VPAP - anyone tried this?

[melissa138]

Hello,

I've been having increased trouble with shortness of breath. The pulmonologist suggested a ventilator - it's a VPAP, not a CPAP, but you still have to sleep with a mask on. When I tried to wear the headband/monitor for sleep apnea I just pulled the thing off in my sleep, so I'm a bit worried about this. The doctor says it will improve my breathing during the day. I'm wondering if anyone has any information about this, or experience with it?

thanks so much,
melissa

[rdmc]

Hello,

I've been having increased trouble with shortness of breath. The pulmonologist suggested a ventilator - it's a VPAP, not a CPAP, but you still have to sleep with a mask on. When I tried to wear the headband/monitor for sleep apnea I just pulled the thing off in my sleep, so I'm a bit worried about this. The doctor says it will improve my breathing during the day. I'm wondering if anyone has any information about this, or experience with it?

thanks so much,
melissa

Hi Melissa,

I wear a CPAP, not a VPAP, but they are essentially the same device, yet they are slightly different.

The PAP stants for Postive Airway Pressure...with a CPAP it's "continuous" and with a VPAP the pressure is "variable." (meaning the machine adjusts the pressure on inspiration and expiration.)

When I first started using mine, sometimes I would find I had taken it off in the night without being aware of it. The longer you use it, the more you get used to it. So much so that sometimes I wake in the middle of the night and have to put my hand to my face to make sure it's on, or that it's working (there's a little escape vent for exhaled air and you can feel the air blowing out when you put your hand in front of your face.)

It can help all sorts of conditions, from fatigue, high blood pressure, breathing capabilities, etc. The reason it helps is it forces air into your lungs and they are able to inflate fully. Besides, it helps your O2 levels elevate and you get the oxygen you need, rather than a diminished amount. (my O2 was dropping to a pretty low level during the night...and I had no idea this was happening, the CPAP improved it greatly.)

If you have any questions, there's a forum called CPAPtalk, and the folks on there are a wealth of knowledge. I will say many of them follow their progress on the machine a little closer than I follow mine. I do check my numbers in the morning which display how many times I stopped breathing in an hour. But the folks at CPAP forum have it down to a science.(I'm a bit more lackadaisical and feel if my numbers stay in the low range, that's good enough for me...that might just be laziness on my part )

Here's a concise explanation of all the different diseases and issues that a VPAP can help you with. If your doc is recommending it, I'd give it a go, at least for a few months, I think you'd find you get used to it quite quickly.

http://www.resmed.com/us/clinicians/treatment/bilevel-therapy.html?nc=clinicians