Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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SleepyEyes21
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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by SleepyEyes21 » Thu Aug 28, 2014 10:44 pm

palerider wrote:
LSAT wrote:Our "sleep pro" has left the building.................
maybe works nights and sleeps during the day... not to imply that sleep techs are vampires
cRaP! Maybe I'm just more blood I need, and not H2o

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SleepyEyes21

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49er
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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by 49er » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:25 am

LSAT wrote:Our "sleep pro" has left the building.................
Something could have come up that has temporarily taken him away from this board.

49er

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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by Guest » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:53 am

JQLewis wrote:I can't agree. Why are the doctors who fail to follow up with their patients or properly monitor their therapy not the weak link? Why are insurance companies which set up irrational rules for compliance which do not care about the effectiveness of the therapy not the weak link?
I am not sure that most folks here have had a doc who failed to follow up on therapy but if I had one I would find another doc. Docs are not as restricted by insurance as DME's are. Docs will schedule the next follow up that will be covered by insurance. You may have only one DME in network but several docs who accept your insurance.
So that is one reason.

You have not explained what irrational rules for compliance your insurance has set up.

OTOH you will find DME's who will restrict what equipment you will get and will in fact argue with you (or simply refuse to help) if you have a preference for equipment vendor or model. Some will limit which mask you can get w/o regard for your comfort or the effectiveness of you therapy. Others will hand out equipment w/o any training at all.

We all know that finding the right mask is the hardest part of this therapy. Many DME's do not follow the mask mafg policy when a mask fails to work for someone.

I think that DME failure is the reason the majority of people find this site. Maybe we need another poll?

I explained my reasons for saying that DMEs are "THE Weakest Link". So explain why you can't agree.

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Sludge
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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by Sludge » Fri Aug 29, 2014 4:07 am

49er wrote:
LSAT wrote:Our "sleep pro" has left the building.................
Something could have come up that has temporarily taken him away from this board.

49er
Please review thread title.
You Kids Have Fun!!

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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by Guest » Fri Aug 29, 2014 5:54 am

Sludge wrote:Please review thread title.
lol

if he stepped away to fix the sleep business he could be gone awhile lol

maybe he went to his dme?

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JQLewis
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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by JQLewis » Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:02 am

Guest wrote:
JQLewis wrote:I can't agree. Why are the doctors who fail to follow up with their patients or properly monitor their therapy not the weak link? Why are insurance companies which set up irrational rules for compliance which do not care about the effectiveness of the therapy not the weak link?
I am not sure that most folks here have had a doc who failed to follow up on therapy but if I had one I would find another doc.
I'm not going to recap my experiences with the four sleep doctors I've seen over the last four months. If you're really interested, read my prior threads. Also read the many responses who say that my experiences are all too typical.
Guest wrote:You have not explained what irrational rules for compliance your insurance has set up.
http://doctorstevenpark.com/sleep-apnea ... -craziness

To quote a relevant line:

" Ultimately, a major part of poor CPAP compliance is due to the health care system that’s dropping the ball."

One of the few honest voices in the medical profession regarding sleep apnea treatment.

It's a pointless argument. There are no weak links because there is no chain. Just a bunch of disconnected links lying in a heap. If you think sleep apnea treatment is just fine the way it is, that's your opinion. You want to blame it all on DMEs go ahead. If you've come here to defend the system, have at it. I'm sure the folks here would be very interested in what you have to say.

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Greg Riddle
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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by Greg Riddle » Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:08 am

I hate my dme I overpayed for the machine. don't have the correct mask. they don't help me with any information. They said just use this

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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by Guest » Fri Aug 29, 2014 8:39 am

JQLewis wrote:To quote a relevant line:

" Ultimately, a major part of poor CPAP compliance is due to the health care system that’s dropping the ball."
Seriously? That is an example of what? Maybe DMEs are not part of your health care system?
JQLewis wrote:I'm not going to recap my experiences with the four sleep doctors I've seen over the last four months. If you're really interested, read my prior threads. Also read the many responses who say that my experiences are all too typical.
Hey you brought it up just w/o examples. I'm not searching anywhere for things you brought up here.

Here IS an example for ya..
Greg Riddle wrote:I hate my dme I overpayed for the machine. don't have the correct mask. they don't help me with any information. They said just use this

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palerider
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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by palerider » Fri Aug 29, 2014 9:02 am

SleepyEyes21 wrote:
palerider wrote:. not to imply that sleep techs are vampires
cRaP! Maybe I just more blood I need, and not H2o
Don't look at me, I'm still using mine!

