Seeing my VA Pulmonoligist later today (question)...

I have my 1st follow-up visit at 3pm today with the VA physician that recommended my overnight sleep clinic back on Dec 30 then also prescribed my subsequent CPAP machine that I received on Feb 8th. Given the relative breeze I've had with this adventure and subsequent glowing success, not to mention feeling many, many times better than I have in years, if not decades. And while I'm extremely appreciative of all he, and the VA have done for me I would also like to get a prescription from him for cpap.com so I can order some things rather than wait on them from the VA's local supplier. No one appreciates all this free equipment more than I but honestly I've had a blessed life and done ok financially over the 48 years since I separated from the military. Sure I love the gift prescription big-ticket items but feel a little guilty 'mooching' some related items and feeling in the current political environment and VA shake-up might eventually lead to other veterans being denied equipment, goods or services. To that end, what should I specifically ask for prescription-wise? Does he write 'me' a prescription? Does he write it to cpap.com for them to keep on file? I'd like to handle it personally as much as possible rather than pull him away from seeing other patients/veterans to deal with cpap.com and/or others. Every day is Saturday for me but he's less fortunate in that regard and I don't want to strap him for any more additional time than necessary. TIA for any/all suggestions!

Just request a sort of generic RX that covers anything you might want.

Cpap/apap machine with heated humidifier and mask of patient's choice.

That will cover all bases...have him just give it to you for you to keep and then you can send a copy to whomever you wish to order from that has whatever you might want that requires a RX.

Great idea Pugs and EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank ya ma'am!

Do you have an account here?
https://www.myhealth.va.gov

If yes check your health records and see if there is already a note in there that covers everything for you. If not send your Dr a secure message asking for script or call the clinic and ask that they relay message for you that you want the prescription.

MCVet; yes its all there but so much more as well with no way of separating prescriptions from other treatments which for security reasons is frightening to me. I love Pugsy's idea as it keeps my record private and allows me exclusively to control the expediency without risk of other's access to my VA record/history. I do appreciate the gesture tho... thank you! BTW I did send an email to myhealthevet.gov administrator asking if it might be possible to limiting access to a single prescription or treatment.

I'm pretty sure you can download the file you want that shows prescription as a text file instead of PDF. Then just delete all the other info leaving only what you want to share.

Heheh methinks you have me confused with someone that's computer literate... I'm not! In addition to the cloudy-headedness of OSA/O2 deprivation there's also 18 prescription drugs... per day!

how did the appointment go?

Sorry for abandoning this thread. Didn't know anyone was awaiting a follow up. But since asked I'm happy to report the appointment was a glowing success! Since my first night and even including my initial sleep study prior to that I've taken to CPAP like a duck to water. Felt better immediately and feeling better/stronger each day! Pulmonologist was able to eliminate one of my inhalers altogether (Albuterol) and change my 2nd inhaler to only an 'as needed' basis instead of 2 puffs daily at same time each day. Dr said my lungs were clear/clean sounding and that was further confirmed via chest CATscan. Additionally my blood pressure was slightly lowered & improved and I've gained some weight (6lbs) which in my case is a good thing. Basically I'm loving this CPAP thing and never miss an opportunity to don the mask when I get in bed. I find it highly addictive and hugely beneficial... far beyond my original hopes & expectations!

With all this said however, the prescription was a bust. He's working on it but the VA has gone thru the hospital and removed all their pads with required info on them. Understandably, theft has been an issue at the VA related to opioids and prescription pads. My Dr gave me his business card and asked me to email/remind him. That it may take him a few days but he'll get it done even if he has to make the prescription on his computer with all the reqired information on it. I emailed him after getting home from my appointment 3 days ago but haven't heard back yet. I'll give him a couple weeks before calling and leaving a message or emailing him again.

FWIW, you can download a prescription type form from cpap.com. If you can't find it, just contact them and they will email it. My BIL's son did that and brought it to his VA appointment as he wanted to get additional supplies (I think he's setting up a secondary machine so he doesn't have to schlep his back and forth).

Well that was good news, I'm glad it's working for you.

To the OP:

Make sure that the filters, water tanks, and heated hose (if applicable) are the correct ones for your machine. If you use non-heated hoses, they are generic so any hose manufactured to industry specs will suffice.

