Starting Journey Before Sleep Study

[amess]

Dear Granny. You need to clean up your mouth and read before you speak. I said sleep apnea occurs mostly in older people. Check that out. yes it can occur to any one but most of the people are older. TY Granny.

[LSAT]

Dear Granny. You need to clean up your mouth and read before you speak. I said sleep apnea occurs mostly in older people. Check that out. yes it can occur to any one but most of the people are older. TY Granny.

If you haven't figured it out yet...you should put your remarks in the post you are referring to.

[amess]

Grannykins: you need to read before you speak. I said sleep apnea mostly occurs as you get older. Check the facts my dear. Does not mean some one younger cannot have it.

[ChicagoGranny]

I said sleep apnea occurs mostly in older people.

You only know when it was diagnosed, not when it commenced.

[amess]

Granny. You seem to be very verbal --Get the facts. I said sleep apena occurs mostly as you get older. Does not does mean someone younger cannot have it.

[ChicagoGranny]

Granny. You seem to be very verbal --Get the facts. I said sleep apena occurs mostly as you get older. Does not does mean someone younger cannot have it.

If anything, you only know when it was diagnosed, not when it commenced. Can I make that any clearer for you?

[vaironltemp]

I understand that until I get a sleep study I cannot confirm

You said you wake up gasping for breath. Ask your roommate if you snore.

I can actually confirm this myself. Recorded 2 nights of sleep and I definitely snore. Sometimes it gets a bit loud, but it is never too loud.

[Midnight Strangler]

Granny. You seem to be very verbal --Get the facts. I said sleep apena occurs mostly as you get older. Does not does mean someone younger cannot have it.

If anything, you only know when it was diagnosed, not when it commenced. Can I make that any clearer for you?

True that. From my personal experience and what I have read here, the average person with sleep apnea went with it 20 to 30 years before they were diagnosed and treated. I was diagnosed at 60 and feel sure I had it at 18.

[Midnight Strangler]

I understand that until I get a sleep study I cannot confirm

You said you wake up gasping for breath. Ask your roommate if you snore.

I can actually confirm this myself. Recorded 2 nights of sleep and I definitely snore. Sometimes it gets a bit loud, but it is never too loud.

In that case, I would not be afraid to invest in a CPAP machine before formal diagnosis. Do you know that home sleep studies are cheap and accurate? You can order one from an internet doctor.

[vaironltemp]

I understand that until I get a sleep study I cannot confirm

You said you wake up gasping for breath. Ask your roommate if you snore.

I can actually confirm this myself. Recorded 2 nights of sleep and I definitely snore. Sometimes it gets a bit loud, but it is never too loud.

In that case, I would not be afraid to invest in a CPAP machine before formal diagnosis. Do you know that home sleep studies are cheap and accurate? You can order one from an internet doctor.

Thank you for mentioning this! I totally forgot to place it in my initial post.
I was seriously considering the home sleep study, but two things stirred me away. I was not sure of how well they worked, which ones were reliable and stuff like that.
May I ask what most of you here would recommend as a home sleep study that is trustworthy and reliable? Can I use the Rx given by them anywhere (local and online sellers)?
Also, do I only do the first sleep study home and they will automatically tell me the settings or do I need to do two separate studies?

[vaironltemp]

Hello Everyone!

I have been reading this forum for the past 2 days and was quite literary about to cry, because I saw so many people who had similar experiences to mine in the past.

A bit of background on me, I am a male university student, slightly overweight, early 20s. I have been having a couple of health issues that did not have much explanation, especially since lab tests were normal, but I never considered it to be sleep apnea. However, over the recent 1.5 year I have noticed my headaches have increased and over the past 3 weeks I have had headaches nearly every day which start when I wake up and decrease afterwards. I was having these at the beginning of the years, changed my glasses prescription and still get kept getting them. I also noticed that I sometimes woke up gasping for air, but this occurred only once or twice a month so I paid no attention to it.

After reading how people with sleep apnea had seen high blood pressure levels, which I have seen increase over the past year, and the migraines they experience, I started to suspect sleep apnea a lot more. I understand that until I get a sleep study I cannot confirm if I have sleep apnea at all or other sleep disorders, but I believe trying a CPAP machine could be beneficial.

