Travel CPAP

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
RobAndrews
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:45 pm

Travel CPAP

Post by RobAndrews » Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:27 pm

Hello all,

I'm 3 weeks into using my Phillips Dreamstation auto CPAP (w/ Humidifier) with nose Wisp mask. All good so far - looks like I'm averaging around a 1.2 AHI per hour per night (sleep study had shown 28 AHI events/hour). I'm a 55 year old male. My wife says she can't even hear the machine at night - and all snoring and apnea events like she used to hear are gone.

I travel a bit - both business and vacations. If possible, I try to get by with all carry-on bags - saves me time and prevents lost bags/etc. I just took my machine to Seattle from the Midwest for a short visit to see our son. Seattle is a great city to visit, in case you are looking for a fun excursion. I know that I am allowed to take the CPAP as another carry-on bag because it is a medical device. I understand that. However, with normal carry-on suitcase, and backpack (book, jacket, headphones, misc) - - - I really don't want the burden of lugging a third thing around the airport and trying to fit it into already small, over-crowded overhead bins. For the recent Seattle trip, I managed to wrap the Dreamstation with my clothes and put into my carry-on suitcase (hard shell).

But I doubt that will always work out. So, I noticed on-line all of the cool looking 'travel sized' CPAP machines. At half the weight and half the size, these seem like a better option for travel. On a whim, I stopped by my local Rotech store where I had received my Dreamstation three weeks ago. Seems they do not carry travel sized CPAP because Insurance will not cover it? She suggested that I call Sleep Central - which is the company that will be sending me CPAP supplies. That representative confirmed that they do not carry the travel sized versions of CPAP because all of their business is through insurance and these machines are not covered. She wondered if I would be able to purchase a travel CPAP from CPAP.com or similar site since I have a prescription for a machine. She guessed that I would probably not get any help from insurance, as they only cover one machine every five years.

1. Am I allowed to buy a travel CPAP from some website like CPAP.com ? (I vaguely understand that there are laws about prescriptions and fittings from respiratory therapists, etc). Would the travel CPAP arrive with proper pressure settings? Are there auto travel CPAP machines like my Dreamstation - which adjusts automatically to my needs?

2. Have other people run into this before? How did you handle it?

3. I know the insurance company and doctors office are getting data automatically sent to them from the Dreamstation - and 70% compliance is required for insurance help. What happens when I travel with a travel CPAP - will it also send data to my insurance and doctor? Would I be able to simply take the SD Data card out of my Dreamstation and put it into the travel machine and collect same info? Would it send automatically via the travel machine - or perhaps when I reinserted it into the Dreamstation?

3.b. How is the 70% compliance measured? 70% of what time period? I plan to use the machine every night, but wondered about this due to my travelling. If I am on business and vacations for six weeks in the summer, that might make a given month less than 70% compliance. However, over a longer six month time period, perhaps I'm still well within my 70% goal.

4. Wondering if I would be allowed to just 'get by' with my Dreamstation for next five years - lugging it through the airport - and use my new machine voucher in five years time to get a travel CPAP? This is assuming that I don't need to replace the Dreamstation at that time.

5. Or, if allowed, maybe I'll go ahead and purchase a travel CPAP at full price - without any help from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. Is there a site which reviews the travel CPAP machines? If I'm paying full price I'd want to make wise selection - get the best value. Looks like a range of prices for travel machines are on CPAP.com. Is there another site that forum members would recommend if I go this route? I almost hate to ask "Which travel machine should I buy?" because I know 10 people will offer 10 different answers - some emphatically.

I'm sure I'll think of other questions, but will start with these for now.

Appreciate any help and insight!

Rob

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Pugsy
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Re: Travel CPAP

Post by Pugsy » Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:55 pm

Let me see what I can answer.

1...you can buy as many machines as you want with your RX...as long as you don't want to mess with your insurance.
There are no laws about those privately purchased machines requiring any RT to set them up. They are all super easy to set up yourself but sometimes the place you buy the machines from will go ahead and set it up per the RX settings.
There are auto adjusting travel machines available.

