Will medical pay for O2 monitor?

[Bigd]

Hello all
Has any one out there had any experience getting medical to pay for an O2 monitor? I seems to me that while what ever data you may get from the CPAP machine might be useful it is just a way of making a guess of what your Oxygen level is. I know my O2 level has gone up since starting CPAP therapy because I no longer wake up with a head ache. This brings me to another question. Many times if I feel like taking a nap I will start the machine, put on the mask and lay down. After a bit just laying there I find I am no longer sleepy. I am wondering if the better ventilation I am getting from the machine is correcting a low O2 level and that is why I am sleepy. Thank you every one for this forum. I no longer like I am in this alone.
Bigd

[Madalot]

I can only share my experience with this.

Even in my situation, my doctor said flat out that Medicare would NOT pay for a pulse ox monitor. Typical stupidity -- they'd rather keep paying for my DME to do the test than a one-time fee for me to buy my own, but whatever.

In the end, I bought myself one anyway. My doctor is actually very pleased that I have it and accepts results from it if I send them to her.

As far as your other question about sleepiness during the day, but feeling less sleepy after getting masked up -- interesting. Very interesting. I may have to give that a "test drive" myself and see if it does something for me, since I am plagued by daytime fatigue too.

Welcome to the forum!!

[Mr Bill]

I don't know about claiming it for insurance. But I claimed mine for my taxes. I figure the device I used to self diagnose my apnea falls in the category of medical equipment. Now that I have a DME, mine has a set of pulse oximeters that can be peroidically taken home for free to check progress. Guess I lucked out there. But I mostly use my own frequently to drive my own compliance. My numbers get bad immediately every time I take off my mask. Seeing is believing and it convinces me to try try try to increase mask time.

[Lizistired]

But I mostly use my own frequently to drive my own compliance. My numbers get bad immediately every time I take off my mask. Seeing is believing and it convinces me to try try try to increase mask time.

Exactly! Money well spent for me too.

[chunkyfrog]

My local gov't employee Payflex covered mine; and will reimburse me for a pedometer.
Sure wish it would cover the supplements my doc told me to take; without my asking him to write RX's for ALL of them.

[Uncle_Bob]

I used my health flexible spending account to buy mine.
Its a worthwhile investment to keep track of things.
Also its great to lend out to family and friends if you want to prove a point

[Pap]

Hi All

i need a wrist oximeter - can anybody recommend any at a reasonable price??

i need it to monitor my sat02 during exercising because of a disease i have called proteinosis which causes my saturation to fall with physical activity.

Just to satisfy my curiosity! Why do you guys monitor sat02? i've slept with CPAP for about 7 years now (the most wonderful machine ever invented by the way) but i have never used an oximeter in connection with this condition since i was diagnosed!

PS. sorry for my poor english - i'm from Denmark!

have a nice day

Flemming

[NightMonkey]

Assuming your lungs are healthy, an oximeter is a useless addition to your CPAP software. If your lungs are healthy and the machine is holding your airway open, your oxygen levels will be OK - you will not have oxygen desats.

There is a small cult on here that believes in oximeters and they convinced me to purchase one. After using it for a few weeks, I figured out it is worthless to me since I use the CPAP software and have healthy lungs. My oximeter is languishing longterm in a drawer.

If you ever have any doubt about oximetry, on the next visit ask your doctor for a study. The DMEs provide the equipment and study free of charge.

You are using the software with your CPAP aren't you?

[LinkC]

How much do you want for it? PM me...

[Pugsy]

Hi All

i need a wrist oximeter - can anybody recommend any at a reasonable price??

i need it to monitor my sat02 during exercising because of a disease i have called proteinosis which causes my saturation to fall with physical activity.

Just to satisfy my curiosity! Why do you guys monitor sat02? i've slept with CPAP for about 7 years now (the most wonderful machine ever invented by the way) but i have never used an oximeter in connection with this condition since i was diagnosed!

PS. sorry for my poor english - i'm from Denmark!

have a nice day

Flemming

Did you want one that records or just one to show on screen while exercising? Most people here (that have pulse oximeters) have the ones that record all night so they can see what happened while sleeping. Recording ones are more expensive and will utilize software to get the reports.

I never bothered with it so I am not much help. I was curious once and got DME to get order to use over night pulse ox and I didn't have any desats.

[HoseCrusher]

Flemming, Oximeters are not well suited to use while exercising. They have a hard time getting a good read while the hand and fingers are moving around.

They will work if you pause during exercise and slip your oximeter on to take a reading, or you can put it on after you finish your exercise.

I believe they have units that clip to your ear lobe. If you need to monitor during exercise, those units may give you better data.

[lars4life]

.

[mle_ii]

I am looking for an oximeter as well. Dr mentioned that my tiredness and other symptoms might be sleep apnea. I decided to hook up an audio recorder overnight and I can definitely hear that my sleep seems disturbed and at times I snore and then seem to gasp at times. But I'd like to give an oximeter a trial before getting a Dr appt since my insurance doesn't pay that well.

So it'd be great if it could record overnight and upload to my computer. USB would be best.

Thank you,
Mike

[Mr Bill]

Mike, I self diagnosed my sleep apnea using my pulse oximeter. I figured my health was worth the price. Plus, I was scared to sleep and once I got my oximeter I knew why. Mine was pricey at $234. You want a recording pulse oximeter and there seems to be one everyone like that runs $150 or less. I don't recall the name at the moment.

[Slinky]

Check out the ConTec CMS-50 models. Some are recording and some are not. You can usually get a recording ConTec and software for $100-$120 if you shop online for them. And I've read of some buying a recording oximeter w/software at Wal-Mart and Walgreen's for $100-$120.

I've got an interesting situation going on. I've been on PAP since Oct 06, switched to bi-level March 08. Last year for awhile I ran into aerophagia. Have done fine since until about a month ago when I started w/aerophagia again. Keep in mind I do have COPD so I'm not exactly "normal"

Anyway, I've slept the last 7 nights w/just 2L of 02 and no PAP. My 02 sats are consistently higher and a smoother graph line than w/PAP.

W/PAP my 02 sats are lower (but still above 90% of course) and the graph line erratic as all get out.

Go figger THAT one out!