Question for the Wisdom of the Group on Power Failures

[Tricky Wash]

I avoid headaches

An hour nap without CPAP will give me an awful headache. At times, I've gone to some extremes to avoid this.

[chunkyfrog]

Exactly.
Even a 20 minute snooze makes pain that no pill can bust.

[palerider]

Sometimes, i wonder what kind of propaganda Granny is consuming on a regular basis... it's a bit worrying.

PR, if you would follow the journal of the Electric Power Research Institute ( http://eprijournal.com/ ), you could educate yourself and reduce your nagsome worrying.

AH, I see, that's like watching the Tesla video of the car self driving itself from someone's home to their work, then parking it... and not realizing that the rest of us are still piloting our cars manually.

R&D!= real world.

Maybe in 50-100 years we'll have that wonderful pie in the sky power grid... but that's not *reality* TODAY.

Ask the people in California who've been subjected to extended power outages in order to reduce the chances of sparking wildfires.

[palerider]

A good car battery is $150.

Which is irrelevant to CPAP backup power use.

[RobertS975]

With all respect to several of this board's most prolific and informative contributors, I feel that you are getting too preoccupied by the insurance aspect to the neglect of the fundamental idea that I have put forth: that the risk of interrupting ongoing therapy may be far greater than either we or the medical profession appreciate, that the risk of something bad happening when there is a short duration of interrupted therapy may be immensely greater than is the risk over time for completely untreated OSA. I am postulating that the untreated patient or undiagnosed patient is better able to tolerate and accomodate multiple sleep apneic episodes and lousy oximetry levels when compared to the successfully treated patient who finds themselves suddenly without therapeutic availability for whatever cause. The untreated individual often goes years before getting intervention and treatment. Their bodies are used to the conditions they experience night after night for years or even decades.

Let's not get hung up on the insurance question. I would rather we get hung up on the science. If we can prove the science, the insurance issues will be mandated, just as screening colonoscopies are now de rigueur when they once were not covered at all by insurance.

Additionally, forgetting widespread power issues, such knowledge whether this effect is indeed true would be valuable so that we may make the right decisions about pastimes like camping, travel decisions about overnight flights etc. It would be essential information to have if we knew that even one night off treatment carried extra risks of adverse events.

As an aside and unrelated, as a gastroenterologist, I have sedated many tens of thousands of people over the years for endoscopic procedures. Plenty of times, it would become apparent that a given patient potentially had obstructive apnea whilst sedated. I would always tell the patient of my suspicion before discharge, and I would always generate a paragraph in my procedure note to the PCP about possible OSA.

[ChicagoGranny]

Let's not get hung up on the insurance question.

That last sentence in your OP is to blame.

... battery backup capability may be considered essential medical equipment and not as a "camping luxury". And as such, it is something that insurance should cover

[RobertS975]

Yup, I might have placed too much emphasis on insurance ramifications in the OP. As I have said, if the science is there, the insurance will have little choice.

[ragtopcircus]

Where I live, it isn't unusual to lose power for hours when a severe thunderstorm drops trees on the lines. We lost power for about 5 days during an ice storm a few years ago. I started xPAP recently after too many years of trying (and failing) to manage apnea by other means. When the diagnosis was finally confirmed, my untreated AHI was 69.6. So, the OP's question has already been on my mind.

I have a Dreamstation Go with the optional battery that I keep charged. I could recharge it from the 110V outlet in my car if needed. Of course, that would use a lot of gasoline, so it's not a great solution for multiple days.

I'm currently using a Dreamstation Pro as my primary, and it could be easily powered from any 12V source. If I end up switching to a ResMed Airsense at some point, I'll get the DC adapter for it.

I still sometimes take the mask off at night to get a drink of water (full face) or whatever, and then fall asleep without putting it back on. I don't feel great afterward, but I don't feel terrible either - yet. I'm still sleeping lightly for most of the night from the years of poorly-managed apnea (side-sleeping, oral appliances, etc). Whenever I do start sleeping through the night consistently and paying off the sleep debt, I don't doubt that I will feel pretty bad (or worse) if I return to untreated apnea.

[RobertS975]

I want you all to know that I have completly evolved on this issue, as a physician. I used to poo poo the concerns of friends being treated for OSA when a New England blizzard led to a power failure. I used to say that you have had OSA for many years untreated and nothing serious ever happened.

Now, I think that these sudden nights thrust upon us without treatment may be extra risky. Not sure, but it sure deserves to be studied!

And until we have the answers, the potential issues certainly deserve to be respected!

[Okie bipap]

I am well aware of what my blood oxygen does if I fall asleep without my machine. I was in the hospital last spring due to a minor heart problem. I was hooked to a heart and blood oxygen monitor all of the time. If I would doze off, the blood ox alarm would immediately start going off and someone would immediately come in and check on me. When I put my machine on to sleep, the oxygen alarm would never go off. My untreated AHI is not excessively high (49), but I have long lasting events which impact my blood oxygen levels quite a bit. During my sleep test, my oxygen level dropped to 63% before they put me on oxygen for a period of time before they put a mask on me. If I lived in an area that had prolonged power outages, I would have a whole house backup generator installed.

[ChicagoGranny]

If I lived in an area that had prolonged power outages, I would have a whole house backup generator installed.

Well, that's one less battery that Dr. Robert's Medicare plan needs to send out.

[Goofproof]

The Bad side of Generators is:

1. Cost to buy and run.
2. Fuel hauling, availability. and storage. That can be solved by using Propane.
3. For the Infirm, it needs to be simple and automatic, Generac, makes good solutions, and good costs money.

Life is a Crap Shoot, I don't know anyone that's got out of it alive. we can make it better at a cost, many solutions out there, chose what works best for your problems. I worry more about heating, cooking and refrigeration. I stopped buying 1/2 Cows after 300 lb of meat after a freezer failure. Jim

[Janknitz]

I really need to come up with something as we are under threat of multiple day power outages here in Northern California to avoid sparking wildfires with downed lines in the hot, dry conditions. I was dreading having to research and spend for a marine battery and hookup, but I like the idea of the Dreamstation Go and will look in to it.

I do think we need to be mindful of the OP's point that ANY apnic event has metabolic and cardiopulmonary consequences, even if they are not dramatic.

[palerider]

. I was dreading having to research and spend for a marine battery and hookup,

Unless you're on a boat, you DO NOT NEED A MARINE BATTERY.

Mobility scooter batteries are what you need, one or more.

[Janknitz]

. I was dreading having to research and spend for a marine battery and hookup,

Unless you're on a boat, you DO NOT NEED A MARINE BATTERY.

Mobility scooter batteries are what you need, one or more.

Thanks, that helps. I guess I could go to a DME and get one. Have some research to do in my spare time.