APAP or CPAP?

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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Tipping on August 13, 2011 at 0:50

Hello Paula. Thanks for the welcome. I am also type 1 diabetic and I have an insulin pump, which I wear all of the time to provide insulin without having to have injections. They are also like gold dust here. Not many people are able to get one, as they are very expensive to buy and run. With this and my Bi-Pap, the NHS are really looking adter me very well.
paula jones said:

ohh Carolyn have u just joined? its a good site,i love it, Welcome x x

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Permalink Reply by Kath Hope on August 13, 2011 at 0:52

Well Paula, we'd best not even go down the road of talking about VPap or Nippy Ventilators etc. LOL.  I'll keep my fingers crossed you've got anaemia.  Not that I want you to have anaemia, but at least you can be treated for it and then you'll be able to see what you're left with to deal with re the sleep apnoea tiredness.  One step at a time, but unfortunately this does take time to wade through, so keep patient and keep 'hose blowing' meanwhile LOL.

paula jones said:

Bpap?? iv just learnt wot apap and cpap is and the difference,now theres a bi-pap,lol..how many more?? reet im off to goggle Bi-pap..lol...

Kath..Tryed the cpap set on 12,did two days didnt make any difference,went docs and mentioned the tabs,but he looked at my notes and back in dec i was borderline Anemic,so im hopefull its that,so i can be treated and feel better, i really want this to be it,sick of tests and feeling tired and drained!!

  Carolyn from wot others have said on ere,i feel lucky as well,iv got everything from NHS,a good Sleep apnea clinic with lots of help and support, Everyone should get good help, x x x

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Permalink Reply by paula jones on August 13, 2011 at 1:01

Thanks Kath,and your right not to confused me,hahahahaha its hard to think best of times Vpap so funny,i'll google that as well,LOL..im gonna go through alphabet, and yes i hope its Anemic as well,just so im sorted,..

Carolyn,well im glad u r sorted with good treatment, it makes all the difference, Helps to stay positive x x

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Permalink Reply by Kath Hope on August 13, 2011 at 19:30

Thanks very much for posting this link for us Mary.  I shall certainly be viewing the series.

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Permalink Reply by carol murphy on August 19, 2011 at 23:38

My Hubby is a Cpap user setting is currently 11

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Permalink Reply by Marion@As I Live and Breathe on September 4, 2011 at 20:30

I have scoliosis and it has impaired my breathing. I don't use CPAP but need a ventilator as I can't physically breathe when sleeping. I'm using a NIPPY ventilator and I know users with scoliosis, post-polio syndrome and other conditions such as Klipper-Feil.

Brenda Pearce said:

i USE CPAP DUE TO POLIO AT THE AGE OF 8 MONTH WHICH I HAVE SCOLIOSIS. ANY OTHER MEMBERS WHO HAVE THE SAME I WOULD LIKE TO CHAT TO

BRENDA LUXTON PEARCE

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Permalink Reply by Richard Mundy on September 13, 2011 at 21:50

I am an NIV patient and have used a ventilator every night for the last 6 years; the problem I have is that every year I go to the respiratory department and the consultant very kindly cranks up the pressure a little.  What started off at 28cms.H2O, high enough, you might think, has now reached 37cms.  This is ventilated, not CPAP, so the BREAS machine breathes for me, in effect.  Six years ago it was a NIPPY3 with a setting of 14 & 4 that really saved my life.

The problem I have is the leaks around the mask: the whistles, squeals and farts increase as the pressure is raised.  To combat this I have made my own remedy (of sorts) from surgical dressing, but these are a pain to make as each one only lasts for 3 or 4 nights.

If Marion or any other NIV patients are living with similar pressures, I would very much appreciate hearing their experiences of coping with leaks. The Remzzs face-mask liners are not up to the job, though I have emailed the makers to find out if they have a solution, but no reply.  Maybe Kath has more influence than me?

Please let me know.

 

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Permalink Reply by Caveman on September 13, 2011 at 22:07

Apologies but what's NIV?

 

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Permalink Reply by Kath Hope on September 13, 2011 at 22:09

Sorry I can't help you Richard.  I would have been able to at one point, but the UK Distribution Selling Rights were cruelly taken away from me by another UK company so I can't sell them anymore :(  Have you tried the Quietus Liners, as people are rating these ones - they're thicker and reusable? http://www.quietusliners.com

Richard Mundy said:

.............The Remzzs face-mask liners are not up to the job, though I have emailed the makers to find out if they have a solution, but no reply.  Maybe Kath has more influence than me?

Please let me know.

