Getting official medical help with osa and sp02 levels?

[palerider]

I already bought a airsense 10 already,

An airsense 10 what? there's four different models, three of which are very different.

works good however my dilemma is my dr doesn’t know I’m doing it

So? are you on his payroll? does he pay you well? Oh, no, wait, he works for you!

and I sort of feel like a criminal I guess.

Get over it.

Anyone have any advise on what to do in my situation? I Don’t know if it’s against the law to use cpap without your dr knowing

I've only been at this for a little over nine years, but I have YET to hear a SINGLE report of the CPAP Police busting down anybodies door at 6am and hauling them off. Not one.

Heck, I haven't even heard of 'em politely knocking on the door... "Excuse me, do you have a few minutes to talk about CPAP?" Oh, wait, that's the Mormons...

[palerider]

It is not against the law to use a CPAP machine without notifying your doctor. Many of the members of this forum have gone rogue and did the whole thing on their own without any doctor's help.

*Waves hand* I've never seen a doctor about cpap...

[palerider]

a real prescription for it so I can buy stuff on official websites now?

What do you think you need to buy from an "official website"?

I've gotten all my stuff off amazon and ebay.

[ravenous28]

It’s a year old airsense 10 autoset and it was given to me for free by a family member who already has another cpap.

So basic question still remains, how to I get myself to the point where I can somehow get this dr or any dr in the future to give me a prescription without having to go through the whole trial period all over again? Or being forced to now spend more money on additional sleep studies just to convince a dr that the device is working for me?

[ravenous28]

The only reason having a prescription would be nice is so I can buy a brand new one from a reputable company in the future once if this unit dies. Most places I see online want that, even for buying a cpap mask only...

[palerider]

Yeah but what should I do now that my Pcp is now basically saying if the mouthpiece fails for me then no I can’t retry cpap on

Why are you making such a big deal about it?

You've GOT a cpap.

The problem is getting this dr to agree

I think the problem is something else.

Get another doctor, if that'd be easier.

to that without having to go through an entire whole new expensive time consuming cpap trail at a lab setting just to prove it...plus now having to pay a specialist now to do this all over again. I feel like it’s excessive when all I want to do is tell him look I know my airsense 10 auto is working for me can you give me my prescription. Sadly I’m in a bind now because they have me marked as failing cpap and I’m screwed now from coming back or Atleast with this pcp.

I think you're making this into a much bigger deal than it is.

Just do what you've been advised to do here and quit overthinking it.

Yeah it’s fine now because I have the airsense 10 that was given to me from a family member but if it breaks on me it’s going to be hard for me to get a replacement without a proper prescription...

I've bought, or had bought for me, at least 10 cpaps. Without prescription. A Respironics M pro, Resmed Elite, PRS160 auto, VPAP Auto, (and two more for spares), VPAP Adapt (and two more for spares), and a VPAP Tx.

I feel like I’m stuck really..

Again, get over it.

What would you do in my situation?

I'd do what you've been told to do... get over it and follow the suggestions given to you here.

[palerider]

It’s a year old airsense 10 autoset and it was given to me for free by a family member who already has another cpap.

So basic question still remains, how to I get myself to the point where I can somehow get this dr or any dr in the future to give me a prescription without having to go through the whole trial period all over again? Or being forced to now spend more money on additional sleep studies just to convince a dr that the device is working for me?

You already have a prescription from your first machine. Get a copy of it.

Anybody who can write prescriptions can write a prescription for a cpap, your DENTIST can write a prescription for a cpap.

[palerider]

The only reason having a prescription would be nice is so I can buy a brand new one from a reputable company in the future once if this unit dies. Most places I see online want that, even for buying a cpap mask only...

Buy the parts and put your mask together. Mask parts don't require a prescription.

I'm really done with this subject though...

Anybody else wanna keep repeating the same thing over and over, I'm having trouble seeing from the blood running down my forehead from banging it against the wall.

[jimbud]

What Palerider said. All of it.

[ravenous28]

Yeah I didn’t know, I was only going by what my dr said to me about it when I suggested to him I would like to maybe come back to cpap.. you would think it wouldn’t be a big deal to say sure let’s out on on another trail with auto but instead he told me I need to see a sleep specialist to see what he says about it. I know it’s so stupid how the whole system seems locked down on the drs, insurance companies and dme. Your right I shouldn’t feel like I’m banned from using cpap but that’s the impression that I got from my dr when I asked him about the possibility of coming back giving cpap another try..

I certainly don’t want to spend any more money then I need too and I think your right I should request my prescription from him and find a new pcp and start over fresh. I know the whole thing is stupid

[palerider]

Yeah I didn’t know, I was only going by what my dr said to me about it when I suggested to him I would like to maybe come back to cpap.. you would think it wouldn’t be a big deal to say sure let’s out on on another trail with auto but instead he told me I need to see a sleep specialist to see what he says about it.

If all doctors were good doctors, we wouldn't be here. We'd all be happy and successful with our cpap, and all other, medical treatments.

but that’s the impression that I got from my dr

See above.

[ravenous28]

So really all I need to do is call my dr office and tell them I want a copy of my prescription from 2012 for my cpap and if shouldn’t be a problem... that’s all I was basically trying to figure out...

[bonjour]

Get a copy of your Sleep Study.
Put a book together of Sleepyhead daily charts that demonstrate your success. (a book means a lot of days, looking for volume)
Include in the book your initial failure (actually your duck's failure) to get past your Aerophagia followed by what you did and why it works! (Demonstrate your knowledge)

Assuming your current doctor was the doctor that initially prescribed the CPAP I can understand why he would not want to admit his failure with CPAP, and you certainly are not capable of succeeding where he failed.
Sorry, I'm afraid my sarcasm may be showing.

I think you may be better off finding a new doctor, but a qualifying question before you even see him/her is will you support an informed, proactive patient with his APAP via prescriptions and referrals when requested?

[Pugsy]

Phone call might work ....but I would send a registered letter if the phone call doesn't produce results...one of those letters where you get a notice that someone signed for it. That way they can't say "we never got it".

They are allowed to charge a "reasonable" fee for copying records but they can't deny you a copy of any and all records that you formally request.

[TropicalDiver]

While I am an educated patient, I still rely on a team of providers to provide me treatment (and I have a complex history -- enough to make the typical urgent care pretty nervous when I show up with a cold). If I can't have an open, honest, dialog with my docs I am seriously undermining my own treatment. In other words, time to find a new pcp.

A good pcp will help you problem solve, learn new issues, help coordinate care, and always keep your best interests at heart. No provider is obligated to do anything that they believe is contrary to your best interests. And there are many instances where they suggest you see a specialist -- that is not always a bad thing. I want someone who deals with whatever issue I am having frequently -- and will truly listen (and consider) my concerns and thoughts.

I cannot imagine either my PCP or my sleep doc declining to try CPAP just because it failed years ago. I can very much see them wanting to have a conversation about how/why it failed last time and working to solve those problems this time.

In the sleep arena, I tweak my own settings with the full knowledge of my sleep doc and their tech. While I don't think they exactly endorse it, they trust my judgement, appreciate my honesty, and don't exactly object either.