Motor Home experience and DME troubles

[rocketdork]

Almost a Blog post, but feel free to comment.

About a month ago, I took the motor home out to a Rocket launch. I have been using my xPAP machine in the motor home with an inverter since I got a machine last July. I've never really liked that as a solution, the inverter has a fan that is irritating. This was the second trip of the year in the motor home and I had the material to install a 12V outlet next to the bed, but not the time to install it prior to the trip. So, I was using the inverter again. After about 2 hours of sleep, the inverter low battery alarm went off...I tried several things to get the alarm to shut off, but nothing worked. I was forced to turn the machine off and attempt to sleep the rest of the night.

I've been 100% compliant with my xPAP following the first week of use. This is the first time I've tried to sleep without it. I did fall back to sleep very quickly, but slept fitfully. My own snoring woke me continuously. At 5am, I finally gave up on trying to sleep and got up to start my day. I immediately noticed how DRY and SORE my throat was. It almost felt as if it was bruised. The soreness persisted throughout the day and into the next. I was miserable for the entire day. If this was the way I felt prior to xPAP therapy, I am amazed that I was able to even accomplish ANYTHING. The following night, I discovered that the cigar lighter plug for the inverter was not tightly inserted into the socket...slept like a baby the second night.

While running the inverter, I haven't been able to run the humidifier and have just had it in pass over mode. I find that I wake up during the night to get a drink of water to wet my throat. In the morning, I find myself drinking a 16 oz bottle of water as quickly as I can to quench my thirst, even before my morning coffee.

This past weekend, I took the motor home out again, this time I had installed the 12V outlet next to the bed. Just as an experiment, I ran the humidifier on my normal setting (2) for the night. I figured if the machine shut off due to low voltage that I'd just have a shorter night of restful sleep. To my amazement, I woke in the morning at my normal time (around 6), when I checked the batteries in the coach, the were still above 11V. This is on a night where the outside temp was in the mid-30's and the heater in the coach was running. I'm very pleased with the "modification". In the two nights that I've slept in the motor home with 12V use, I've notice no difference in the performance of the machine.

On another note, I've been struggling with the DME about the billing for my machine. I borrowed a friends machine in July after my sleep study and purchased my own from the DME in mid-November. At the time I picked up the machine, I informed the DME that I intended this to be a purchase, and that I wouldn't accept any rental period. They checked with the insurance company, and said that was ok.

At the end of the year, the company I work for changed insurance administrators (we are self insured). I received my FIRST correspondence from the DME, actually, the first contact, in late Feb. in the form of a bill for the full amount of the machine. I went to their office to find out what was happening.

They had submitted the bill twice. The first time to the wrong company...naturally, it was declined. I guess they looked the paper work, learned to read and submitted the bill to the correct company who declined it because we had changed companies at the end of the year, and the date on the invoice for some unknown reason was Jan 9, 2009. I told them I picked the machine up in Nov. and they should correct the date on the invoice and resubmit.

Fast forward to last week. I got another bill for the full amount again. I stopped by the DME's office again. This time, they informed me that the Purchase had been converted to a rental. I believe they had received 2 months rental from the insurance company and the third month fell after we had switch administrators. Therefore, the purchase of the machine had been declined.

I patiently (then not so patiently) explained that I intended to PURCHASE the machine in November, that I had never requested a rental of any kind and that I wasn't willing to ever rent the machine. The cost to me would be substantially more that a straight purchase. After 15 minutes of discussion, they finally called the insurance company and converted it back to a purchase. They still have to work out the details of how to back out the rental costs, etc. I informed them that I would only pay for the purchase of the machine and that if I were forced into a rental of any kind, I would return the machine to them in its current state, and purchase from another DME. Additionally, I would file a report with the BBB and appropriate regulatory agencies.

We'll see how things actually work out.

[Julie]

Hi, I can't comment on the whole motor home/rental/inverter thing, but will mention something else. You're using a nasal mask, but the fact you had a dry throat tells me it's quite likely your mouth falls open when you sleep and that means not only would you get 'dry', but that all the good Pap air is lost that way. You need to look into it (so many of us have) by looking at 'full face' masks, which basically are just extended nasal ones that also cover your mouth, so it won't matter if it's open (also handy if you have a cold). Some people use particular kinds of tape to keep their mouths closed overnight (you can find threads on it via Search here) or use 'chin straps' but those aren't always very effective. Popular masks would be the Ultramirage, Quattro, etc. (look on the Cpap.com site under FF masks).

[rocketdork]

I'm aware that mouth breathing would cause a dry mouth, however, this is when I am not using my normal humidifier setting. My throat is dry, not my mouth. I have encore pro and a card reader...my leak rate is well within the norm for the mask I have.