CPAP Victory!

[FlashC4]

I've been using a CPAP machine since late 2013 and when I started I had the worse possible experience with the first machine that I was given along with the horrible care I got from the doctor who also was their own DME. I tried to get them to give me an autoset machine but they refused and I ended up with a S9 Escape. I wasn't happy but it was at least better than the first Phillips machine that had no comfort features at all. After a year and a half the doctor insisted that I needed another sleep study so I had that done and when I went to get the results I was shocked. He told me that I was very bad and I needed another study so he could most likely set me up with a bipap due to the high pressures he claimed that I needed. In the mean time he set my machine to 19 and sent me on my way. That night I lasted maybe 10 minutes before I shut the thing off and went in and set it back to 15. I hadn't been having any issues sleeping so I was skeptical about what the study supposedly revealed and since I had the S9 Escape all I had was compliance data. I decided to have my family doctor give me a referral to a new sleep doctor. In the mean time I had been looking for a used S9 Autoset and stumbled across one that only had 9 hours on it for a very good price. I hate that someone never used it and probably still needs it however their loss is my gain in this case. Since my pressure was 15 I set up the autoset to 9 to 17. Over the past 4 weeks since I got the machine my AHI has averaged 2.5 and my pressure has averaged around 11. A couple of days ago I finally met with the new doctor and shared with him my story. He wouldn't say anything about the other doctor other than making the statement, "The sleep medicine community here is a pretty tight knit group." In other words he already knew all about the idiot. I told him how I had obtained the new machine and set it up and have been monitoring the data and he laughed. He told me that for him I'm actually the ideal patient. He said in some ways I probably know as much as some of the sleep technicians that work for him. I said that I knew that if I was going to get properly treated with the old doctor I was going to have to educate myself and take things into my own hands. My initial study had me with over 120 episodes an hour with my SpO2 dropping into the low 70s. That scared the crap out of me and the last thing I wanted to do was die in my sleep. He took the card and checked out the data and said I was doing great and didn't need another study or anything close to a BiPAP. In fact he told me that he really doesn't need to see me unless something drastic changes. He said my doctor can co sign for supplies etc and if I need anything beyond that I could come see him. That was the complete opposite from what I was used to with the other doctor. I was kind of shocked with his response to me setting up my own machine but he said that I was pretty much spot on with how things were set and nothing needed to be changed. There are good sleep doctors out there but it's sad that ones like I had before are even able to continue to practice. They are doing more harm than good for their patients. I wonder how many people who have had him as their doctor just gave up on treatment because they just didn't get any support. I haven't really posted in the past but I've been lurking and reading the forum since before I had my first sleep study and the information I've gotten here has been priceless.

[LSAT]

In my opinion...NEVER...NEVER..see a sleep doctor that owns his own DME. It's up to you to pick a DME for supplies or pay out of pocket and order what you need from cpap.com