Well, I read the equipment manuals and went down to the bedroom an hour and a half ago to set things up.  More trouble than I thought it might be (my house was built in the 1950s and doesn't have enough electrical outlets for one thing).

But, I'm exhausted from crawling around on my water bed trying to read the LED on the flow generator and as soon as I tried to get the mask (nasal pillows) on, I realized that there was terminology that I don't quite get and that the diagrams don't cover either.

After all this, have some basic questions that I'll be asking the equipment provider when next we meet, like:

How do I turn this on and off?  Looks like I have to unplug the whole thing or it will blow air 24 hours a day.

How do I get to the SETTINGS shown in the manual?  The instructions in the manual don't get it done.

If I have to unplug this all the time, what does that do to the settings?  (I'll check on some of them when I go back down.)

Other oddities:

I knew about the distilled water and got some from the grocery store today (would you like to guess where it was), but "pure" soap?  That's what I've got to wash everything with (including my face before I go back down to bed).

Noise isn't that bad.

Best place for it right now looks to be in the center of the bookcase that is my headboard.

Cats came down, took one look at it, and are off to parts unknown.  I'd like to set up a betting pool as to when they'll get back on the bed.  My guesses: Dinah, about three days; Sam, about three months.

Cheers,
R.O.


_________________
Regards,

Hi Captain and Welcome!

We have to know what make and model of CPAP you have to be able to tell you how to turn it on and off.  They are all really simple and the on/off button is usually one of the buttons on the top of the CPAP (not a switch).  Call your supplier tomorrow and they can quickly answer your questions.

The distilled H2O is solely used to fill your humidifier.  There is no need to use it for washing anything.

Watch out for the cats.  They like to attack hoses and masks when the CPAP is off and defenseless.  Make sure to put the mask and hose where they can't get to it when you are not using it.  My cats wake me up by biting the mask or hose and shaking it (not something I appreciate or encourage).   If you find they have bitten the hose, use Saran Wrap to cover the holes until you can get a new hose.  The fastest way to protect  your hose is to buy the cheapest tube socks possible, cut the toes off, and line them up on the hose.  The added benefit is that this insulates the hose, making the humidifier more efficient.


_________________
That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

Midnight to six-thirty without falling asleep, so I'm up.  This is going to take some getting used to it seems.  Not used to having anything on my head or face while I sleep and the noise is really much more than I was hoping for.

The strangeness of breathing against pressure was difficult at first, but I don't even seem to notice it anymore.

Think having something stuck on my head and in my nose is going to be the main obstacle to sleep.  I think I can adjust to the noise.

Gear notes:

ResMed S8 AutoSet Vantage System with HumidAire 3i

Mirage Swift Nasal Pillows System

Dinah will get on the bed when the whole thing is off and unplugged, but that's it.  Sam is avoiding the bedroom entirely.


_________________
Regards,

Captain Curmudgeon wrote:

Well, I read the equipment manuals and went down to the bedroom an hour and a half ago to set things up.  More trouble than I thought it might be (my house was built in the 1950s and doesn't have enough electrical outlets for one thing).

But, I'm exhausted from crawling around on my water bed trying to read the LED on the flow generator and as soon as I tried to get the mask (nasal pillows) on, I realized that there was terminology that I don't quite get and that the diagrams don't cover either.

After all this, have some basic questions that I'll be asking the equipment provider when next we meet, like:

How do I turn this on and off?  Looks like I have to unplug the whole thing or it will blow air 24 hours a day.

How do I get to the SETTINGS shown in the manual?  The instructions in the manual don't get it done.

If I have to unplug this all the time, what does that do to the settings?  (I'll check on some of them when I go back down.)

Other oddities:

I knew about the distilled water and got some from the grocery store today (would you like to guess where it was), but "pure" soap?  That's what I've got to wash everything with (including my face before I go back down to bed).

Noise isn't that bad.

Best place for it right now looks to be in the center of the bookcase that is my headboard.

Cats came down, took one look at it, and are off to parts unknown.  I'd like to set up a betting pool as to when they'll get back on the bed.  My guesses: Dinah, about three days; Sam, about three months.

Cheers,
R.O.

