Compliance

[mattheia]

Help,

I have a Res Med S8 Escape II, and the hours used time displayed on the machine does not compare to the amount of time which I wear it at night, for instance last night I wore the mask and had the machine switched on for 6 hours, the time used only increased by 1 hour.

Can you let me know if this is a common occurrence? Is there something I am doing wrong? or is it to do with the pressure setting not recognising my breathing or am I only getting a very small amount of proper sleep at night?

I have discussed this with my medical clinician who just gave me a new machine (I don't think that they understand how it works either!!). so I have had this machine for 5 days and have an impressive 5 hours compliance, clearly somethings not working

Basically all I am after is to know what the hour counter is counting and what am I doing wrong.

Thanks

[Debs79]

I have the same machine but its working ok? i wouldnt worry about how long your on it for, as long as you know ,and its helping

[James @ Intus]

Please tell us exactly which buttons you press and what the screen says. Perhaps you associate the wrong numbers with the wrong labels. If it consistently rises by one, perhaps you are looking at a "nights used" report. With limited buttons and limited information on screen, it's easy to confuse various settings and reports. If you have a data card, you can have that read for full stats.

[gvader]

I'm not sure what you are looking at.

I swapped my Escape for a Sandman Auto CPAP a couple of months ago but I've just dug out my old machine and gone through all of the settings in both the Patient and Clinicians menus

The S8 Escape is a basic machine that provides almost no information at all.
From the front scree with your ramp setting diplayed press the "menu" button and then scroll from the "altitude" setting down to see the used hours, this will increment according to the hours run.

If you scroll down again you will see "usage" and this will display something along the lines of 122/140 this means that the machine has been used on 122 days out of the 140 days since first use.

That is all that you can see from the Patient Menu.

Even if you manage to access the Clinicians Menu there is still nothing that displays compliance.

[Tired Jack]

Hi there,
I am using the same machine, and I have found that if it does not see enough back pressure it does not record the time, i.e. if it has come off or been removed for any length of time during the night. I know this because on some occasions I have unknowingly removed the mask during the night but not stopped the machine. I have only found out when I wake up and the machine is roaring away and the mask is on the side of the bed.
hope this helps.
Jack

[gvader]

Hi Jack,

You are indeed correct, I could have made it a tad clearer in my reply - the used hours will increment when you use the machine correctly and having the mask off of your face or lying on the bed is not classed as correct so the machine doesn't register it.

These machines are clever, you can't fake compliance by strapping the mask to your teddy and leaving the machine on all night!

Must remember to edit my signature block

[mattheia]

Thanks all for your responses, it's nice to know I am not alone....

The buttons pushed are :-
Menu, this gives me used hours 12
Down arrow , this gives me usage in days / nights which is 6/7

A quick calculation of 12 divided by 7 = compliance which is 1.71

I have the mask on (with no leaks) for at least 6 hours per night (other than last Friday (when I had a night out).

I don't have a data card.

Do you think the pressure setting is too high / low?

or am I only getting an average of 1.71 hours sleep per night?
Should the hours used match the time the machine is on and strapped to my face (there is an expression I would never have used in the past).

[James @ Intus]

http://www.resmed.com/us/assets/documents/product/s8_escape_ii_epr/user_guide/338518_s8-escape-ii_user-guide_amer_eng.pdf

According to that, indeed the first number shows "total hours used". Twelve seems low indeed.

You may want to call ResMed themselves, see what they say about that.

[gvader]

Hi Mattheia,

If you go into the clinician's menu and scroll down to the bottom you will see the hours that the motor has been running, make a note of that and the usage fugure from the patient's menu.

Strap the old mask to your face and fire up the beast, sit reading or relaxing for a couple of hours and then check the figures again. If the motor hours has gone up by more than the usage hours then this would suggest that the machine is not sensing that it is being used correctly. If this is the second machine with the same symptoms then it could be a mask or hose issue.

What pressure is your CPAP set to and does the mask actually feel as if it is pressurised?

An even more pertinant question would be even with the machine not registering correctly, do you feel any difference to how you felt before?

[mattheia]

Compliance Update

GV,

I do not have access to the Clinicians menu therefore cannot carry out these checks, and as I cannot see this I don't know what the pressure setting is.

As of this morning I have now been using this machine for 10/12 days and have a used hours of 20.

The good thing is that last night alone put three hours on it, but it was hard work, I woke many times and when awake consciously breathed heavily through my mouth as well as turned my face into the pillow to minimise air flow from the nasal outlet holes. (my better half (she who must be obeyed) even noted that I was much quieter than normal).

I will try the same tactic tonight to see if the results are the same.

I have an appointment at the clinic on the 29th and am going to ask about the pressure as well as request a nasal mask.

Regards

[gvader]

Careful with the outlet!

Hi Mattheia,

It should make no difference whether you breath through your mouth or nose but be careful about the exhaust holes. The mask is designed so that CO2 is exhausted through the holes on the front of the mask and if you block them then it is posible to get a build up of CO2 in the mask which is not a good thing.

What type of mask are you using?

[mattheia]

Hi GV,

Using a ResMed Mirage Quattro Full Face Mask, blocking holes did not work last night, breathing heavy for 1 hour registered 1 hour, went to sleep after that and only one hour was registered for the whole night, I am convinced it is a pressure problem, Im just not sure if it should be higher or lower.

Mask fits fine with no leaks, but does not seem to have much flo into it, except when you stick your finger in to scratch your nose and its like a gale force wind coming out.

[mattheia]

Compliance Chapter Three Verse 1

Hi all,

Thought I would give you an update on how its going

I got 3 hours on it last night (not a new record but an equal PB).

I have started recording the times, averages per night etc (I admit it I'm a spreadsheet Junkie)

My compliance has shot up to 1.71, not great I know but it is improving (I can tell from my Excel Chart.

Being a novice I was convinced that it was the machine, but now I thnk it's just me and I need to persevere with it a little longer (although I could really do with getting my compliance above the magic four number before my next hospital appointment).
Thanks for listening / reading ??