Need CPAP badly, am Confused, Please Help

[HusbandHasApnea]

Hello! I've spent some time reading your forum and your wonderful information. Hoping someone can offer us some insight.

My husband has very bad sleep apnea and needs a CPAP. He had a panic attack at his second sleep study because they only had two huge masks. He went back a third time and could only tolerate the Resmed Quattro FX mask, none of the others including the nose-only ones.

Okay so that drama is over (this first part took months with sleep study delays etc.), now we need the CPAP. The doctor sent an order into the vendor, the vendor will not give us any information about the machine or the prescription. They WILL, however, charge us two $320 copays ($640 total), one for this year and one for next, lease it to us for nine months and make us pay an additional $9 per month, for a total of about $720, and even this they cannot guarantee will be the final price. They say all this is "the law" and also mandated by our insurance company, which is Aetna. We realize it's the end of the year and people get stuck with the two copays, but no, we've decided to just buy a machine rather than deal with a vendor who will not give us information before coming to the house and who I feel is going to try to shove a piece of garbage on us for all this money.

So I have read on here that the S9 Autoset and the Remstar are the best. He does need the auto, we know that much. So how do we go about this, please? Will the dr give us his prescription? My husband feels he will have to have another appt with him to get it but I am tired of this dragging on, it's been an 8-month saga already. Do we then send the prescription to the vendor? We're looking online, are there vendors you can recommend? Can these machines play nice with the Resmed mask, or do they have their own versions of it? What else do we need? I cannot stand the thought of losing another month's sleep while he goes back to the dr with all these questions and we continue moving along at a snail's pace. He is already mostly relegated to a guest room due to the noise, and even then he stops breathing a few times a night. We need this done already.

Thank you for listening and for any advice and guidance you can provide.

[palerider]

So I have read on here that the S9 Autoset and the Remstar are the best. He does need the auto, we know that much. So how do we go about this, please? Will the dr give us his prescription?

call up secondwindcpap.com and order yourself a gently used autoset.

done, and you saved yourself several hundred bux.

once you get the rx from the doctor, you can pick up masks from cpap.com or other online vendors.

as to all that BS being "the law".... I've seen no evidence of that

[Krelvin]

The doctor sent an order into the vendor, the vendor will not give us any information about the machine or the prescription.

Call the doctor and get your RX from them. There is no reason for them to not give it to you. You should also have the sleep study report as well.

With that, you know what you are looking into and can make an educated decision. You can have several choices of where to get a machine from. Used, new from varous different suppliers or another DME supported by your Insurance.

Without it, you are at the mercy of the DME.

[LSAT]

secondwindcpap.com has a ResMed S9 Autoset with accessories for $479. These are very gently used and come with a warranty. They are a reputable company. You can use any mask with any machine.

[JQLewis]

I got my machine from secondwind and have had no problems with it. Before making the purchase I checked with every vendor I could find and the best price for a new machine was from our host, CPAP.com. The only difference between going new or used (besides about $250) is that the new machine comes with a two year warranty and the used machine with a one year warranty. They're pretty solidly made machines, though, and should last for many years.

As far as masks choices goes, the couplings are standard, so any mask should work with either machine. I would suggest that he not limit himself based on the experience he had with the sleep study, though. Getting used to the mask is the toughest part of adjusting to CPAP, and patience and experimentation are necessary to find what will work best for him. I used the Quattro FX for months before making the transition to my current mask. Getting used to a mask by wearing it while you're awake is a good way to acclimate to it.

[bwexler]

You have been getting a lot of BS. It is time to take control. Start by readin the sticky threads at the top of this forum.
You can call the doctors office and tell them you would like to stop by and pick up a copy of the complete sleep study including all the graphs and a copy of the prescription. Ask what time will they be ready?
Then call the insurance company and ask for a list of all the in network DMEs and a written explanation of your DME coverages.
Read the explanation of coverage until you understand it. Then call the list of in network DME to determine if you would like to offer them your business.
If you don't find an in network provider our host offers good pries and a good selection including the ne Resmed AirSense Autoset, which I would recommend.

[HusbandHasApnea]

Thank you all, this is all very helpful information. He won't go for anything used (frustrating) and is ready to just eat whatever the vendor feeds him, which is why I've taken over

We will get his prescription and full report and also the vendors from the insurance company. I didn't realize we had that option, that maybe the vendor he uses just doesn't take our coverage. Although they did say we had to pay these amounts "unless we had Cigna" so that should have been a clue I guess.

Thank you again. I will read the stickies and welcome any further advice from you all.

[Jay Aitchsee]

In addition to the stickies read these, too, by member janknitz:

Things to know before visiting DME, http://tinyurl.com/2arffqx
Don't Pay that Upcharge! http://tinyurl.com/2ck48rm

This could help with the mask: Taming the Mirage Quattro http://tinyurl.com/2ft3lh8 also by Jan

[HusbandHasApnea]

Thank you! Reading now

[papman857]

I sent you a PM....please read

[HusbandHasApnea]

I will, thanks, have another question. If we mail-order his machine, does it come with the settings already set, or do we then need to do this? We called cpap.com tonight and they said to send them as much information as we have, which will be the prescription and sleep study report. But I'm worried about mail order because how will we know how to set it up?

Thank you.

[palerider]

I will, thanks, have another question. If we mail-order his machine, does it come with the settings already set, or do we then need to do this? We called cpap.com tonight and they said to send them as much information as we have, which will be the prescription and sleep study report. But I'm worried about mail order because how will we know how to set it up?

Thank you.

it's *easy* to set them up... just a few button presses and knob twirls don't worry about that part.

[HusbandHasApnea]

That's great, thank you

papman I replied

[kteague]

Ditto to the above posts. Strongly suggest you get the reports and prescription before you purchase a machine. For one thing, if he was unable to tolerate the mask at the study and they were unable to get the info needed, they may have to give him an auto if they couldn't find a therapeutic pressure. If they were able to get a pressure, it would be helpful to know that pressure when deciding on a machine. It may be that an autoset will work for him. But if his pressure need was found to be high or there was evidence of an issue with centrals, you may want to rethink what machine you buy. Sorry to throw a monkey wrench in things that are already a bit complicated. Another thing, it is not likely the person on the phone from the DME has a clue about which machine will be issued. It may be that you can ask for a supervisor and get your questions answered. Just a thought.

[HusbandHasApnea]

Hi kteague, thank you, all great points. We will definitely receive the prescription before purchasing.