Need Help A bit apprehensive

[Mark649]

Hi
Name is Mark had a sleep study a few weeks ago and failed with flying colors. Diagnosed as severe sleep apnea. Scheduled for titration later in June a bit apprehensive. Any thoughts cant seem to get this off my mind. Cant imagine sleeping with a mask. Yikes

Can someone advise

[Slinky]

Well, when you consider the alternatives to NOT treating your sleep apnea ...

Hey, we CAN do what we gotta do. Finding THE right mask can be a challenge, but, really, CPAP therapy can be such a blessing if you want it to work for you.

You've got plenty of time before your titration study to ensure that things are done RIGHT.

There's plenty of good information under the Yellow Lightbulb and under the Red Ball w/the Question Mark at the top of this page. Including the proper way to fit a mask.

Take a trip over to cpap.com and check out the various CPAP machines. Never mind the prices. Resmed and Respironics have instituted MAP policies for online DME suppliers to bring them more in line w/the local DME supplier prices. Its the specifications and the available options with the various CPAPs that are what you should be learning about.

Call your insurance company and ask them what local DME CPAP suppliers they are contracted w/so you know which ones are w/"in network". Hopefully you will have the option of more than one. Some are MUCH better to work with than others and more reasonable on which xPAP they will supply and more lenient mask exchange policies than others.

Also ask about your DME benefits: copays, deductables, rental period before purchase, immediate outright purchase, etc. Keep in mind that insurances don't pay by brand and model, they pay by HCPCS code.

[bdp522]

The hardest part of the titration is relaxing! Try to NOT think about your breathing. Try to just relax and sleep.
I know I couldn't imagine getting this mask and machine to work for me...but I did. Now it's just part of my regular nightly routine and I don't give it a second thought.
The mask is the hardest part of this to get right. At the titration ask to try a few different masks. You can even call a few weeks ahead to ask them to have a few different ones for you to try. Not all sleep labs have a selection but it can't hurt to ask.
Like Slinky said...this is the time to do the research that will help you be successful. READ, READ, READ!!! And do come here to ask any questions that you might have. Someone is always gonna try to help!

Brenda

[trice54]

Welcome, Mark...yeah the news that you have sleep apnea and need to go on cpap does tend to floor you, doesn;t it?? BUT...as mentioned already, the alternative is not too pretty, either! It might take some trial and error with the masks but once you get it right, you will probably swear BY it, not AT it! This is the place to come for answers and great advice..good luck!
Trice

[Guest]

Thanks very much I will be here until my study on June 25th and hopefully long after that U people are great and thanks MUCH

[Slinky]

Well, just keep asking questions here until your titration. THEN be sure to stop back in and let us know how your titration went and ask any further questions that come up.

Be sure to ask your sleep lab/doctor for a copy, not only of the doctor's dictated results (1-2 pages) but also the full scored data summary report w/condensed graphs (5+ pages). You might as well mention it to your sleep tech the night of your titration and also write it on the paperwork you will fill out that night. I did. I also told the tech and wrote a note on the paperwork that I would NOT ACCEPT ANY EQUIPMENT until the doctor and I could come to a MUTUAL AGREEMENT on what equipment would be ordered for me.

I wanted to make sure that I was provided w/a fully data capable xPAP, not just some bare-bone, compliance data only, xPAP.

As you are coming to that mutual agreement w/the doctor also ask that your equipment order state: "full face, nasal cushion, nasal pillows or hybrid mask of patient's choice" even if you tried and liked a specific mask during your titration. Be sure you know what mask/masks you did use during your titration as if you did well w/one you might want to start out w/that one from your local DME supplier or if you REALLY did badly w/one you will KNOW NOT to get that one.

[BarryKaraoke]

Cant imagine sleeping with a mask. Yikes

Hey Mark,

Honestly, it sounds worse than it really is. Remember the machine/mask is just pushing room AIR...all you have to do is relax and breathe it in. It isn't a struggle or somehow breathing for you.

Everyone is different but if you are like I was at my titration, you will be exhausted anyway and most likely sleep very well. I felt so good the next day I couldn't WAIT to get a machine of my own.

Good Luck!

[Sleeprider]

I'll suggest an alternative way to get equipment faster, and be sure its the best possible gear. Take your diagnosis to your primary physician and ask him/her to write the prescription for an "auto-CPAP with data recorder and heated humidifer". The APAP will self-titrate and you can share the data with the doctor to show the effectiveness of therapy and make changes to any settings...or not. Titration studies are pretty much unnecessary with an APAP and that saves a lot of time and money.

Its fairly easy to take control of this process if you just have the right tools and desire to learn to use the machines and work with the data they provide. This makes you a partner in treatment/ therapy rather than just a patient. Most doctors have very little knowledge of Apnea and the CPAPs and APAPs now available, and how the use of data can enable patients to use their equipment more effectively, and at far less cost than doing titration studies. If you wait to get your titration study, you will wait for the results to be produced and interpreted and directed back to your doctor, then you will wait for an appointment to get the prescription and wait again to see the DME. I'm suggesting a way you can get treatment this month, rather than waiting until August for relief.