So here is my update. Part One. I called Apria and initially got hooked up with their national customer service people, who were unable to tell me exactly how to go about returning my five-year-old machine in order to terminate the "service contract." This eventually led to someone at the local bran...

I notice that this article is four years old. Fortunately, the trend doesn't seem to have continued.

The article is correct that a lot of people who are prescribed the machines aren't adherent. But that doesn't mean that the machines were misprescribed...

Another point is to get good and friendly with your pharmacist. Many doctors prescribe meds they know little about and interact with others and then some specialist decides to add a few more. You pharmacist is trained in medications, their side effects and interactions, but some times you have to m...

Now I want to make borscht.

Have you had your PCP talk to your pulmonary doc? My general feeling is that the specialist tends to trump the generalist. Mind you, I am not discounting the difficulty of getting used to CPAP. Ambien can be easy to get used to and hard to taper off of if you use it for too long (which is why I was ...

How long have you been using CPAP?

How long have you been using Ambien?

I'd be careful about overinterpreting very small amounts of data. What's most important is the trendline. There's not always a direct relationship between how you feel on any given night and what your numbers are. I sometimes feel awful after nights with "good" numbers and vice versa. Because the sl...

Once you know what to look for (and people here will help), you will find self-monitoring to be very useful.

check your policy. I pay 20% until my deductible is satisfied for in network providers. I think mine is 50% if out of network. I just picked up a replacement water chamber and full mask today for $36.51 out of pocket, actual out of pocket makes a huge difference for choosing my supplier. Good point...

The background: when I was getting my first machine five years ago, and horribly sleep deprived, I got my first xPAP, which was a great model at the time, through Apria. The contract that I ill-advisedly signed meant that I bought the humidifier outright, but never really bought the machine. What ha...

I didn't know about the FAA rule there, good to know, anyone know if that is common on international flights The FAA determinations apply to all international flights to and from the USA, but have no currency beyond that. For international flights which do not involve the USA, you need to ask the a...

The technical terms are aphasia/anomia for your googling pleasure.

You never know with travel when you might be delayed. You could have to stay overnight someplace, and you'd have to sleep without CPAP if it's in your checked luggage.

I don't check medication that I take daily. CPAP is just medication I take daily.

About the machine that "burnt up"--did you buy it new out of pocket? If so, wouldn't there be a warranty on it still? If you are patient (and have some knowledge of machine models), it is possible to find xPAP machines on Craigslist that are not crappy at all. The machine I use as my primary machine...

We have some trusted members who act as informal clearinghouse/distributors. They may show up on this thread.