 

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Permalink Reply by Richard Mundy on September 14, 2011 at 0:42

To answer Caveman's question: NIV is Non-Invasive Ventilation.  This is not the same as CPAP. 

If the lungs are seriously compromised by illness, TB or polio, for example, they can be made to function reasonably by using a ventilator. Years ago, people with this problem were placed into  what was referred to as an 'iron-lung'.  This was a pressurised chamber where the pressure around the patient would rise and fall, causing the patient to breathe.  These were ugly, cumbersome devices and the patient would be unable to move since, to work, there had to be a seal which allowed the pressure to build. This was known as negative pressure.The patient would need to lie flat and be hospitalised for the rest of their life.  There were other derivations of the 'iron lung', but all operated on the same principal.

Thankfully, medical science has moved on, and the pressure is now through a ventilator which stands at the side of the bed and delivers positive pressure directly into the lungs and takes expelled air from the lungs again under pressure.

Where ventilation 24/7 is required, the patient undergoes a tracheostomy where the wind-pipe is diverted through an opening made through the patient's neck muscle, and connected to a ventilator via a tube.. You may remember Christopher Reeve, 'Superman', who had a serious riding accident; he was fitted with a tracheostomy and lived for some years afterwards.  The vent. is the same, but in this case it was Invasive Ventilation.

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Permalink Reply by Caveman on September 14, 2011 at 9:25

Thanks for the information - an eloquent and definitive explanation. Sounds delightful, I thought CPAP was a nuisance!

 

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Permalink Reply by Marion@As I Live and Breathe on September 18, 2011 at 14:50

Negative pressure tank respirators - like the iron lung - have been used for people who need mechanical assisted ventilation.
A smaller version of the iron lung was the jacket ventilator, an air-tight garment that seals around the neck, arms and waist, held rigid by an inner framework.
This was connected to pumping equipment so that it could function in the same manner as the iron lung.
 
Another ventilator of this type was the cuirass - a hard shell made of fibreglass or similar material, that was custom-made from a cast of the patient's body, and had pumping equipment like the jacket.
The jacket and cuirass could be used by the patient at home, and avoided long-term hospitalisation.

These Negative Pressure Ventilators were replaced by smaller Positive Pressure Ventilators that operate through a mask connected to pumping equipment.

The early models were portable but bulky, and were eventually replaced by even smaller equipment, the latest version of which is similar in size and appearance to a CPAP machine.
The moving parts which perform the pneumatic pumping action are more compact and situated internally, and the bulk of the machine consists of an electronic unit.

This Non-invasive Positive Pressure Ventilator (NIPPV - often called a Nippy) delivers air under pressure to the patient to help them breathe in.
Then the air pressure is reduced or withdrawn so that air is expelled from the lungs naturally.
This replicates the normal process of breathing in and out.

Should the patient fail to draw a breath within a set period of time, the ventilator will automatically deliver a burst of air to inflate the patient's lungs and keep them breathing.

CPAP - Continuous Positive Airway Pressure - delivers a constant flow of air to keep the patient's airways from collapsing.
Both CPAP and NIPPV are forms of Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV).
Ventilation through methods such as tracheostomy is Invasive Ventilation.

(The above info was adapted with permission from 'CPAP and Ventilator Secrets' to be published December 2011)

I have personally experienced, or seen in use, all but one of the above types of assisted ventilation.
Richard Mundy said:

To answer Caveman's question: NIV is Non-Invasive Ventilation.  This is not the same as CPAP. 

If the lungs are seriously compromised by illness, TB or polio, for example, they can be made to function reasonably by using a ventilator. Years ago, people with this problem were placed into  what was referred to as an 'iron-lung'.  This was a pressurised chamber where the pressure around the patient would rise and fall, causing the patient to breathe.  These were ugly, cumbersome devices and the patient would be unable to move since, to work, there had to be a seal which allowed the pressure to build. This was known as negative pressure.The patient would need to lie flat and be hospitalised for the rest of their life.  There were other derivations of the 'iron lung', but all operated on the same principal.

Thankfully, medical science has moved on, and the pressure is now through a ventilator which stands at the side of the bed and delivers positive pressure directly into the lungs and takes expelled air from the lungs again under pressure.

Where ventilation 24/7 is required, the patient undergoes a tracheostomy where the wind-pipe is diverted through an opening made through the patient's neck muscle, and connected to a ventilator via a tube.. You may remember Christopher Reeve, 'Superman', who had a serious riding accident; he was fitted with a tracheostomy and lived for some years afterwards.  The vent. is the same, but in this case it was Invasive Ventilation.

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