Where is the relief???

[Pugsy]

So without any data we have to go back to the basics that we do know.

How many hours of sleep are you getting?
Are those hours of sleep fragmented with multiple wake ups? If so, approx how many and any idea why?
Do you take any medications of any kind? If so, what?
Any other health issues that could impact sleep quality or how you feel in general?

Some clues as to why you aren't feeling so good might be found in the answers to those questions.

[Pugsy]

What are all of your settings? Could you post some Sleepyhead reports? Maybe we could come up with some suggestions.

Den...she has a brick. Nothing useful available.

[Wulfman...]

So after checking, I do in fact have a pretty little white brick on my nightstand but honestly I'm ok with that. It's better than not having anything at all. The DME provider did not lie to me and sent myself and my doctor a legitimate copy of my compliance report and encouraged me to call back and get updated reports whenever I felt the need. If the dr who I trust, in turn trusts the provider then it's all good with me. Yes it would be great to see the data for myself but I'm no clinician so I'll leave that to the professionals. I was able to find the answer to my original question "where is the relief" by searching posts and reading about other people's experiences including Socal Guy. Thank you for trying to help me figure out my machine and the info about going in and changing my pressure (which I'm terrified to do). Have a good one!

I take that to mean you have a machine that collects no data....... (confirmed by Pugsy's post)
You should NOT be OK with that.
Nobody else is going to care as much about YOUR therapy as YOU will. There may come a time when you won't have those other "professionals" to rely on. Understanding these data reports isn't hard or "rocket science".
You need to get your DME to exchange your machine for one that IS data-capable. It doesn't HAVE to be an APAP to collect data. Even a straight pressure "Pro" model will do that.
"Compliance" isn't the total picture. You need to be able to see if your therapy is optimized......leaks and AHI minimized, etc.
This isn't THEIR therapy, it's YOURS. They're not the ones spending every night sleeping with it......YOU ARE.
The bottom line is that they put their profits ahead of your therapy. That's WRONG!
If your insurance is paying for this, they're going to pay the same amount for whichever CPAP you get. They pay by the insurance codes and for ANY CPAP, it's E0601.......from the lowest entry level to the highest-end APAP.

Get a good one. Get the software. You'll feel the difference sooner if you take control of your therapy.


Den

.

[Wulfman...]

What are all of your settings? Could you post some Sleepyhead reports? Maybe we could come up with some suggestions.

Den...she has a brick. Nothing useful available.

In that post, I was actually addressing SoCal Guy. But, thanks for confirming skittlesmcgee's machine.


Den

.

[Pugsy]

In that post, I was actually addressing SoCal Guy. But, thanks for confirming skittlesmcgee's machine.

Sorry...didn't realize you were talking to him...just saw both the quotes from the 2 people and forgot about SoCal.

[skittlesmcgee]

I called the DME provider and was told they provide the dreamstation brick that I have as well as the pro and auto and they are all the same price. He also told me though that since they already billed my insurance (medicaid) that I can't do an exchange of machines. He mentioned that I'd have to pay an upgrade fee and when I asked for details on that he put me on hold. When he came back on the phone he informed me that since I have VA medicaid they are unable to private bill me but that the supervisor would look into it and get back to me. So it's looking like I may in fact be stuck with my brick but thanks for the glimpse of hope.

[ChicagoGranny]

the supervisor would look into it and get back to me

I'm holding out hope for you.

It does sound like the DME understands the importance of a data-capable over a brick.

[Wulfman...]

I called the DME provider and was told they provide the dreamstation brick that I have as well as the pro and auto and they are all the same price. He also told me though that since they already billed my insurance (medicaid) that I can't do an exchange of machines. He mentioned that I'd have to pay an upgrade fee and when I asked for details on that he put me on hold. When he came back on the phone he informed me that since I have VA medicaid they are unable to private bill me but that the supervisor would look into it and get back to me. So it's looking like I may in fact be stuck with my brick but thanks for the glimpse of hope.

