Switching Machines

[owlgirl63]

I have a Philips Respironics Remstar that I have been using with a nasal pillows mask. I had a sleep study and I got that machine from a home health place. I was doing a good job at being compliant but have been struggling with that lately.

I decided to try the Dreamware mask and the DreamStation. I purchased them from Amazon. I have the providor manual. I have been looking at all the settings and I am overwhelmed. From looking at the settings in the other machine, I think my pressure setting is 13.

Is there anyway I can find out what the different settings mean? I am beginning to think I made a bad expensive mistake. Unfortunately I found this site after I made the purchase.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Beej]

Do you know what you were prescribed? That could be a starting point. Three basic settings may be:
Minimum pressure: the lowest level the machine is set to give
Maximum pressure: the highest level the machine is set to give
Ramp - the pressure starts lower and gradually increases to the minimum over a specified amount of time

Also, if you have software such as Sleepyhead (link above your first post), you can get a picture of what is going on with your sleep and we may be able to suggest adjustments to make improvements.

[trish6hundred]

Hi owlgirl63,
WELCOME! to the forum.!

Good luck to you as you continue your CPAP therapy.
Hang in there for more suggestions to help you get your machine set up.

[Sleeprider]

We can easily walk you through your settings. Here is a link on how to access them: http://www.apneaboard.com/dreamstation-c...structions http://www.apneaboard.com/dreamstation-c...structions

Even though you purchased your own machine, your home health supplier may be willing to help you set it up. If they do, they will set it up in CPAP mode at your prescribed pressure. There will be no difference in how your Dreamstar Auto operates compared to the Remstar with those settings...your choice.

The settings are very simple, and on your auto machine, you can leave many of them in the default position. Using the link above, just enter the clinical menu, and go to Therapy Settings. There are two rows of icons. The first one on the top left is the mode. Let's assume you will use the Auto mode so we can figure our why you were having problems with your previous machine. That will let you "bracket" your CPAP pressure from your study, so that you can have lower pressure at times, and higher pressure when needed. Set the mode to Auto.

The next icon is for Opti-Start. This is a setting that uses your last therapy session to set your starting pressure in the zone that was effective for you over the last sessions. You can turn this on or off. Let's go with ON. It will not have any effect for a couple days.

The next is EZ Start. Since you have already used CPAP and tolerated the pressure, leave that option OFF. It just keeps pressure lower for the first few days so new users can adapt to CPAP.

The pressure settings are set in Auto^ for maximum pressure and Auto v for minimum pressure. I would suggest minimum pressure of 9.0 an maximum pressure of 15 to bracket your fixed pressure.

That's all you need to do. Leave the rest of the therapy settings alone. Next you can set Comfort Settings. This is ramp minimum pressure, time, and the use of A-flex. If you were using ramp on your other machine, you can use the same settings on the Dreamstation. Also, select AFlex and set it to 1-3 to make breathing transitions easier from inhale to exhale and back to inhale.

You got a great machine, and even though you self-financed, you can always get professional help. You took the right step to get the best care for yourself that you can. With the new machine you will get data that will help you and us to understand why you might have been having problems with the Remstar.

[kwhenrykerr]

Sleeprider it is folks like you that have made this forum so good and helped me with CPAP. So many good people.

We all can help each other understand. Some of the information is not to my liking at the time but I am reminded that the mind is like a parachute, it works best when open.