New to Forums quick question

[bryanftc]

Hello! I have been lurking the forums the last few weeks while I have been going through the process of getting prescribed a cpap. I have a question regarding usual procedure after a sleep study is done.

Last week I did a split night sleep study, the next morning they said the Doctor would be contacting me in a week. Today I get a phone call not from my doctor but from a lady I have not met yet saying that I do have sleep apnea and the doctor suggested I get a cpap machine. She than went over the options of either going through them or a national company. I'm siding with a national company because I will be moving from my current location to another part of the country. She offered to call some national vendors for me to see what they can do, which seems very nice of her.

One thing that disturbs me though is not one person has discussed the results of the sleep study with me. Why would I get a sleep study done with zero followup. I could have told someone that I have sleep apnea, I have known this for years. Do they usually not do a folllowup with the doctor after the sleep study? Thanks! and any suggestions help would be appreciated.

[Janknitz]

Unforutnately, this is all too common. You will have a followup in about 1 month after you receive your equipment, because the DME cannot get paid unless you have a follow-up with your doctor. But your sleep doctor called in this prescription to the DME without even going over it with you, that tells you how much concern your doctor has for your care (very little, IMHO).

And, you are in GRAVE DANGER of being taken advantage of. The "lady" who called you represents a DME (Durable Medical Equipment provider). Be sure you take a look at my blog post below "What you need to know BEFORE you meet your DME before you talk to ANY DME. You will need to contact your doctor's office to get a copy of the prescription for CPAP in your hands, and then my blog will help you decide what to do next:
1. Contact your insurer to make sure you understand your coverage for CPAP and how it works.
2. Research machines to decide what you want.
3. Check to see if the prescription will work to get the machine you want, if not, call your doctor and ask for the prescription to be changed.
4. Then research DME's to find one who will provide the machine you want, on your insurance, without hassle and who has a good mask policy.

I know this is probably all greek to you, but will make sense after you read my blog and read more posts here.

[Tino2You]

I would call the sleep center you went to and ask (demand) the results of your study. Some people in this forum would demand the full study (all the data as well as the summary. Personally, I only asked for the analysis but then going into the study I knew I stopped breathing at night because my wife would nudge me to get me going again.

You mention a nationwide company. Is that your Durable Medical Equipment (DME). There are a number of them. If you search on DME in here you'll get thousands of hits. Be very careful dealing with them. They make their money from the margins on the equipment. The most heinous of their tactics is to supply you with the least cost machine. These machines will provide the prescribed pressure but will only report hours in use. In the course of everyone's therapy there will come a time when changes have to be made and if your equipment does not record that data, you will have to go into a sleep center again. Read the "where a newbie should start" blog. It is very informative. Know the difference between a brick and a full data machine BEFORE you commit to one.

Welcome to the fourm.
-tino

[bryanftc]

I would call the sleep center you went to and ask (demand) the results of your study. Some people in this forum would demand the full study (all the data as well as the summary. Personally, I only asked for the analysis but then going into the study I knew I stopped breathing at night because my wife would nudge me to get me going again.

You mention a nationwide company. Is that your Durable Medical Equipment (DME). There are a number of them. If you search on DME in here you'll get thousands of hits. Be very careful dealing with them. They make their money from the margins on the equipment. The most heinous of their tactics is to supply you with the least cost machine. These machines will provide the prescribed pressure but will only report hours in use. In the course of everyone's therapy there will come a time when changes have to be made and if your equipment does not record that data, you will have to go into a sleep center again. Read the "where a newbie should start" blog. It is very informative. Know the difference between a brick and a full data machine BEFORE you commit to one.

Welcome to the fourm.
-tino

The lady I talked too works for the sleep center where I had my study done. She just recently called me back after saying she was going to call national providers. After dealing with them she said it was probably best that I go through them. She didn't mention the machines name but said the total cost would be 800 dollars with everything and a two year warranty. I have an appointment to meet with them on Monday.

[Tino2You]

Here is a link to a very informative blog on the various machines. http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/

Also the machine is an important part of the package but the mask is the most difficult item to find. The masks are built for face types but every face is different. You will have to try on various masks to find one that fits, does not leak and works for you in your sleep style (side, front, back, toss and turner). Rule of thumb, it if hurts a little when trying it on, it will be worse in a week or more. Also, bleeding should never be part of the therapy. This is something you will be wearing every night for the rest of your life. It has to be comfortable enough for you to use it.

-tino

[ChicagoGranny]

I have an appointment to meet with them on Monday.

If you don't want to be terribly disappointed later on and maybe have to buy a second machine with your own funds, learn the difference between a "brick" and an efficacy-data-capable machine and make 100% sure you get the latter.

If I were getting a machine now it would be this one, https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/resme ... chine.html

Are you using insurance for the machine?

[JohnO]

Here is a link to a very informative blog on the various machines. http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/

Realize that if you your sleep center uses/sells the Respironics machines, the latest models are the 460 and the 560. Pretty much equivalent to the 450 and 550 as shown in the blog.

[bryanftc]

I have an appointment to meet with them on Monday.

If you don't want to be terribly disappointed later on and maybe have to buy a second machine with your own funds, learn the difference between a "brick" and an efficacy-data-capable machine and make 100% sure you get the latter.

If I were getting a machine now it would be this one, https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/resme ... chine.html

Are you using insurance for the machine?

Unfortunately I have no insurance.

