new prescr. required to get an APAP?

[Linda3032]

@ me. I'm in a real fog this morning (new post regarding that). Now, this is me signed in. I think.

Linda

[Saltydog]

Thanks Linda

It is definitely not an auto. The DME said they don't do autos because it does not work and there are problems. It definitely does not have c-flex either.

[born to be mild]

HI Salty;

"Auto doesn't work"? Yeah, and flying machines haven't been completely proven, either.

I would definitely take everything back to your DME, get all your paperwork (including scrip) back, and say, "Thank you; not interested." Then look up another DME. Apria was able to help me with one day notice, and I think they would have got me in that afternoon if I had asked.

I'm not super-big on Apria; they did a poor job of fitting me for a mask. But at least they did have new equipment, and provided me a RemStar Pro 2 with C-Flex (Respironics).

If I had known enough to ask the Dr. about auto-pap, I would have asked my DME .. but I hadn't found this site yet.

[loonlvr]

I had problems with my sleep doc getting an auto, so I just went to my family doc. I went in very well informed on what I wanted, why and the benefits. I printed out the mschine etc i wanted and he wrote rx for everything. He was impressed I was so knowledgeable about apnea. So maybe skip sleep doc and go to family doc.

[rested gal]

So maybe skip sleep doc and go to family doc.

Good idea, loonlvr! That's what I did. I just picked up the phone and called the family doctor -- told him what I had in mind. He gave me the Rx I wanted and I've been getting excellent treatment from autopap...with the help of the message boards, of course!

[slumberer]

My Kaiser doctor wrote my Rx for the Auto without batting an eye but he knew that Kaiser would not foot the bill. I suppose I could have battled for the heated humidifier, but they definitely would not have allowed me the machine I had now.

I just discovered that C-flex comes standard on Remstar Plus...the machine I was given by Apria from Kaiser without the C-flex. Kaiser bought the machine outright for me and gave me a comfort classic nose mask even though my sleep doc noted nasal congestion as an issue during my titration...go figure. They paid over eight hundred dollars for the mask, remstar plus (no C-flex) CPAP and non-heated humidifier! What a rip-off. Everyone was very nice, but what an increbible waste of money!! In addition, my sleep study summary seemed incredibly contradictory.

I imagine the following discussion:

Sleep Doc (thinking) Wow! I sure love this new program. All I do is enter in the standard equipment Kaiser will foot the bill for and hit enter and the printer prints out a completed, thoughful summary of this patients sleep study......just sign my name......email to his primary care physician....done!

These are not bad people but it is quite a wake-up when you consider how much you are not in the hands of doctors......unless I found this site I would likely have received th substandard therapy in the long run without any scheduled doctor visits or even compliance checks by Apria.