Horrible Doctor's Appointment

[Bons]

I totally agree with the others who think your doctor is a jerk....but, you might consider another way to handle the situation.

Instead of going to all the trouble of firing one doctor and hiring a new one (who may also be a jerk), simply take charge of your own therapy (you need to do that anyway).....and "use" the jerk doctor to get what you want.

Really, all you need now is to get the correct mask.....and if you have a copy of your prescription, you can spend a few of your own bucks, experiment with different masks, and determine...on your own....what works. CPAP.com can furnish everything you need....so l;ong as they have your prescription.

And...once you have your own software, you can "self titrate yourself" every night...if you find it beneficial.

That's where I'm heading as soon as I hear from the DME tomorrow to see if he's actually prescribed the ST. Then I'll just have to tolerate them for the three months trial run on the pap until my insurance company pays for it. I guess since all my DME sells is PR I can safely get the software without worrying about them suddenly giving me a different brand after I've shelled out the money.
Short circuit their "con game" and do your own thing.

[DoriC]

Bons, you've gotten good advice above so I'll just mention that little tidbit about "the whole staff knows". Having been a medical office manager for many years I can tell you that if anyone on staff ever discussed a patient's medical history that was cause for termination. I had to do that once and my Director backed me 100%.

[SleepingUgly]

Oh yes, unfortunately many of us have been treated badly by doctors. I had an internist that I thought very highly of and it was like a real slap in the face when he lashed out at me. I haven't made any contact with him since, and I probably will never go back to him. But I'm less dependent on an internist than a specialist, especially a sleep doc, so it's easier for me to "fire" the internist.

[mgrunk]

I was blown off in my last pregnancy because I admitted to having had panic attacks before (I have PTSD from childhood abuse too) - it was a fluke that the cardiologist put a 30 day monitor on me - caught VT's and severe chronic tachycardia - they were just going to give me more sleep meds. I took my first beta block and the world was good again. As a counselor, it totally ticks me off how people conveniently put a label on you as having an anxiety issue and don't want to look into the rest. They nearly killed me and my baby.

[Calist]

*Facepalm*

[GeneS]

The first thing that you need to do is make sure you are not mouth breathing or leaking during treatment. When you use cpap with a nasal mask your airway pressure goes negative when you breath in thru your mouth which can cause an apnea. You will not know if your problems are caused by mouth breathing, bad mask fit, wrong pressure setting or whatever. Too many variables. A full face mask seals both the nose and mouth so you can mouth breath and maintain your cpap pressure. Since you have a nasal mask which can work fine try to get the best seal you can and try to eliminate mouth breathing. Tape and Chin Strap or other way. If someone is around have them watch you sleep sometimes and ask them if your mouth opens or otherwise leaks.


Once you complete step 1 you can then look for the best pressures for you. Software is a big help but you can figure a lot out even without it.

Genes

[Bons]

The first thing that you need to do is make sure you are not mouth breathing or leaking during treatment. When you use cpap with a nasal mask your airway pressure goes negative when you breath in thru your mouth which can cause an apnea. You will not know if your problems are caused by mouth breathing, bad mask fit, wrong pressure setting or whatever. Too many variables. A full face mask seals both the nose and mouth so you can mouth breath and maintain your cpap pressure. Since you have a nasal mask which can work fine try to get the best seal you can and try to eliminate mouth breathing. Tape and Chin Strap or other way. If someone is around have them watch you sleep sometimes and ask them if your mouth opens or otherwise leaks.


Once you complete step 1 you can then look for the best pressures for you. Software is a big help but you can figure a lot out even without it.

Genes

If you're posting about me (OP), my mask is a fullface that goes under my chin. The leaks I have problems with seem to occur when the pressure spikes around 3-4 in the morning after I've been through a few sleep cycles (at least it always wakes me up when I'm in REM). F & P kindly emailed me an expected leak rate for their masks today so once I get the software I can program that in.

[GeneS]

The first thing that you need to do is make sure you are not mouth breathing or leaking during treatment. When you use cpap with a nasal mask your airway pressure goes negative when you breath in thru your mouth which can cause an apnea. You will not know if your problems are caused by mouth breathing, bad mask fit, wrong pressure setting or whatever. Too many variables. A full face mask seals both the nose and mouth so you can mouth breath and maintain your cpap pressure. Since you have a nasal mask which can work fine try to get the best seal you can and try to eliminate mouth breathing. Tape and Chin Strap or other way. If someone is around have them watch you sleep sometimes and ask them if your mouth opens or otherwise leaks.


Once you complete step 1 you can then look for the best pressures for you. Software is a big help but you can figure a lot out even without it.

Genes

If you're posting about me (OP), my mask is a fullface that goes under my chin. The leaks I have problems with seem to occur when the pressure spikes around 3-4 in the morning after I've been through a few sleep cycles (at least it always wakes me up when I'm in REM). F & P kindly emailed me an expected leak rate for their masks today so once I get the software I can program that in.

I was posting about you. I haven't posted for a while. I tried a full face mask 5 years or so and could not get it to seal good. I know they are better now but I haven't tried a new one. Most of the masks I buy have a pressure vs flow chart in them. If you are getting software soon you should be able to tweak your system. I have been on cpap for over 26 years so my anxiety is gone. If you have some it will go away too.

Genes