Call up the old company and ask them how much they'll sell you the old, now used machine for on a cash basis, no insurance. It might work, might not, depending on the bureaucracy level of the company involved. Definitely try that, if you don't want to have to deal with the rental anymore. I was cha...

So my machine malfunctioned over the weekend. I took it in to the DME today and they surprised me by saying that they'd be happy to exchange it for a new one, no problem at all. I was hopeful to get one of the newer firmware versions that would have the silent mode option, because the beeping drives...

For this follow-up with the doctor, are you actually waiting that long to get your prescription, or is that just when you are following up with the doctor to review how things are going? I was very surprised to find out that my sleep doctor did not plan on meeting with me to go over things after the...

Hmm... maybe I can get one of the newer ones with the "silent mode" options!!! It does make me wonder. I've been spending weekends in this house, using that outlet, since I got the machine (May?), and never had a problem with the outlet. Also, the machine was making a bit of a weird noise for the fi...

I woke up in the middle of the night thinking that it was hard to breathe through my nose. At first I assumed I'd just gotten stuffed up, but then I put my hand up and there was no air coming out the vents. My machine had turned itself off. I'm not sure if it was a problem with the machine or with t...

If you don't normally go without your humidifier, I wouldn't try to on a trip like this. You don't want to be miserable! If you don't want to haul water, just forget the distilled water and use whatever you find. Most of the country's tap water is actually safe to drink (unlike most Central American...

It's definitely frustrating, but your timeline is pretty much typical. First sleep study, then 2-3 weeks to get the results. Then schedule the next sleep study, but the earliest appointment is 3-4 weeks out. Another 2-3 weeks to get the results and the prescription. Then another week or so to get an...

Hi and welcome to the club. Before you go to the DME, you should probably read Janknitz's blog post: http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/what-you-need-to-know-before-you-meet-your-dme-part-i/ If you want to go with the S9, be absolutely sure you don't get a machine with "escape" in the name. Insist tha...

Bottom line is that if you're still feeling tired with a low AHI and no other problems with your therapy (like leaks), then you just might need another sleep study to see what's going on. If you haven't done so in a while, I would start with a visit to a doctor for a full physical. Make sure that th...

Depends entirely on who you are. During my diagnostic sleep study, my AHI was lowest when I was on my back.

If there's a difference in the exhalation relief, that could be what you are hearing. This would make sense, especially since you say that there isn't technically a difference in the noise the two machines make. I know that my machine seems quieter when I turn of the exhalation relief, because it ru...

You were given the summary results, rather than the full results. The full results are more detailed. They spell out what kind of events you had, what position you slept in, how much time you spent in each sleep stage, etc. It looks like you had a split night study, so they did half the night as a d...

You don't technically need an official justification to get an APAP vs. a CPAP, as they are billed under the same codes. However, if you've had your machine for over a month, you are probably stuck with it. The DME is unlikely to do an exchange at this point, and the insurance company isn't going to...

Even if your tap water is clean and tastes great, it may still contain minerals which will deposit in your humidifier chamber. Distilled water does not contain minerals, and won't cause any buildups in the chamber. There's no real need to install a backup power supply unless you want to. You are cor...

I'm 30. OSA is not as common in younger people, but it does happen! The usual suggestion is to wear the mask with the machine running while you are awake and doing something else (watching tv, reading, doing a crossword puzzle, etc.). That way, you can desensitize yourself without the stress of tryi...