Since they pay the same amount for ANY CPAP machine, that sounds like a lie to me. (regarding that they already billed your insurance) But, I just noticed you have medicaid......so that may factor into this.......or maybe not.
I've also read where it's not legal for them to "up-charge" for other models.

Anyway, see what they have to say and how much difference it's going to be. If it's minimal, it may be worth it. It's also easy to find other lightly-used, fully data-capable machines for very affordable prices. Places like http://www.secondwindcpap.com

It's also been documented that people can optimize their therapy with "brick" machines, but it's a little more complicated.
You have to go more by "how you feel" when doing so.

Edit: Be sure to get a physical copy of your prescription. It may come in handy in the future.


Den

.

[linuxman]

What are all of your settings? Could you post some Sleepyhead reports? Maybe we could come up with some suggestions.

Den...she has a brick. Nothing useful available.

Pugs, so since they are getting AHI data (presumably) via the cell transmission is it possible that she would be able to turn on AHI display in the provider menu? It might just be turned off, like it was on my auto when I first got it.

[Pugsy]

Pugs, so since they are getting AHI data (presumably) via the cell transmission is it possible that she would be able to turn on AHI display in the provider menu? It might just be turned off, like it was on my auto when I first got it.

If it's a brick there's nothing to turn on. All that will show is hours of use but it won't hurt anything to make change in the setup menu to "Show AHI or whatever the DreamStation's wording is for that feature but it isn't going to make something show up that the machine doesn't gather.
The DME CAN'T have AHI from the model DSX200..AHI simply can't be got from something that doesn't gather it.
That's the only way it can be...that model doesn't gather/record/transmit AHI or leak...just hours of use is the ONLY data that particular model gathers. No matter how it is transmitted or shown...if it isn't gathered it can't be transmitted.

Nothing I have ever read about the model DSX200 points to it gathering/recording/reporting AHI. All it mentions is "compliance" and all compliance equals is hours of use.
It's been that way with all Respironics bare bones machines ever since they started producing them...and in my 8 years of using various Respironics models from the M series until now...none of the bare bones basic models gathered anything but hours of use.
It's always been that a model number in at least the 400s or higher has been needed to get anything but hours of use.

If that is the model she has (and apparently she has confirmed it) the DME doesn't have AHI available..period.... and either she misunderstood what they told her about AHI or they flat out lied.

If a machine doesn't gather the data or doesn't have the capability to gather the data...doesn't matter whether you turn that little feature on or not because nothing is there beyond hours of use to see. Can't make something up when there's nothing there in the first place.

[linuxman]

If that is the model she has (and apparently she has confirmed it) the DME doesn't have AHI available..period.... and either she misunderstood what they told her about AHI or they flat out lied.

Roger that. Very disappointing if they did in fact lie to her .

[OkyDoky]

The DreamStation Cpap Data Sheet states it has Basic AHI and Leak reporting. So No graphs or AHI breakdown. There is a setting to select whether or not the Apnea/Hypopnea index is displayed on the Patient Info screen. http://incenter.medical.philips.com/doc ... 3d11572476

[skittlesmcgee]

For the love of God! My dme provider is not lying to me! My cpap has a modem which transmits compliance data. Google dreamstation modem. No I can not view my data but my dme provider can.

[linuxman]

For the love of God! My dme provider is not lying to me! My cpap has a modem which transmits compliance data. Google dreamstation modem. No I can not view my data but my dme provider can.

That's fine..we just had a little disagreement about whether therapy results were/are included in those transmissions. I think based on the spec, as pointed to by OkyDoky, it should in fact have AHI available, and should be able to be displayed on the My Info area with a provider menu setting (assuming of course that it's not already displayed there..have you checked?).

[Wulfman...]

For the love of God! My dme provider is not lying to me! My cpap has a modem which transmits compliance data. Google dreamstation modem. No I can not view my data but my dme provider can.

Make sure they give you copies of the reports. If THEY can see "data", then they should be willing to share it with you.
And, "compliance data" is just "hours used" which you can see for yourself on the machine.


Den

.