Trilogy Question

Al just received a Trilogy. He can breathe on his own still but the trilogy helps with his energy. In a prefect world he could sleep with it but we cannot do that because the dang thing alarms every half hour or so. Neither one of us gets any sleep. I asked the Rep if the alarms could be silenced but he said they could not be. What is everyone else doing about this problem... Or do you just stay up all night? Thanks!
Michelle in Texas

We have a Trilogy and the alarms are silent. Perhaps Laurie can help with how to turn them off.

Seriously?
I will PM you steps to turn off the alarms.

Hi. I am a new forum member. My husband also has a Trilogy for use while he sleeps which we have been trying to use unsuccessfully for the past 2 months. The alarms are constantly going off and driving us crazy. The respiratory tech who we deal with doesn't even know what most of the alarms mean and she says she will ask the other techs if they know what they mean (which apparently they do not). We have essentially stopped using the Trilogy. Also, the water in the reservoir of the humidifier is completely dry in about 5 hours even when the humidifier is set on the lowest setting. My husband feels that there is too much humidity even on the lowest setting causing him to have excessive secretions in his mouth. He has difficulty swallowing and has a PEG and trach. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Sharon

Hi, Sharon, and welcome. Sorry to hear you are in our ranks.

I PM'd you steps for shutting off non-essential alarms.

As for the humidifier, reports have been that the Trilogy's is not always that great (I prefer the independent temp/humidity control of the ResMed lines), but I would make sure that everything is clean/new, including cleaning the metal plate in the humidifier, and double-check the temp/humidity in the room the machine is in.

If the room is really dry, it sounds paradoxical but you might want to use a regular humidifier in it at night to keep the Trilogy's from evidently working overtime. Also try moving the machine intake away from any heat vent/changing the level slightly but ensuring it is still below your husband's head.

I am sure that others in a similar situation will chime in as in the past so I'll stop there.

Best,
Laurie

We have Darcey's Trilogy's humidifier set to "2". Setting any higher causes condensation to accumulate in the hoses. Anything less is just too cold for her (she is really sensitive to cold air). She sleeps about 8 - 10 hours and does not empty the humidifier's tank. Perhaps your control rheostat is broken and only yields a "high" setting regardless of the knob. I'd recommend that you request a replacement.

My best...

Jim

The humidifier should not empty the cannister when turned down...something is wrong.

If lauris's notes don't help with the alarm settings...maybe I can help too. keep me posted. whagt alarm/s are tripping? really the only alarms you need at this point are the disconnect and apneas...

try a covering on the hoses, that will help with condensation...we had some homemade ones from a light blanket material...work very well. also a moisture trap installed in the hose low place will catch the water.

tc

I GUESS I am mechanically inclined or brave but I figured it out. You are right if the alarms are on and too sensitive you will never sleep. That is what lead me to figure it out. Also, if you hold in the upper right button and the middle button on the bottom in the down position, you can check the settings without the constant beeping.

Thanks so much to all of you for your helpful replies. The humidifier we have is a Fisher&Paykal HC500. We were told to set it on "5" for the humidity level and that night the reservoir emptied in 3 hours, my husband's skin was damp and the room felt like we were in the tropics! The next night we turned it down to the lowest setting ("1") and although that seemed better there was still a lot of water in the tubing and the reservoir was empty in 5 hours. Our respiratory therapist has offered to replace it but the newer model has no ability to set the humidity level and my husband is afraid that it will be too much humidity for him.
I will try to disarm the optional alarms and really appreciate your help. We were getting no sleep with 7 to 10 alarms going off each night and having to refill the humidifier reservoir so we stopped using the equipment. My husband went to the pulmonologist last Fri. and the PFT results showed 50% of predicted normal, down from 75% predicted normal in May 2015 so the pulmonologist wants him to use the Trilogy.
Sharon

Hi Laurie,
Thank you so much for your help. The alarm that is constantly going off is the low ventilation alarm, which I was able to turn off. The settings are:
Mode AVAPS-AE
AVAS Rate 5.0 cm
Tidal Volume 725 ml
Max pressure 40cm
Pressure Support Max 15 cm
Pressure Support Min 5.0 cm
EPAP Max Pressure 15 cm
EPAP Min Pressure 5.0 cm
Breath Rate auto
Trigger type auto-trak
Rise time 3
ramp length off
nebulizer enabled off

Sharon

Hi Laurie,
I received the PM you sent me but do not seem to be able to reply directly to it. Am I able to do that?
Sharon

You need a certain number of posts to be able to pm. I don't know if that includes replies.

Sorry, Sharon, I forgot about that. I'll send you my e-mail.