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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by MarchWinds » Fri Aug 29, 2014 9:36 am

15+yearSleepPro wrote:Hello, I am a Registered Polysomnographic Sleep Technologist or RPSGT (as my name states) for 15+ years and I did sleep studies for about 10 of those years and I now work on the DME or Durable Medical Equipment side of sleep disorders. I see many patient's that for years upon years have been on the wrong mask, do not wear there mask or use the PAP therapy simply because they were not seen by a competent DME Clinician or a doctor that really cared, therefore using the therapy is too daunting. I wanted to start this topic for anyone that has questions about the therapy they use or has simply never been informed of the basic principles of Sleep Apnea/OSA or was only showed how to use the machine and told "you have to wear this". I will try to always be available to answer all posts to this topic. Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for offering your views. I am a Canadian, so I think I get better care! I was offered a good, data-capable machine with a heated hose right off the bat, and my DME is a nurse who is very proactive. It's only been 6 weeks though, and although my therapy is coming along well with an AHI of 1 or less per night, I am sometimes awakened by leaks from my mask, and it took me a few weeks just to get used to using it and also get used to the concept of having a cpap. So I don't always sleep that well yet.

But what I really wonder is how long it takes for stamina levels to reach a good, steady level? I find it's pretty up and down, with some bad days and good days so far. And along with low stamina comes a lot of anxiety, which I think has been exacerbated by the years of bad sleep. Does it take 6 months? A year? Longer?

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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by Guest » Fri Aug 29, 2014 9:47 am

MarchWinds wrote:But what I really wonder is how long it takes for stamina levels to reach a good, steady level?
In case Jeff doesn't come back (living up to the Subject of this thread) I will say that each of us is different and therfore there is no one answer.

But I will also say that if your leaks are too large your machine may not detect some or all events resulting in a false low AHI value, even zero. This would mean that therapy is ineffective and lead to a longer recovery time. Best to determine exactly what your leak rate it.

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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by SleepyToo2 » Fri Aug 29, 2014 10:07 am

Guest wrote:
MarchWinds wrote:But what I really wonder is how long it takes for stamina levels to reach a good, steady level?
In case Jeff doesn't come back (living up to the Subject of this thread) I will say that each of us is different and therfore there is no one answer.

But I will also say that if your leaks are too large your machine may not detect some or all events resulting in a false low AHI value, even zero. This would mean that therapy is ineffective and lead to a longer recovery time. Best to determine exactly what your leak rate it.
You also need to work on sleep hygiene to be able to get to the nirvana/heaven/paradise/whatever-else-you-call-it of "stamina." For example, if my sleep hours go below 7.5 each night, I seem to have a higher AHI. Also needs to be consistent over a few nights. Not to mention mask cleanliness and tightness (or looseness) and humidity. And stress levels. And a host of other things. CPAP is not entirely science - there is a lot of art in success stories. As well as a sprinkling of luck for some.

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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by MarchWinds » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:34 pm

Guest wrote:
MarchWinds wrote:But what I really wonder is how long it takes for stamina levels to reach a good, steady level?
In case Jeff doesn't come back (living up to the Subject of this thread) I will say that each of us is different and therfore there is no one answer.

But I will also say that if your leaks are too large your machine may not detect some or all events resulting in a false low AHI value, even zero. This would mean that therapy is ineffective and lead to a longer recovery time. Best to determine exactly what your leak rate it.
My leak rate is 1.75. I suppose that's pretty good?

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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by Guest » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:00 pm

MarchWinds wrote:My leak rate is 1.75. I suppose that's pretty good?
1.75 what?

In order to figure this out we need to know which mask at what pressure then the leak rate. Keep in mind an avg leak is gonna have peaks too. This is why looking at your data with software is so important.

so...
1. mask
2. pressure
3. leak

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Re: Questions about PAP therapy that never seem to get answered

Post by Guest » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:09 pm

This was posted in another thread...
Guest wrote:Now this is a failure of the DME...a loaner should have been offered immediately. It is normally covered by the insurance.
Krelvin wrote:Why does it takes 6 days to repair a unit (even one under warranty which mine was not) ?? who knows... Was I pissed off at the DME for not helping, Yes. Did that help, Nope. Did they offer a rental or loaner unit? Nope.
But this DME failure is for another thread.