about $12, and make that lizard hard hose turn into soft as pajamas you won't even notice. We're all about getting comfortable here.

I thought Zonnies all drank Tequila anyway.

[Cricket D]

Thanks, Ms Hydrangea for your explanation.  I know now I already had everything set the way I wanted it.  I remember waking up to a shocker when my pressure jumped due to an event.  I might not have noticed it except my mask wasn't tight enough or had migrated because the blast of air was pouring out the sides and the mask was jumping up and down.  WHUT?  My mouth was barely open and sometimes my cheeks would fill with air like a chipmunk.  Whassup with that?  

Sleeprider, I don't know because the only canoe I've been in was at Disneyland and I don't live in AZ. I'm going to leave my ramp where it is but up my range to 5-12, just because you and Melman think I should.

Trish, you and I will get along fine.    THANKS, ALL!!!!

[PaytonA]

Oh, golly no!  That's not what I want at all!  I wanted my ramp to begin at 4 and end up at 11 for the remainder of the night because 11 is the number I had been given by the sleep lab.  Should I not sleep set at 11?  Is ramping not possible with autoset on?  I wanted the the ramp to begin after I had fallen asleep so I wouldn't notice it.  I knew I could fall asleep easily set at 4.  I thought I was getting a handle on this but...  Okay, autoset will adjust the pressure as you need it, right?  Ramping is simply a means to an end so it's one or the other, isn't it?  Maybe I'm a lot more confused than I thought.  Would whiskey help?

Whiskey would definitely help but it won't help your sleep.


You can use ramp with the mode set to auto but with the mode set to auto you need to set the max and min pressure. You can set the max to 11 and the min to 11 in auto mode and that will hold you at the one pressure. One of the benefits of auto mode is that you can set a range that you want the machine to work within and it will find the best pressure within that range.

You can use the ramp with auto. For instance: If you set your operating range for 8-14 and set your ramp to start at 4 and ramp for 15 minutes, it would ramp up from 4 to 8 in 15 minutes and then the auto function would take over.

Most people find that a pressure of 4 cm/H2O starves them for air and makes them feel like they are suffocating but some people actually like to start at 4. Well have fun.

Best Regards

PaytonA

[Melman]

I remember waking up to a shocker when my pressure jumped due to an event.  I might not have noticed it except my mask wasn't tight enough or had migrated because the blast of air was pouring out the sides and the mask was jumping up and down.  WHUT?  My mouth was barely open and sometimes my cheeks would fill with air like a chipmunk.  Whassup with that?  

It appears you need to tighten the headgear straps. I'm guessing you don't use the "test mask fit" feature when you first put your mask on. If you scroll down to the 7th item on the list in my settings you will be at "test mask fit". Push the large button you use to scroll, not the small one to start the machine, and it will gradually ramp up to your max pressure so you can test your mask fit at your highest pressure. I use it every night when I put my mask on because it's seldom that I can put it on and have no leaks at the higher pressure without making some minor adjustments. Fewer surprises and large leaks if you do that.

[Melman]

another thing that is important , in my case, is to be sure to wash my face well before I go to bed, which you probably do, and also wash the cushion daily with a mild detergent (dish washing detergent) to remove skin oils. If not I have leaks, especially at the bridge of the nose, into my eyes , which is very irritating.