My rental almost over, pondering an Auto CPAP, but which one

Greetings! Boy am I happy I stumbled upon this site. I had my study in October, after more than 10 years of wondering why I could sleep 12 hours and still be exhausted. I had mono as a teenager and always thought that was why I was run down, but when I switched to a new dentist he said I had severe bruxism and referred me to an oral surgeon who has helped me signifigantly with my jaw pain. But it was the oral surgeon who noticed how severe the lines were under my eyes and pressed me for more information. He had thoughts that possibly my teeth grinding could be keeping me up at night so he ordered a sleep study. I have known people in my past who had it and they would wake up gasping and sputtering at night. I never in a million years that I did that. I have lived alone for 10 years so although I wake myself up snoring I didn' t think that snoring alone, was reason alone to have a sleep study.

The sleep report came back I have severe OSA. My AHI is 56.2/ hour and I have been set up for the past 3 months with a rental CPAP, my titration setting is 10cm. I had an awful time with the nasal pillows, not because I couldn't handle wearing them but I would wake up mouth breathing. So now I have been fitted for a full face mask and am awaiting to receive that and will hopefully feel better soon.

The reason I am posting this question is I am meeting for the 2nd time with the sleep specialists at the Boston hopsital I go to, and since my rental is almost up I want to inquire about getting one. I have read the comments on here about how to go about bringing the subject up to my doctor, and I have even called my insurance company to inquire if they will pay and what constitutes as criteria for needing one, and the girl said there is no reason they wont it just needs to be authorized by my doctor.

So my question is, firstly, what is the wide majority of as far as a good model of Auto Pap for manufacturer. And secondly I need clarification of what the prescription is supposed to say for the DME to provide me with the right machine?

Thanks for any and all comments. I feel very fortunate to have found such a wealth of knowledge from people who have been there and done that.

Shea

HI suzy, glad to hear that you have found an answer to your problems!

As for autopaps, any of the major ones will work fine, just check out the list on cpap.com they have a good list and pictures so you can see what they look like and how they compare in size to each other.

I have used an autopap since I first got diagnosed and noticed that my pressure for each night can vary from 7.6 to 10! So having an autopap is great because it meets my actual need on a night by night basis as opposed to a supposed average need which will work better on some nights than others.

Human beings are complex and we change as we gain or lose weight, have a cold, feel ill, sleep in a different way etc. etc. So our needs vary... thus I think autopap is the best way to go because it can respond exactly to your needs.

A couple of considerations for buying/getting an autopap. Firstly, do you need to travel much? If so, a small sized and light weight unit would be advisable. Secondly, do you find breathing into your present cpap difficult? If so, you may wish to get a unit that offers some kind of exhalation relief.

I think the three most popular models are from Resmed, Puritan Bennet and Respironics. Any of the autos from these people should more than meet your need. I personally use the resmed S8 autoset spirit and have found it to be a very good unit, very well put together and great for travelling and with a really good integrated humidifier. But I know many others will speak up for their own unit. So, take a look at the comparison chart on cpap.com and decide what's really important to you ... then chose a unit that is closest to your need.

Hope this helps
sir_cumference

PS I can't help on the prescription question as I'm in the UK and we have a different system

Shea,

You will gets lots of opinions on this topic

As Sir C says, the top 3 brands are ResMed Vantage , Remstar AUTO (with Cflex) & PuritanBennet PB420E.

The lightest is the PB420E, At approx the same size but heavier is the ResMed Vantage then there is the rock solid Remstar AUTO.

Again I agree with Sir C that if you want to travel with the unit then the PB420E & The ResMed Vantage are better for lugging around.

If you are not lugging then all three are your candidates. The Remstar AUTO with Cflex does have an advantage in terms of exhalation relief in AUTO mode which neither of the others have (The Resmed is actually quite good in this respect even though their equivalent of Cflex (EPR) only gets activated in CPAP mode).

I have used two of them Remstar & an older Resmed Spirit. Both excellent machines. Note my Remstar is my quietest AUTO machine. At first I had problems with the Cflex because I kept mouth breathing & am on high cms (15) but when I switched to a f/f mask the Cflex was very welcome.

Other will tell you of the great features of the PB420E.

Good luck

DSM

Ditto DSM, I might add that the 420 E is the least expensive !

:twis ted: