Newby-First Night on Cpap

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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Bobray95
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Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 4:38 pm
Location: Pensacola, FL

Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Bobray95 » Tue Jun 23, 2015 7:25 am

Went to the hospital May 18 with chest pains. Four days later they said my heart wasn't the problem. I was referred to the sleep center at the hospital. I went in for the initial consultation and the sleep Dr. felt pretty sure I was a candidate for APNEA. The receptionist scheduled me for my first study the next week. I went the first night and like everyone else it wasn't the best night I've spent in the bed. Went back in a couple of days and found out I flunked my test. I stopped breathing 223 times in 4 hrs. and 50 minutes of sleep. It averaged out to 46.1 episodes per hour. He marked out mild and medium and put a big circle around (Severe) level of sleep apnea. My second night was schedule in a few days. The tech fitted me with a mask and got me all wired up for the night. The mask I used was a ResMed Quattro FX. This night went much better than the first night. The tech told me that he was going to start me out on 5 and then we would go from there. We went through all the blink your eyes and move your legs. Seemed like it took a while to fall asleep but I did. Sometime about 3am the tech came in and adjusted my mask to stop a leak. I fell right back asleep. He woke me up at 5:30am and told me he had all the information he needed. The next day I didn't feel as well as I had hoped but looking back I was in a strange bed with wires glued to my head and a hose hanging out me nose. I didn't go to sleep until after 11pm and was up at 5:30 am. Oh well! I asked the tech what pressure worked best and he told me between 12 and 15. I waited almost a week and I didn't here anything from the sleep center so I called them. They said they were meeting Tuesday (today) to determine the best treatment for me. That was last Friday. I was talking to my brother and he had a ResMed 7 lightweight that he doesn't use anymore so it shipped it to me. He said I would need a spare anyway. The pressure was set on 9 for him. I reset the machine to 12 and the ramp to 0 (don't report me to the sleep cops please) He had an extra Fisher Pakel 431 FFM. I went to bed about 9:30pm fell asleep in about 10 minutes. I slept all night and feel great this morning. My wife said she slept much better to because I wasn't tossing and turning and snoring like usual. I am looking forward to getting an up to date machine where I can see the data. I am not looking forward to meeting with the DME after reading some of the stories on the forum. With the help of you guys I feel better equipped to hold my ground with them. Having this S7 also gives me the time to change DME's if I need to. If I don't like what they offer me I can go to another one. My Insurance has about 5 different ones in Network near me.

_________________
Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Mask: AirFit™ F10 Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Also use Fisher Pakal Series 431 FFM

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Pugsy
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Location: Missouri, USA

Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Pugsy » Tue Jun 23, 2015 7:30 am

Welcome to the forum.

It's good you have the machine now (it can be a spare later if your brother doesn't need it back) and you are right in that you have time now to make sure you get exactly what you want.

Sounds like you are going to take to this therapy like a duck to water and that's great.
You will also find that the new machines are light years ahead of that S7 you have. Though it is a work horse of a machine. The new ones are pretty much silent compared to the older models.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

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Bobray95
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Location: Pensacola, FL

Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Bobray95 » Tue Jun 23, 2015 8:56 am

Thanks Pugsy. I have read many of your post and you have been a great help. My brother just got a new S10 a few weeks ago so he gave me the S7 to keep as a spare. That was his spare before he got his new machine. Thanks again for all the help from you and everyone else. Having a brother who's been on CPAP for 12 years is also a big help.

_________________
Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Mask: AirFit™ F10 Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Also use Fisher Pakal Series 431 FFM

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Bobray95
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Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 4:38 pm
Location: Pensacola, FL

Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Bobray95 » Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:54 am

My second night on CPAP went well again! A couple of times I was so quiet that my wife woke me up to see if I was ok. This morning I told her that defeated the whole purpose of sleeping with a hose on my nose! lol I did wake up about 5 am and I was kind of snoring. All sorts of things began to run through my head. Maybe I need to increase my pressure! Maybe this mask is wrong for me? I sat up on the side of the bed and there was no hose hanging on my nose. It had come off and fell on the floor. I stuck it back on and went right back to sleep. This morning I used a little more pressure and shoved it on the mask as far as I could!

_________________
Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Mask: AirFit™ F10 Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Also use Fisher Pakal Series 431 FFM

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Pugsy
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Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Pugsy » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:07 am

When I first started therapy my husband would often poke me in the ribs and wake me up to tell me to put the mask on because he couldn't hear anything. Only problem was that I was wearing the mask and it was working properly so I gave him a little education about how if he was worried that the mask was off that he could put his hand in front of my face and feel the air being vented from the mask. Then he would know things were working and he wouldn't have to poke a grumpy bear in the ribs and risk getting his arm chewed off because he woke the bear from good sleep.
It took him a while to get used to the silence (no more of my snoring that would rattle the windows) so that he could sleep better without worrying about me. Your wife may have a similar adjustment to have to make. Learn to trust the silence as being a good thing.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

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Bobray95
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Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 4:38 pm
Location: Pensacola, FL

Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Bobray95 » Thu Jun 25, 2015 6:58 am

I finally got my sleep study results yesterday. The results were a little different than I expected. The script was written for an Automatic machine set from 13 to 17 with a heated humidifier. On the S7 I have been sleeping well at a setting of 12. I still haven't heard from my DME so I decided to increase the S7 to 15 last night. I tossed and turned for about 2 1/2 hours and could not go to sleep. I decided to change the setting back to 13 and see what happens. BOOM, I slept like a baby the rest of the night. I should hear from my DME today if not I'll leave it at 13 tonight and look forward to a good nights sleep. Could it be that I raised the pressure too fast? Should I have gone up gradually? Maybe 12 to 15 was too big of a jump for one time!

