current sleep apena guidleines

[localboy]

Good job on the weight control...

It was quite simple. All I did was alter my work schedule to 2100 hours to 0500 hours, five days a week. Then when I got home at 0600, I slept. Wake up. Repeat. :wink: :lol:

Seriously, I did lose 15 in 6 weeks and the schedule did not help. But I am eating better, eating less and my intake of un-needed carbs, aka beer, wine etc, has decreased because of it.

 

[Gene&Mary]

I've had my CPAP machine for 8 months now.

How does everyone clean their machine?

How many hours a night does everyone average per night? S far I keep it on between 4-7 hours, then take it off for the remainder of the night.

I find that using the non-heated hose doesn't use as much distilled water from the humidification reservoir as the heated hose. The result is that I wake up dryer with the non-heated hose

Imagine........ a thread about sleep apnea on C brats. What a great forum.

 

[colbysmith]

Gene&Mary, I use mine during the entire night. 6-9 hours. Just sleep better with it on. I clean the mask and tubing every week. Wash it in a sink with soapy water. (Regular dish washing detergent.) I clean the tiny air filter about once a month in that same sink of soapy water. The humidifier tray is also washed weekly. Maybe a few times a year I'll soak it in Vinegar. The machine itself just gets wiped down when the dust starts to show. I don't have the heated hose, and just set my humidifier to what is comfortable. That's usually a little bit higher setting in the winter when the furnace drys the house out. I also use a C-Pap when I'm staying on the boat, but without the humidifier....seems to be enough moisture when on the water. It only has an ac adapter, but I find that using a 100 watt inverter does just fine, without running the humidifier. My preferred machine is the ResMed S9. Unfortunately, my supplier no longer carries that model, and my newest machine is the Respironics DreamStation. I'm not as impressed as it's not as easy to read the information I like to see (AHI and time of use), and it's water tray is smaller. (The information stuff is probably just a learning curve...) I still have my original S9 and an older used S9 I bought outright from the supplier, that I use for traveling and on the boat. Colby

 

[BrentB]

Who makes a good machine? Which one are you using?

 

[Dreamer]

ResMed AutoSense 10 works fine for me. Quiet, Adjustable if you know the secret code! It has an SD card that records sleep data and it reports every morning so you can check online and see what your score was from the night before. I have gone from 46 episodes per hour to .3-.5. Never slept better. I can honestly say it has changed my life.

I do have a box full of full face masks that just didn't work for me. I am back to Nasal Pillows. The model is Phillips Respironics Nuance Pro.

 

[colbysmith]

I much prefer the nasal pillows and use the Opus headgear. And as I said earlier, like the Resmed S9 C-Pap.

For those using C-Pap, this is a great resource:

http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/

Not only can you join forums discussing C-Pap usage, but also have access to software that can download data from your machines, and provide the medical operating manuals for various machines that will provide the "secret" codes for changing your machine's settings. Colby

 

[hardee]

Gene&Mary,

It is best to sleep the whole night with your CPAP on. If you are not, then the reason should be explored, because, CPAP should be comfortable enough to wear for the full night, and you should be waking rested and refreshed. Typical nights should be in the 7-8 hour bracket for most people.

First, your CPAP supplier should have provided you with cleaning instructions. But, if it came by UPS, the UPS driver probably didn’t go over them with you.
General Recommendations for Cleaning:
Mask; should be cleaned every day. Something between a wipe down with diaper wipes to a full vinegar soak. Soapy water is good, rinse and air dry. Mask, daily.

Hose; once a week, unless you turn off your machine before the hose is completely dried out. (If there is water in the humidifier chamber, there is moisture in the hose also.

Humidifier; a vinegar solution soak somewhere between once a week and once a month. This frequency depends on use. IF you run the chamber dry every morning, then 2 – 4 weeks should be adequate. On the other hand if you still have water in the chamber when you get up and turn the machine off, It needs to be emptied and dried.

The humidifier; should always have distilled water only. The water chamber should never be left sitting with water from on night to the next. (That would be like an incubator chamber for bugs.)

The Filters; Oh yes, your machine has filters and they do need to be changed, occasionally. Some are foam and washable, some have 2 parts, a fine (HEPA) filter and a foam (Hair) filter. The changing frequency is entirely dependent on your living conditions. An unchanged filter will shorten the life of your machine, may lower your pressure, and may contribute to foul odor through the machine.

Some folks prefer to run without a humidifier on the system. In some cases, some folks (your truly is one), use a different machine on board the boat, and because the humidifiers take up considerable battery power we opt to only run the compressor (CPAP) and not include the humidifier. If you are using that approach, sometimes a saline nasal spray helps to moisten the mucosa before and after the CPAP therapy. (Saline nasal spray is not a prescription medication, and is easy to use and (for me) makes my dry CPAP nights tolerable.

Using a heated or non-heated hose is a matter of preference. Most machines have an adjustability to allow you to have as much or as little amount of moisture as makes you comfortable. The settings vary considerably depending on where in the country, how warm or cool your bedroom is, the season of the year, and the type of mask you are using. Even the auto adjust features have some adjustment settings to start with. Check out your instructions, or your DME provider.

Hope that helps some,

And to all a Good night, always.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon

 

[hardee]

Who makes a good machine? Which one are you using?

Brent, For the most part, any of the machines will work, but, from history, the Respironics were the best for a long time, (and you could plug them into 12VDC with a Cig lighter plug), and ResMed made the best masks.

