First time flying with CPAP

sheldons65 · Post by **sheldons65** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:20 pm

I've made several trips including international to South America with mine since getting it around the first part of May and so far all of the security folks are familiar with the devices. It has not been an issue.

I got the red light by customs in Peru for a more detailed look and they paid no attention to the CPAP.

ewl · Post by **ewl** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:15 am

tattooyu wrote:Do I need to take my prescription with me?
After asking twice, the sleep doctor's office said there is no real "prescription" they can fax me. I do have the report from the sleep doctor authorizing my CPAP.

Is this normal-- for there not to be a "real" prescription? I'm a newbie to this stuff (going on 3 weeks on cpap) and travel a fair amount, so asked the doctor's office for a prescription/medical necessity letter that I could carry with me. They seemed to have no idea what I was talking about, and I had to wait while the doctor scribbled a note on his Rx pad saying that I needed to carry a CPAP with me. He seems to have a very close relationship with the DME, so I don't think they even use "prescriptions". Which of course is a problem now if I wanted to buy one out-of-pocket online.

Is this common? That they don't know what you mean when you ask for your prescription??

plr66 · Post by **plr66** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 3:21 pm

ewl wrote:
tattooyu wrote:Do I need to take my prescription with me?
After asking twice, the sleep doctor's office said there is no real "prescription" they can fax me. I do have the report from the sleep doctor authorizing my CPAP.
Is this normal-- for there not to be a "real" prescription?

If by "real prescription" you mean a 4X5" Rx from a Rx pad, then yes it is normal to NOT have one of these scrips we usually get handed for a medication to be filled. The Rx is written by a sleep doctor in a typed summary on a full page, generally.

El Pap · Post by **El Pap** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 5:18 pm

plr66 wrote: If by "real prescription" you mean a 4X5" Rx from a Rx pad, then yes it is normal to NOT have one of these scrips we usually get handed for a medication to be filled. The Rx is written by a sleep doctor in a typed summary on a full page, generally.

Not in my experience. CPAP prescriptions from both my pulmonologist and PCP are on exactly the same Rx pad as the ones for my meds.

I got a typed summary from the MD who read my sleep studies, but that wasn't what I was given to give to the DME to order my machine or pressure change.

jdm2857 · Post by **jdm2857** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 5:23 pm

Same here. On the regular Rx pad.

plr66 · Post by **plr66** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 5:39 pm

El Pap wrote:
plr66 wrote: If by "real prescription" you mean a 4X5" Rx from a Rx pad, then yes it is normal to NOT have one of these scrips we usually get handed for a medication to be filled. The Rx is written by a sleep doctor in a typed summary on a full page, generally.
Not in my experience. CPAP prescriptions from both my pulmonologist and PCP are on exactly the same Rx pad as the ones for my meds.

I got a typed summary from the MD who read my sleep studies, but that wasn't what I was given to give to the DME to order my machine or pressure change.

Sorry. Yes, I am sure that with some DME's and some MD's a Rx pad prescription is standard procedure. But just to say that it is common for the sleep doc's summary/recommendation letter to be the Rx, and this was accepted by cpap.com, for one, as a supplier.

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:16 pm

ewl wrote:Is this common? That they don't know what you mean when you ask for your prescription??

They use this to deter people from asking - pretending no one has ever asked before. The DME will pretend you are the ONLY one who has trouble with the mask they gave you too. At least mine did.

Making you feel like no one else ever has any troubles - yea that IS common.

mattman · Post by **mattman** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 9:23 pm

ewl wrote:
tattooyu wrote: Is this common? That they don't know what you mean when you ask for your prescription??

It all depends. I'd say about half the doctors I know never use a regular Rx pad for DME-type orders and most likely wouldn't even know where to get one. If they work in a hospital then 90% of their orders are written on patient charts and are faxed around by social services. The other 10% are written on progress notes and faxed around by their office.

By far and away the most common type of CPAP/BiPAP order is a signed copy of a summary from a sleep study. Getting a pad Rx is exceedingly rare. I'd put it at 10 or less out of 100.

I carry a copy of the signed summary with that has a recommendation for CPAP at 13cm and the docs signature. It's legal and all you need.

So no, it's not at all uncommon. Just get a copy from your DME. It's easier.

mattman

jdm2857 · Post by **jdm2857** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 9:40 pm

mattman wrote: Just get a copy from your DME. It's easier.

With many DMEs, nothing is easy.

ewl · Post by **ewl** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 11:05 am

Wow, this is all very interesting. So if I can manage to get copies of my sleep studies and results from my sleep doctor, is it likely that something in there could serve as a "prescription" for purposes, say, of buying a mask on my own from cpap.com?

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