I'm a respiratory therapist!!

Just letting you all know, i'm an RT and can answer some questions regarding sleep apnea and cpap/bipap. If i don't know the answer i'm sure i know somebody who does.

Hi ya!! great to know ya! My question . Can the pressure be set too high for post op? I read a profile where this guy had the setting too high and it blew out his new pouch while in the hospital . he almost died. .........Kitty

This is a question I'm curious about as well. I was just diagnosed last week, put on Bipap at a fairly high pressure - 22/15. I'll be asking my doc this during follow-up, realizing that the danger might be more acute for Cpap because it's one continuous pressure. But I've noticed, even though my pressure isn't continuous, it isn't such a stretch to see how I could be swallowing air at times.....on occasion with the full-face mask I'll get "chipmunk cheeks."

Sarah, Hello!.... I went to the doctor he said if im that concerned dont use it ...he feels with my pre-op loss of 31 pounds and the average 20 after the first month i will not need it . I will however make an appt with my sleep md to see if she would like to retest me in a month or so . My md was going to lower my pressure to 8 which is the average in the hospital . He also has said that he has never heard of a problem like that . I wake up with a full belly of air every am . I dont want to risk stretching or exploding my new pouch . After about 1 week i may go back to it but at a low setting .......Kitty

My surgeon would not let me use my cpap while in hospital and wanted me to wait a month before using it. I was able to wait 2 weeks, but my husband couldn't sleep because of my snoring. I did lose about 20 lbs the first 10 days after surgery. I was told it was because he was afraid I would blow my pouch out.

Thank you Now every one knows im not crazy!! Thank you very much!.......Kitty

There is always a possibility of air entering your stomach with cpap or bipap, with rny it should not blow the pouch because there is no longer a sphincter holding stuff in, that is why liquid enters your intestinal track faster with rny than without. So, I suppose it may be possible, but there's probably other factors. My guess would just be that unpleasant feeling of fullness or that something's stuck.

Hi I am perplexed a bit about all the various postings I am reading regarding the cpap machine!!! I just recently completed the second phase of my sleep study. Initially I had to sleep overnight in the sleep clinic and was hooked up to all the wires, etc; following that appointment, I was sent a notice to schedule an appointment for a cpap study. During the second night, I was hooked up to the wires AND a cpap machine. As I slept this time the necessary measure of pressure was assessed. The technician (who was also a previous surgical nurse and is a respiratory therapist as well) informed me that the limit to set the cpap machine was 20 and that I had been set at 15. I also had to have a chin strap put on as I sleep with my mouth open. Now I have to contact a medical supply company which aligns with my insurance company (and preferably has a respiratory therapist on duty) to purchase the cpap machine. The sleep center will then send the company the prescription and a rep from the medical supply company is suppose to call for an appointment with me to train me how to set up the machine. Once I have been on the machine for a couple of weeks I have to meet with the sleep center doctor who is a neurologist to assure the settings are working in my favor. I am in the pre op stages for gastric bypass surgery. My surgeon will actually have the cpap machine on me during the surgery and will order for it to be used during my hospital stay. My perplexity is that I cannot understand how someone could have a cpap machine and not have the understanding of the what and how, etc. Just my portion to share .... s keep you safe, Wanda Mack

i just got my cpap machine and its at a setting of 6, but i woke up today with a bad headache and backache???????? y do u think?

If the setting is too low, you may still not be getting enough oxygen which would attribute to the headache, and as for the backache, if you slept in a different position than you are used to sleeping in, really, cpap shouldn't effect your back.