Hi,

I hope I don't sound smart or cheeky, but did the company that sold you the equipment not call to your house to 'set you up' ?

You should never be left alone without having the equipment explained to you.

If you post details of the type (make and model) of machine and same for the interface (mask/pillows), I 'm sure we'll all try and help.

Kind regards,

Daniel


_________________
The untreated Sleep Apnoea sufferer died quietly in his sleep.......
Unlike his three passengers who died screaming !!!!!!

(Anon)

Daniel wrote:

I hope I don't sound smart or cheeky, ...

On the contrary, Daniel.  I've read enough of the board archive to know that you and just about everybody else here are sincere in your attempts to help.  I thank you all.

Daniel wrote:

... but did the company that sold you the equipment not call to your house to 'set you up' ?  You should never be left alone without having the equipment explained to you.

Haven't actually bought anything yet.  It's the USA and Medicare and the Durable Medical Equipment dodge.  I did go to their place and they did explain things to me.  Part of it was that I was just a bit overwhelmed.  And more of it, so overwhelmed, that I let everything sit for a couple of days before I went after it.

(In addition to being a curmudgeon, I'm also something of a hermit.  I don't like people coming into my house.  In fact, I allow only one person to come by once per month.)

Daniel wrote:

If you post details of the type (make and model) of machine and same for the interface (mask/pillows), I 'm sure we'll all try and help.

ResMed S8 AutoSet Vantage System with HumidAire 3i

Mirage Swift Nasal Pillows System

I am getting the hang of it (I think -- retired engineer).  On some other thread sometime, I think it might be interesting to talk about SA equipment and engineering.  And prices (if anyone can come up with data on that).  It seems to me that something is severely out of joint. (On the other hand, I'm a software engineer, not hardware (
  )).


_________________
Regards,

Captain Curmudgeon wrote:

Daniel wrote:

I hope I don't sound smart or cheeky, ...

On the contrary, Daniel.  I've read enough of the board archive to know that you and just about everybody else here are sincere in your attempts to help.  I thank you all.

Daniel wrote:

... but did the company that sold you the equipment not call to your house to 'set you up' ?  You should never be left alone without having the equipment explained to you.

Haven't actually bought anything yet.  It's the USA and Medicare and the Durable Medical Equipment dodge.  I did go to their place and they did explain things to me.  Part of it was that I was just a bit overwhelmed.  And more of it, so overwhelmed, that I let everything sit for a couple of days before I went after it.

(In addition to being a curmudgeon, I'm also something of a hermit.  I don't like people coming into my house.  In fact, I allow only one person to come by once per month.)

Daniel wrote:

If you post details of the type (make and model) of machine and same for the interface (mask/pillows), I 'm sure we'll all try and help.

ResMed S8 AutoSet Vantage System with HumidAire 3i

Mirage Swift Nasal Pillows System

I am getting the hang of it (I think -- retired engineer).  On some other thread sometime, I think it might be interesting to talk about SA equipment and engineering.  And prices (if anyone can come up with data on that).  It seems to me that something is severely out of joint. (On the other hand, I'm a software engineer, not hardware (
  )).

Hi Captain,

Well you certainly have state of the art equipment. The new S8 is no bigger than a football and quiet. I'm not familiar with the nasal pillows system from ResMed. Funnily I was looking at the new S8 only yesterday in the Irish distributors warehouse. The nasal pillows look good, but I'm a died in the wool nsasal mask person (ResMed Ultra Mirage).

The Auto Set should be easy enough to manage as compared to the straight CPAP.

One thing with nasal pillows......if you find the nares of your nose getting sore it can often be attributed to the pillow being too small. You are probably best using the largest size.

Best of luck,

Daniel


_________________
The untreated Sleep Apnoea sufferer died quietly in his sleep.......
Unlike his three passengers who died screaming !!!!!!

(Anon)

Captain Curmudgeon wrote:

Midnight to six-thirty without falling asleep, so I'm up.  This is going to take some getting used to it seems.  Not used to having anything on my head or face while I sleep and the noise is really much more than I was hoping for.

The strangeness of breathing against pressure was difficult at first, but I don't even seem to notice it anymore.