Also, if you're happy with your mask, make sure that your mask parts and mask replacements are the same one.

This is fairly obvious to long term CPAP users, but might be missed by a newbie.

Congratulations, great start!
Welcome to the forum.

As you can see from my equipment list and additional comments I opted for the upgrade ClimateLine heated hose with O2 inlet which I ordered from CPAP.com and specifically for the machine the VA prescribed for and provided me. My original supply of 12 inlet filters came with the machine and will be replaced with OEM filters when initial supply is exhausted. The F20 mask I received with the CPAP was a snafu in that it was a medium and a large suits me far better but it was replaced after 3-4 days and has been in day-to-day use since and has worked well. A common mistake as borne out by cap.com reviews that the F20 mask, in medium tends to run small-ish by industry standards. The reason for this original post was to glean info on securing a prescription so I could purchase the new-style DreamWear FFM. I could be wrong but that mask just screams; "You want CPAP utopia... try me!"

Since I live in a relatively dry environment I tried humidity with & without heat for 4 or 5 nights initially. Ran the tank dry every night regardless of setting and/or room relative humidity in spite of filling each night at bedtime with & without hose and/or humidifier heat in a shallow cookie pan in the event of leaks. In identical 34% room relative humidity and 68*F temps the machine wants to use all its onboard water overnight which I found curious but after a week I determined my nose, sinuses and mucosa felt the same regardless so I drained, cleaned/dried the reservoir best I could and turned all related machine controls related to heat/humidity off. A week later I replaced the tank with the matching ResMed snap-on cover designed to replace it. Haven't incurred any problems in the 2+ months since.

salinas212 wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 06, 2018 8:54 am

that mask just screams; "You want CPAP utopia... try me!"

All new masks scream that. They lie.

To be fair...some people will just love a new mask of any sort but probably just as many people will end up hating that same mask.
Sometimes the very reasons one person loves a mask are the same reasons the next person hates it. Go figure.
We are all different ....in terms of facial structure and personal wants and needs. No mask is ever going to be the perfect mask for everyone. That's why there are so many masks to choose from and why the mask manufacturers continually work on making that one mask that checks off all the boxes for most people.

I am a nasal pillow person...always have been and probably always will be but I do like to experiment just for the fun of it.
It helps with the boredom that comes with 9 years of this cpap stuff. Gotta do something to make things interesting even if it is the wrong thing to do.
My ideal mask....nasal pillow that would stay in place in my nose without anything holding it there.... yeah...like that is going to ever happen. I really don't like headgear of any sort and while the TapPap got rid of the headgear it added a mouth guard which I did use for well over a year. The reason I changed to the P10....wasn't anything that was the TapPap's fault and I just got lazy and never went back to the mouth guard because I needed to refit it because of some dental work I had done.

For me and my trying of the latest and greatest DreamWear Full Face Mask...I was curious and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't nearly as annoying as I thought it would be. When I try new stuff I try to go into it with an open mind but it's kinda hard to totally remove all my personal preferences and needs from the experiment. I could use it full time if I just had to and that's saying something for me. The headgear didn't cause the neck issues that I have had with other full face mask headgear....so that's a plus.
I was able to sleep all night with it...another plus because with some masks I simply couldn't ever get comfortable enough to get decent sleep.

My only requirement to try a new mask....I have to be interested in it. Now it may not be or do what I think it will do but if it looks the least little bit interesting to me then I will try it when I can....just for grins if nothing else.
I always learn something about the mask or myself though...sometimes all I learn is what a bad idea that was but I always learn.
Sometimes I learn that the mask is really quite decent and I could use it full time should the need arise.

Every time we learn something about our own personal preferences and needs we develop a database of sorts to rely upon when evaluating these new masks that get released and promise CPAP Utopia. The only way we learn is by trying.....so when a person can try something new (either cost wise or insurance or whatever) and they WANT to try it...by all means try it. You will always learn something even if all you learn is what a bad idea that experiment was. Remember....there are lovers and haters for every single mask out there and you can't really judge where you will be unless you try something.

But all the new masks promise CPAP Utopia for all...and they all lie. Yes...for some it is Utopia but for just as many it probably is Hell.