My main problem is that I have no health insurance, I will be getting it in about 2 months. I know having no health insurance in the US is horrible, but I was in a tough situation and could not buy it at the first half of the year. I am willing to do a sleep study once I have the insurance, but just need to find something that helps me as soon as possible, because these daily headaches are affecting my performance on my classes and my job.

I saw some recent threads on buying CPAP machines without an Rx, so do apologize to the members that are tire of seeing this. I just wonder what are my best options for getting a CPAP machine ASAP. I was seeing craigslist around me and saw a couple of machines, but most seemed to not be auto. The best one I found was a ResMed S9 Escape Auto for about $200. From what I understand I need something that is auto and able to log sleep data. Amazon has some odd named units with names I do not see being recommended much on this forum and no reviews. So, any help, advice, tips would be appreciated. I will keep reading around the forum to learn more.

most unis have a health department and you paid for it so dont need insurance
visit them and see what they will do for you

Funny, in an ironic way, I no longer have access to a university health department. I transferred to another university online degree format precisely because I could do not deal with classes when the headaches occurred.

[Dorhero]

My main problem is that I have no health insurance, I will be getting it in about 2 months. I know having no health insurance in the US is horrible, but I was in a tough situation and could not buy it at the first half of the year.

Finally a question on this forum that I can give advice on:
Under the Affordable Care Act, you can purchase insurance in the middle of the year for several reasons.

One of the acceptable reasons is that you could not afford it during open enrollment but now you can. It's a little late in the year but, you could purchase insurance now if you can afford it.

Frankly, the premiums and deductibles are so high, you're probably just as well off being self-pay. My whole xPAP experience costs less than a month of health insurance premiums.

HTH

[kteague]

You might want to do the math and see if using insurance for OSA is even any more cost effective than going it alone. When we consider deductibles and co-pays it's sometimes cheaper to take the DIY route. But especially for those who have not even been tested, unless there is absolutely no other choice, I would not even consider buying a machine that didn't give me treatment data. You simply cannot know if you're getting effective treatment. My first machine was a brick, and I wouldn't wish the time spent struggling on my worst enemy. The money invested in a subpar machine could be applied to one a step up, and in my opinion, getting a brick in your circumstances would be a mistake. Now, if you could get a good used auto machine and get a head start on things, nothing wrong with that. Could still later let insurance get you one and keep the used one for a backup. Having a backup is always a good idea. Good luck with things.

[ChicagoGranny]

I am doing a follow-up appointment tomorrow because of my blood pressure, so I'll ask for help on this, but expect to be recommended the sleep study.

I would ask for a script for a CPAP machine. The doc probably won't give it to you without a sleep study. But, it shouldn't hurt to ask.

[vaironltemp]

You might want to do the math and see if using insurance for OSA is even any more cost effective than going it alone. When we consider deductibles and co-pays it's sometimes cheaper to take the DIY route. But especially for those who have not even been tested, unless there is absolutely no other choice, I would not even consider buying a machine that didn't give me treatment data. You simply cannot know if you're getting effective treatment. My first machine was a brick, and I wouldn't wish the time spent struggling on my worst enemy. The money invested in a subpar machine could be applied to one a step up, and in my opinion, getting a brick in your circumstances would be a mistake. Now, if you could get a good used auto machine and get a head start on things, nothing wrong with that. Could still later let insurance get you one and keep the used one for a backup. Having a backup is always a good idea. Good luck with things.

First I would like to ask to anyone reading the thread. How long does verification generally take? I understand there are admins who have to manually do this, so I'm guessing it can take a couple of days?

Regarding the recommendation, I can easily see myself going the self diagnosing way for a bit. At least until I know wether CPAP is helping me or not and worst case scenario, I'll loose some money on the machine and sell it to someone who needs it. I really don't understand how I can pay a significant amount of money on insurance and still have minor coverage. Don't want to bring that topic up too much since I know it's divisive, but it's hard to support paying a couple of hundred bucks and only being saved from going bankrupt.