Think having something stuck on my head and in my nose is going to be the main obstacle to sleep.  I think I can adjust to the noise.

Gear notes:

ResMed S8 AutoSet Vantage System with HumidAire 3i

Mirage Swift Nasal Pillows System

Dinah will get on the bed when the whole thing is off and unplugged, but that's it.  Sam is avoiding the bedroom entirely.

hey cap here is the resmed web site it may be useful for you :
[Commercial Link Deleted] . you have to register a e-mail address and password but i found it quite useful. you can also search  under sleep apena /cpap machines and find a lot of stuff too. i'm just over a year on the cpap and i still have nights that i'm lucky if i get 4 hours on the machine. be patience and good luck. janey

janey wrote:

hey cap here is the resmed web site it may be useful for you :
www . myresmed. com  .

Hi, janey.  Actually found this site there.  None of my gear is in their drop-down registration menus yet, so they are running a little behind.

Like Daniel said, the equipment is up-to-date; it's this old crock that's the source of the problem.  But reading this (these?) forum(s), is encouraging and I'm keeping on.

Tried a nap and almost got to sleep.  Moved the flow generator to the floor and that helps with both the noise and getting a little more comfortable.

Going to try again around 10 p.m. local time -- until 6 a.m. tomorrow.


_________________
Regards,

Got it going last night.  It was a struggle, but at 1:30 a.m. or so, I fell asleep with the rig going and stayed asleep for about 30 minutes.

Having some problems, but none so strange that I haven't seen them mentioned in these fora.  And I really think that they're all solvable.

You've all been a great help in this and other topics.  I'll be around but probably not posting as much with my problems.

Again, thanks!


_________________
Regards,

hey cap, it maybe useful to keep track of your nightly hours in journal type set up on your computer. that is what i did and then print them off and took the notes into dr the next visit. it really helps them to understand how well you are getting along with new sleep companion.
it's really easy to get started in mircosoft word as a table type set up in word. something like this:
[color=blue]DATE:    
APPROX TIME YOU WENT TO SLEEP:    
CPAP READING AT BEDTIME:    
MEDS: if you use anything to help to get sleep:    
CAP READING AT THE TIME OF AWAKING:    
NUMBER OF HOURS OF SLEEP:
                
this should be in column form and then whatever number of rows you choose    


To figure out number of hours of sleep it simple subtraction:

Cpap reading upon awaking – cpap reading at bedtime = hours of sleep




then i wrote any notes from that night's sleep under the entries. my dr just wasn't getting it that i was not sleeping enough until he readed thru my sleep diary. then he got it
janey[/color]

Quote:

Haven't actually bought anything yet.  It's the USA and Medicare and the Durable Medical Equipment dodge.

Could you explain this a little better?  I'm about to do the Medicare routine for the CPAP.  Did you have to go down somewhere to get them to approve it or what?  You don't with O2, just a prescription works, so I'm not sure why it would be worse.  However, not trusting insurance at all, forewarned it forearmed -- or so they say.

Judy

judyb wrote:

Quote:

Haven't actually bought anything yet.  It's the USA and Medicare and the Durable Medical Equipment dodge.

Could you explain this a little better?  I'm about to do the Medicare routine for the CPAP.  Did you have to go down somewhere to get them to approve it or what?  You don't with O2, just a prescription works, so I'm not sure why it would be worse.  However, not trusting insurance at all, forewarned it forearmed -- or so they say.

Judy

hi judy, anything that medicare has to pay for they want to make sure that you are going to use everyday BEFORE they will purchase it for you. with my form of medicare it was a 1 year trial period. until then you just rent it. the biggest thing is that you are going to stick with the therapy. and from what i can understand it becuz so many people use to get the produce use it for a short period of time and then not use it. and the purchase price was coming out of uncle sam's pocket. and that gets to be pretty pricey after awhile. janey

I have Tricare (my husband is retired from the Army) and they use a lot of the same guidelines as Medicare.  When I have my titration and get my permanent machine they will rent it for 10 months (while I pay a co-pay of course), then they will buy it.  Sometimes it feels like trying to figure out the insurance is more difficult than anything else about this.


_________________
Ramona


Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you. - Denis Waitley