Equipment Ideas - I'm Updating

I am having a new sleep study on Monday night. My Resmed CPAP machine is about 7 years old. I am leaning towards requesting an APAP but am curious about an auto Bi-PAP. Any ideas either way?

You would have to be specifically prescribed and titrated for Bi-PAP/Bi-Level since there are two specific pressures involved (IPAP and EPAP).

Den

I have both, Mseries Bipap auto with Biflex and Apap auto with Aflex. I prefer the Bilevel over Apap because it gives you the best exhale relief almost mimicking natural breathing, also the best machine for controlling Aerophagia, but the Aflex is very close and seems to respond faster to pressure changes. I like both machine very well and use the Apap auto for back up.

Regards,

Dan

I love my VPAP Auto. It can be used in CPAP mode (not auto). It can be used in bilevel mode. It can be run in autobilevel mode.

As I understand it, "normally," or at least "often," bilevel is only titrated in a person having trouble with CPAP in some way. It may be, for example, that a patient has trouble adapting to straight CPAP pressure during a titration study and has central apneas or other issues with the pressure. Another example might be if a patient has had other trouble over time dealing with CPAP and so has become "noncompliant" with CPAP therapy. Then the doc has a reason to have a patient try using a bilevel, an auto CPAP (APAP), or an autobilevel, and he can "defend" his recommendation to the insurance people. So if you want a bilevel, APAP, or autobilevel, you may have to give the doc a reason to suggest it. Often you can't just say "I keep hearing about APAP's and bilevels and wouldn't mind trying one out." Insurance people may want to know WHY you need it, or at least they may expect the doc to be following standard protocol in having you get it.

When I had my sleep study, I asked the PSGT, "So, how do you feel about bilevel?" I considered that enough of a hint. Actually, it turned out I had several bad centrals and fairly high pressure, so the protocol he was following meant he "had" to try out bilevel on me.

When my sleep doc called to tell me about my bilevel prescription, I asked him to write "patient may use autobilevel" on it. That allowed me to argue for getting an autobilevel when dealing with insurance and DME.

Now that I've told you all that, I'm afraid I now have to . . . uh, well, never mind, I guess I have still maintained my "plausible deniability."

jnk

plus1hdcp wrote:I am having a new sleep study on Monday night. My Resmed CPAP machine is about 7 years old. I am leaning towards requesting an APAP but am curious about an auto Bi-PAP. Any ideas either way?

As many here have heard from me before, I LOVE my APAP - Respironics A-Flex. I particuarly like the exhalation relief. I have noted that some who are used to continuous pressure, when going to exhalation relief, feel as though they are not getting enough air. It takes some getting used to for some. For me, as a noob when I first got my machine, it was fabulous as it helped me feel as though I was just breathing normally - instead of tolerating a huge rush of air.

Thanks to all for the input. I do feel as though there are signs that a change would benefit me as it is rare that a full night of sleep is obtained with the CPAP. I can only surmise that there must be problems with me handling the higher pressure on the exhale. I will definately discuss the bipap and auto cpap with the Dr.

plus1hdcp wrote:Thanks to all for the input. I do feel as though there are signs that a change would benefit me as it is rare that a full night of sleep is obtained with the CPAP. I can only surmise that there must be problems with me handling the higher pressure on the exhale. I will definately discuss the bipap and auto cpap with the Dr.

Don't forget that some doctors, and may I dare say most, don't know about the A-Flex. It's relatively new, so unless they keep up with the new machines . . .