Best Bang for Your Buck

[jhfield4]

Hi all! I've been lurking here for about 2 months, and the information I've gathered has been invaluable. Thanks!

I started using cpap mid-December. I had been sleeping 11-12 hours per day and was still exhausted. Losing words, no concentration, depression. Though I suspect I've had OSA for years, I finally bit the bullet and had a sleep study. Found I had a 44 AHI and oxygen desats to 76%. I'm one of the lucky ones who found my perfect mask on the first try - FX for her. Love it! I also was signed up for a clinical trial for a new, super seekret feature on the F&P Icon. Got the machine the same day, free, for 3 months. After the initial sleeplessness due to having something strapped to my head, and a rather terrible month of waking up feeling like I'd been hit in the head with a brick, I got over my oxygen hangovers and am beginning to see encouraging results. There hasn't been a hallelujah moment for me, but I notice I'm not crashing during the day, and I'm able to stay up a little later each day. I've also regained a lot of mental clarity - I can concentrate again! Yay!

Since I was enrolled in the clinical trial, I haven't yet had to deal with picking my "forever" machine or dealing with a DME. My insurance unfortunately has a large deductible - $1500 - so I'll be paying for the machine out of pocket. And trust me, I am NOT made of money! I know I don't want an Icon - It's a nice machine, but I want data, dangit! I don't really need a heated hose - I have one with the Icon, and it does nothing to prevent rainout (I'm a singer, so I crank that puppy's humidity as high as it will go!) But it's confusing - I look at the data-capable macnines, see different prices everywhere, and all the features are a little overwhelming. I'm determined not to follow my normal procedure and just get the cheapest - this is my health, after all. So, in your opinion, which machine gives the best performance and features for the value? Which will give me the most bang for my buck? Thanks!

Jill

[bap40]

I hope you get some good opinions as I would love to know the same thing.

[mayondair]

A lot here love their S9 auto sets, I love my PR SYS 1 auto, and have DeVillbiss intellipap auto as a back up. All have data and softwear, An auto can save you some $$$ by self tritating and troubleshooting at home without the expense of a sleep lab, so if I had to buy out of pocket, that would be a no brainer. You might check out Second Wind .com, they have gently used machines, all checked out, and warrantys I think. And of courseCPAP .com, for new. Rested Gal has a list of a data capable machines, check the WIKI for the link.

[paulw]

I'd recommend a IntelliPAP AutoAdjust Travel CPAP Machine with SmartFlex.
All up with heated humidifier and data module with software its under $600 at our host's site.
It gives good reports and great therapy - if I could get waveform data I'd probably never turn on my Respironics System One (which gives me great reports and good therapy).

[Julie]

I am going to guess that your problem is mouth breathing once you're asleep, and you're losing all the Cpap air that way, which dries you out, but raising the pressure of air going in only makes the problem worse. You most likely need a full face mask (or try taping to see if I'm right) and then would be able to both mouth breathe and lower your pressure while still being treated.

[Slinky]

I was under the impression that the ICON, or one of the ICONs (is there more than one ICON model?) is fully data capable.