the Future

[madipy]

I am 56 and have been on ResMed S8 Elitite since end of Nov. 07. Will I have to eventually graduate to a more sofisticated machine? OR If this sysytem is working will I be able to stay on it? OR may a time come when I won't need a CPAP?

[Guest]

IMHO - it isn't about graduating to a more sophisticated machine. It is needing a more sophisticated machine. I have a BiPAP because I had no apneas on BiPAP when they were titrating me. If you are doing fine with CPAP then why do anything different. Some have trouble with CPAP due to high pressures. There are lots of other reasons to have other machines.

Also I doubt you will ever be able to stop treatment. Unless it is 100% due to excess weight, you lose the weight and your apnea becomes extremely mild due to the weight loss. Otherwise I don't think apnea is like a cold or the flu and eventually "clears up".

Good luck with the treatment.
Sleep well
Suzanne

[rested gal]

If this sysytem is working will I be able to stay on it?

Yes.

may a time come when I won't need a CPAP?

Very unlikely.

[Wulfman]

I am 56 and have been on ResMed S8 Elitite since end of Nov. 07. Will I have to eventually graduate to a more sofisticated machine? OR If this sysytem is working will I be able to stay on it? OR may a time come when I won't need a CPAP?

The S8 Elite is a good data-collecting CPAP machine and you should be able to get some data from the LCD screen each morning to see how your therapy is progressing.

Beyond that, all I can say is "Ditto" to what the others said.

Den

[Bearded_One]

The average operational life of a CPAP machine is five to seven years. Most US insurers will cover a sleep study and a new CPAP machine every five years.

I have been on CPAP for about 13 years and little has changed since then. The masks are a bit different, the machines are more sophisticated and smaller, and heated humidifiers have became more popular. The sleep clinics have also become more commercial and less personal.

Sometime in the future there may be a change in how sleep apnea is treated, perhaps a constant volume machine rather than a constant pressure machine.