_________________
Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Mask: AirFit™ F10 Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Also use Fisher Pakal Series 431 FFM

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Pugsy
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Location: Missouri, USA

Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Pugsy » Thu Jun 25, 2015 7:17 am

It was too big of a jump at one time when you were still getting used to the pressure of 12.
The body wasn't prepared for such a change and rebelled.
I don't know that I would even make that big of a leap in one jump.
Better to work up slowly in this situation.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

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Bobray95
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Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 4:38 pm
Location: Pensacola, FL

Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Bobray95 » Tue Jun 30, 2015 1:28 pm

I went by the DME last Friday to see what the holdup was on my CPAP machine. The girl there told me they were waiting on the insurance company. Monday morning I called my insurance company and they told me they don't have to approve anything. If the Dr. wrote the script the DME contacts them to see what my coverage is and they go from there. I asked her how long that generally takes and she said 30 minutes or less. I called the DME back and she said it takes 9 to 14 days, When I asked her what this time is for she started telling me that it is the insurance company. I let her talk and then I let her know I had just gotten off the phone with my insurance company and that was not true. She started back peddling and then told me it was her Company's policy. I then told her to cancel my order and I would call another DME. She started apologizing and told me how sorry she was. In a few minutes the girl from the local office of the DME called me back. One of my complaints was that I had to go through a lengthy phone list just to get to talk to someone. She gave me a straight number straight to the office! Why couldn't they have done that to start with? In a few minutes I got another call telling me my equipment would be ready to pick up Wednesday morning. I guess I'll go Wed. morning and see what they have to say. What ever happened to old fashion customer service?

_________________
Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Mask: AirFit™ F10 Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Also use Fisher Pakal Series 431 FFM

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Bobray95
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Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 4:38 pm
Location: Pensacola, FL

Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Bobray95 » Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:59 pm

Wednesday morning I got ready and drove down to the DME just like I was told to do. When I got there they were surprised because their RT is on vacation. The guy in the office was very apologetic. He said that is why this was his last day with the DME after 19 years. He said he couldn't take it anymore. He told me the manager would be back in about an hour if I wanted to wait! No Thanks! I drove back home with fire blowing out of my ears. I waited a while and then called the manager. Surprisingly she was super nice and apologized for the people who work at their call center. Her comment was; "they don't know the difference in a CPAP machine and a roll of toilet paper." After talking with her I felt better. She called me back in an hour or so and let me know that I will be first in line on Monday to meet with the RT. She made an appointment for Monday morning at 9am. I fired off an email to the DME's corporate office and let them know I am not pleased with their runaround and their lies. Of course I quickly received a carefully worded canned email telling me how sorry they are. I had a quick laugh that they recognize they are "Sorry." I already knew that! The saga goes on but I'm sleeping like a baby with my 10 year old ResMed S7 Lightweight. Happy 4th of July everyone! God Bless America!

_________________
Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Mask: AirFit™ F10 Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Also use Fisher Pakal Series 431 FFM

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Sheriff Buford
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Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Sheriff Buford » Thu Jul 02, 2015 7:34 pm

Your experience with the DME is so typical. Be sure to have the attitude of knowing what you want and do not settle for anything less. It seems you are adjusting great to the therapy. Leave the bottom number where you have it. What type of mask do you have? Are you happy with it?

Sheriff

popcpoo
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Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 5:02 pm
Location: Central OK

Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by popcpoo » Thu Jul 02, 2015 7:56 pm

I must have been very lucky when I retested. The first time I did my initial test and titration study, by doctor had not documented an initial face to face meeting, and Medicare would not approve my machine. I went to a second doctor for my second round of tests. The sleep lab and DME are both owned and ran by the same hospital. The DM people and sleep lab people constantly talk to each other and are very patient oriented. I had my machine less than two weeks after my titration study, and have been very happy with it and the support I have received from both the sleep lab and the DME people.

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Sheriff Buford
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Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Sheriff Buford » Thu Jul 02, 2015 8:43 pm

Popcpoo: yes you are very lucky. My DME called me up and said they had my new bipap. I asked them if they had it in their hands, and the response was, "I'm looking at it right now." When the wife and I drove over an hour to get to the office, the DME said it wasn't in yet. Be grateful for a good "experince", but be prepared for a nighmare. Also, if you get on this forum and say how great your DME is, you'll get lambasted by at least a dozen horror stories.


Sheriff

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Bobray95
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Re: Newby-First Night on Cpap

Post by Bobray95 » Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:39 pm

Sheriff Buford wrote:Your experience with the DME is so typical. Be sure to have the attitude of knowing what you want and do not settle for anything less. It seems you are adjusting great to the therapy. Leave the bottom number where you have it. What type of mask do you have? Are you happy with it?

Sheriff
i have totally gotten over getting mad! Having a machine that is working has helped alot in having that attitude. Right now I'm using a Fisher Pakal Series 431 FFM. When i asked the DME about it they don't carry it. When I did my sleep study I used a ResMed Quattro FX FFM. It worked well for me so I'll probably go with that one. I haven't tried any of the others but I seem to be more comfortable with a FFM. I have the ResMed S7 lightweight set on 13.8 right now and it seems to be working. My script called for an auto setting of 13 to 17 so I think that's in the ballpark. Thanks for your help!

_________________
Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Mask: AirFit™ F10 Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Also use Fisher Pakal Series 431 FFM