The offer the sleep center made to me is the REMstar PRO with C-Flex DS4SOS with the Quattro Full Face mask for 800 dollars. I believe this comes with the humidifier. The only thing I'm confused on is if the auto version would be beneficial for the extra money?

[Lizistired]

If you have known for years, and are paying out of pocket, I would check your local craigslist or wait a few days and see if a good machine pops up here. They do quite often. Contact the nice woman at the sleep lab and request copies of your full report and condensed graphs from your study. Just tell them you will need a copy when you move. Trust me, you will be glad you got it. It is also good to have in YOUR hand when negotiating with a DME for a machine. Labs like to fax them to a DME and then you have no control.
It's like shopping for a car when yourbank has already sent the check to the car dealer.

[Xney]

You may want to get the machine on your own if you're paying out of pocket. Compare to the prices your DME is offering. A good DME will give you support on your machine - that may be a different worth some bucks - but many of them suck.

The mask is the hardest part to find. If your DME will let you trade in your mask after 30 days (or 'return' it for another one), you may want to go through them to find the right one. Sometimes you have to try a bunch. Since you don't have insurance, be sure to clarify how this works in terms of paying out of pocket with masks and trying them on.

Some people get lucky and the first mask fits great - not all do.

Did you use a Quattro for your sleep study? How did it go?

[Tino2You]

Unfortunately I have no insurance.

The offer the sleep center made to me is the REMstar PRO with C-Flex DS4SOS with the Quattro Full Face mask for 800 dollars. I believe this comes with the humidifier. The only thing I'm confused on is if the auto version would be beneficial for the extra money?

If you look on CPAP.COM (our host's company) you can find the Rem the DS450AutoIQ for 399.00. You can get a top of the line mask for under 200. The machine has a two year manufacturers warranty.

Another choice would be to look at SecondWindCPAP.com they have used/reconditioned and sometimes new "leftover" machines. The two I looked at quickly was a DS450 for 399.00 and a DS560 (auto CPAP) for 639.00.

Auto CPAP machines can be set up as a straight CPAP (one pressure) or Auto (a lower and upper pressure). The benefit is that one doesn't always require the high pressure. In my case I need more pressure when I am sleeping on my back, but less when I am on my side. So on my side, my pressure is about 10 but on my back I need 16.

Both options will get you the same (or better) equipment for 800 or less. What you give up is the personal service that a DME will/should provide. HOWEVER most are in business to improve their balance sheet and really do not provide much in the way of service. In my humble opinion.

FIRST...get your prescription and your sleep study in your hands....then you can plan. Since you are funding this yourself, you get to pick out your equipment and not have to "justify" it to an insurance company. PM me if you like or reply in the forum. Either way, you need to get involved with your therapy as again IMHO the medical community is oftentimes at a loss with respect to OSA.

Take care....
-tino

[ChicagoGranny]

The offer the sleep center made to me is the REMstar PRO with C-Flex DS4SOS with the Quattro Full Face mask for 800 dollars. I believe this comes with the humidifier.

If I were in your shoes I would go to this website, http://www.secondwindcpap.com/Used_CPAP.html

and buy one of these machines,

Gently Used ResMed S9 AutoSet with EPR and Heated Humidifier - $549

or

New, Factory Sealed ResMed S9 AutoSet with EPR and Heated Humidifier - $799

SecondwindCPAP is a reliable, honest company.

Then you still have to find a mask which can be expensive. I see our host sells the Quattro for $176. See https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... dgear.html .

[archangle]

The offer the sleep center made to me is the REMstar PRO with C-Flex DS4SOS with the Quattro Full Face mask for 800 dollars. I believe this comes with the humidifier. The only thing I'm confused on is if the auto version would be beneficial for the extra money?

If that's the DS450S, it's an excellent manual CPAP machine. If it's REALLY $800 for the whole package, that's a reasonable price for a local DME who will meet with you to setup and solve problems.

The auto machine will do everything the PRO machine will, plus some additional features. If the price isn't that much higher, I'd get the Auto machine and set it to manual mode to start from. Either a Philips Respironics REMstar Auto or ResMed S9 AutoSet (Not Escape Auto) are fine machines.

With any of these 3 machines, we can tell you how to monitor your own therapy, and if necessary, change your own pressure.

Good luck.

[Sheriff Buford]

My primary care doctor prescribed my sleep study at the hospital. The sleep center had a sleep doctor read my test results and the sleep study doctor recogmended a cpap machine. I initially got a Resmed S8 Escape... a great "brick". After educating myself here, I talked my primary care doctor into prescribing the S9 Autoset. My primary care doctor is clue-less about sleep apnea. He basically does what I request him to do... sleep apnea-wise. This is great for me because I get what I want. If I had a doctor that knew enough about sleep apnea to be dangerous, I doubt that I would ever be able to convince him to get what I want. This is a great situation for me, and I am so blessed that I found this sight and took charge of my therapy.

Sheriff

[ChicagoGranny]

My primary care doctor prescribed my sleep study at the hospital. The sleep center had a sleep doctor read my test results and the sleep study doctor recogmended a cpap machine. I initially got a Resmed S8 Escape... a great "brick". After educating myself here, I talked my primary care doctor into prescribing the S9 Autoset. My primary care doctor is clue-less about sleep apnea. He basically does what I request him to do... sleep apnea-wise. This is great for me because I get what I want. If I had a doctor that knew enough about sleep apnea to be dangerous, I doubt that I would ever be able to convince him to get what I want. This is a great situation for me, and I am so blessed that I found this sight and took charge of my therapy.

Sheriff