2...how did I handle traveling....I need my humidity...and most travel machines either have minimal humidity or none. So I chose not to purchase one of those tiny machines. Make sure you can do with minimal to none humidity before you even consider buying one of those tiny machines. Use your current machine with humidifier turned off and see what your nasal mucosa think of it.
Also...those tiny machines are almost always a lot noisier than the other machines...less sound proofing material because less space for such material.

3..You won't be able to merge any data from your existing machine to the travel machine. Won't work. Not compatible and those tiny machines don't transmit anything anywhere in terms of data, usage, whatever. Some have software and some don't but for practical purposes...don't expect much in terms of data. SleepyHead won't work with any of them.

Compliance...call up your insurance company and ask them exactly what compliance requirements they might have.
Most will mimic Medicare but not all.
If they do mimic Medicare....it's 70 % of 30 consecutive nights using at least 4 or more hours. So 21 out of 30 nights and it has to be consecutive but you get 90 days to get it done.
Once any compliance requirements are met...they don't care and no one at the insurance will care if you split your usage between machines.

4....I don't know if insurance will even pay for a travel machine period...check with your insurance company.
They might not even allow it in 5 years or if your machine died. I think it has something to do with the humidification not meeting some standards. I know ResMed tells people right up front that their insurance won't pay for the new ResMed Air Mini travel machine.
There's some reason there but I have never seen it in writing as to why.

5....that's what most people do when it comes to a travel machine...read up and ask and buy on their own.

Before you do anything though...sleep with your current machine and turn off the humidifier and no water in it.
You may get the choice made for you by your nose. If your nose doesn't like no water it will let you know.

There are some ways of adding a little moisture to these travel machines and some even have heated humidifiers but by the time you add the humidifier you are back up to pretty much the same size as what you are using now.
For me it was a deal breaker. I couldn't even stand a low humidity setting of 1 without having horrible nasal issues from being too dried out.
Others it doesn't matter and maybe you are one of those but before spending the bucks....try at home first just by turning off humidifier on current machine.. If you are like me the money spent would be a waste because you would be miserable the entire trip.

There are several threads here where people have asked "which travel machine to buy"....and yeah...you get all sorts of answers.
The final judge will have to be you though. They all come with a huge YMMV sticker.

I think if it were me though....I would look at the ResMed Air Mini first. It does offer some moisture and it does offer data .
Respironics has its version but I don't think it has a humidifier yet.
There are a few reviews here on the forum for these machines.
The noise levels and humidity....big concern for me though...might not matter to you at all.

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Cardsfan
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Re: Travel CPAP

Post by Cardsfan » Wed Apr 04, 2018 2:00 pm

Well- how about that!! You can now trial the AirMini for 30 days from www.cpap.com . I'll have to look into that for sure.

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dvejr
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Re: Travel CPAP

Post by dvejr » Mon Apr 09, 2018 10:03 pm

I used to travel a lot, even internationally, and bought a smaller travel CPAP. But one reason I did that is that my primary machine, a Remstar Pro 2, was large and heavy (this was 10 years ago.) My travel machine, of a type no longer made (Everest 2), had a humidifier and a battery, and I even used it on long airplane flights on which I would sleep.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/evo-AE ... chine.html

I only ever had to show my insurance company compliance data for 6 months or so my first year of treatment. I think that was because the first machine was, at first, actually a rental arrangement of some kind because the Ins Co would't buy machines for people who wouldn't in fact use them.

I often carried my CPAP as a separate carry-on bag, especially if I planned to use it in the air. OTOH, when I didn't use it, I sometimes forgot it in the overhead bin by accident upon deplaning. Whoops.

DVE

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D.H.
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Re: Travel CPAP

Post by D.H. » Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:32 am

Make sure that you're OK without the humidifier. If not, there's no point in a travel CPAP.

If you can, the DreamStation (minus humidifier), is quite compact. You can buy a special travel case which includes a smaller power cord that supports only the CPAP (no humidifier).

If you travel to a foreign destination, the power sockets might be configured differently., so you'll need an adapter. You will not need a voltage converter, as the Dream-station (and just about very other CPAP on the market), supports any voltage in use around the world.

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