Please HELP- Newbie in search of answers

[sleepyJen]

I'm a newbie as well (almost 5 weeks) so I can't help too much but I just wanted to say that your story is so similar to mine! I stopped breathing 55 times an hour and my lowest O2 level was 65% - for a majority of the time it was between 80% and 90%. I am also about 70 lbs overweight, after having gained 30 lbs in 2 years despite my best efforts. I finally went to the Dr because I was having brutal headaches - when we discussed the weight gain, the cognitive issues, the fogginess, etc., she simply said "you have sleep apnea" and she was right. We also realized that I've been suffering from sleep apena for many, many years. My body has a lot of healing to do and it just takes time.

In 5 weeks the cognitive issues have already gotten better - unfortunately, with a pressure set at 9, I had a 2 week derailment in treatment because my DME decided to change my pressure from 9 to auto 9 - 20 without telling me or my Dr. That didn't work so well for me - though my AHI numbers were better, I was sleeping horribly and had terrible pressure headaches. I've been back on the pressure of 9 since Monday and the headaches are gone. Energy is better.

I have not lost weight yet - mainly because I am suffering from bloating issues that haven't worked themselves out yet. But, my Dr. did say that the weight gain is a sign of the sleep apena, one reason being is that you are using carbs and sugars as a crutch for the energy that is lacking. I definitely have more motivation to try to lose weight, and to exercise, than I have had in a long, long time. I have also heard that cpap therapy helps with GERD as the forced air helps keep the stomach muscle closed while sleeping.

Best of luck with everything - this place is an amazing resource!!

[WindyCityEsq]

Thanks SleepyJen! I'm glad I have a sleep apnea twin out there. It will be interesting to see what my titration study says- I wonder if we'll be at the same pressure levels?

Question: My overnight titration study is this Sunday. How long can I expect it to be from then until the time I get my machine? And also... how does this whole "mask trial" experience work? Do they just give me a bunch of masks to take home and use on a trial basis until I commit to one? Or do I do that at the titration study? (if so, is one night really enough time to figure this out?) Or do they just give me one to take home, and I have to keep going back/forth to exchange if one doesn't work for me?

[Bill44133]

Question: My overnight titration study is this Sunday. How long can I expect it to be from then until the time I get my machine? And also... how does this whole "mask trial" experience work? Do they just give me a bunch of masks to take home and use on a trial basis until I commit to one? Or do I do that at the titration study? (if so, is one night really enough time to figure this out?) Or do they just give me one to take home, and I have to keep going back/forth to exchange if one doesn't work for me?

It took exactly one long week from my sleep study to the time I got my machine. I think every one is different nothing set in stone.

The DME that my insurance company choose for me was horrible. They gave me one mask, and if I didn't like that mask I could have one more choice and thats it. No opportunity to try different masks.

I would suggest while you are at your titration study you ask them to try on different masks to see what might work.

I wish you well and good luck!

[Pugsy]

Mask swapping policy varies with DMEs...

Most of the mask manufacturers will offer a 30 day time period for you to try their mask...if you hate it you swap it out for something else.
Some DMEs will just let you keep it because it just gets tossed in the trash anyway...but some DMEs will make you return it.
So some DMEs will let you keep trying masks until you find one that suits you..and when a mask is returned because it won't work and they give you something else to try the DME will fill out some paperwork and send it to the mask manufacturer and they get credit for the mask that didn't work out.
Your insurance only gets billed for one mask except in maybe special circumstances.

So in theory.. one could keep trying masks for several months using the 30 day thing from the mask manufacturers but most DMEs won't do that. They will set their own in house rules and often it is a 30day time limit period or maybe one mask swap...they can do that. They don't have to allow 30 days for each mask times 5 masks which would be 5 months...
Since they can and do set their own rules....it's best that you find out exactly what they are ahead of time.
If they want to be hard assed about it and only allow 1 exchange....maybe shop around for a more liberal mask shopping policy DME if at all possible (your insurance may or may not allow a different DME)

Also some DMEs only allow a mask swapping time frame for newbies...once their 30 day (or whatever time frame) passes you don't get to try new masks with the swapping option. If you try something new and hate it...you are pretty much stuck with it if you are using your insurance because to get another mask you would have to pay the mask cost out of pocket.

My DME that I use for masks only (never bought a machine from a DME) has a 60 day time frame for mask swapping but they require the return of the hated mask...which for me isn't an issue because if I hate it I sure won't be using it again.
This was what was told to me nearly 5 years ago...60 days to swap out as many masks as I needed to find the right one.
No limit to the number of swaps....and the other nice part about their policy..it's available to cpap veterans also.
So while they don't do it the way that the mask swapping thing was designed by the manufacturers to be handled...it's still a lot better than what most DMEs offer.
I got a totally new mask last summer. Wanted to try something new and they weren't going to ever carry my Tap Pap mask...so I decided to try something else. It didn't make it past 90 minutes the first night. So I returned it and got a spare of my Swift FX nasal pillow mask. I could have kept trying different masks for 60 days but didn't want to abuse the offer and they didn't really have anything else new at the time that I was interested in.

So find out exactly what you can expect for mask trial times and swapping...Some DMEs have demos or opened packages and they might send you home with more than one mask...but most won't.