Over the last 10 years, ResMed machines have gone leaps and bounds, and now they are the easiest to work with and get info from, and in the mask department, they are all over the place.

The best mask, bar none, is the one that works for you. That means it has to fit perfect, snug, and NOT LEAK, or the CPAP is just blowing into the room. So make sure that is what you have. Wear the mask, with the machine on, NO LESS than 15 minutes, then take it off and look at your face in a mirror. That is called the face print, and it should be even, all around where the contact with the mask was. IF it is not, it needs adjusting, and you need to do another 15 min session.

My personal belief is that the best mask universally, is a full face mask BECAUSE in 90% of obstructive sleep apnea cases, it is worse in REM sleep. That is due to the total relaxation of the body (neuro muscular disconnect) which happens in REM. It is when the mouth drops open, the airway collapses and the OSA flourishes, and the AHI climbs, and if the CPAP is just blowing in the nose, and the mouth is open, then the air will blow out of the open mouth, where the system is not a closed circuit. That equals CPAP failure and a higher AHI.

There are some smaller, more portable machines on the market. I have no experience with them except the Transcend, and it is one that I use. It is small, about the size of a Coke can, (with out the humidifier attachment) and it plugs directly into the 12VDC or into a battery for one or 2 nights use between recharges. The travel system I use includes a battery, 12VDC connector, the hose, mask and machine fits into a bag about 6" by 7".

http://www.mytranscend.com/

Hope that is some help. PM me if there is something more I can help with.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon

 

[hardee]

Yes, you can get the "secret codes" and make adjustments on your machines. it is possible, and yes, most of us are smarter than a box of rocks, so doing it is not impossible. I would just caution that in some cases, making changes could be detrimental to ones health. Most times the Sleep Physician will adjust the setting to be at the lowest efficacious setting. Most self adjustments are to lower the pressure settings and in doing that, the AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index) goes up, which increases the workload on the heart. Some setting changes could affect the Medicare requirements and lead to loss of payment by MCR.

Most of the non-threatening adjustments, (heat, humidity, Expiratory Pressure Relief, Auto ON or Off, etc) can be adjusted without getting into the clinical menus.

I would caution to be sure you have a good understanding of your diagnosis, your sleep study report, and your machine functions before making changes.

Have a great night, and always, keep breathing.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[colbysmith]

As an end user, I tend to agree with Harvey's comments. Especially about the settings part, and even the forum site I highlighted above makes a disclaimer about that. None the less, while I DON'T advocate messing with the pressure settings, there are some settings that still are not available in the general user setup, such as the machines automatic on or off. Ideally, those things should be left to the user, but at least on the ResMed and Respironics machines I have, they are not, unless you know how to access that "clinical" setup. As to the need of cleaning, go back and read my comments in my earlier post. I think if most followed the recommendations of cleaning daily, it would get old and turn folks away from using. I can say my routine has worked well, and I have yet to encounter any sterilization or cleanliness issues with my units. (And I've heard from my Doc that I'm doing better than most. ;-) I do use only distilled water, but fill the chamber full and the water remaining stays in it until gone, several days later. The bottom line is at least in my case, the C-Pap was a definite help, and with some reasonable care and cleaning, it does it's job without a lot of upkeep from me. Colby

 

[Gene&Mary]

I use the ResMed AirSense 10.

Colby- I have been been just adding distilled water to the reservoir as needed to bring it back up to the Max line. I haven't got sick yet but......
If you just use the water until it is gone and it runs out in the middle of the night is that OK? Is there a problem with the humidifier running on empty?

With the heated tube, there is an electrical contact that they caution about getting wet. Makes it hard to submerge entirely in water. Anybody have any good i9deas about keeping the contact dry and still give the tube a through cleaning?

Has anyone tried the ultrasonic cleaner I have seen advertised?

Thanks

 

[colbysmith]

I've only run mine out of water a few times. And other than a dry warm smell I notice coming thru the mask when I wake up, it doesn't seem to have hurt anything. When I traveled with one of the machines during my active airline pilot days (not so many years ago), I did carry the complete machine, with the humidifier. I just carried a small bottle of distilled water, and would empty the water tray back into that bottle for use the next night. I don't use the heated hose, nor have I seen the cleaner you refer too. Colby

 

[hardee]

Gene and Mary,

Yes you can run the humidifier empty, but it depends on the machine. I have only heard of 2 cases where there was thermal damage and I believe in both instances, the machines were left to run dry for a long time. (One was over a long weekend, and the other was never admitted, but I have used the same machine - an old Respironics Pro series, and I run it dry on a regular basis, with no adverse results.) You will probably notice the difference and the smell when it runs dry.

I titrate the amount of distilled water so that it is just about dry by wake up time. It usually works well, and if there is any water left, I dump it and run the machine while I shower and dress so that it is all dry to shut off for the day.

With the heated tubing, I believe you can wash that, but just don't leave it submerged to soak.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon

 

[Grumpy]

For everyone in the NW and W parts of the country near the numerous wildfires, smoke and ash.

1. CHECK your CPAP/BiPAP filters !!!

I looked at mine yesterday and it was dark brown after only a couple of days since last replacement.

2. Be happy. At least we are breathing clean(er) air at night than most people.

 

[hardee]

Thanks Merv, that is a good reminder.

Also, I know sometimes the shelf, stand, or dresser where the machine sits can get a bit crowded. This could cause some blockage of the air intake and make the machines work harder. The intake is usually at the back, side or bottom of the machines, so it is good to be sure that the area is clear.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon