CPAP Supply Costs

ChicagoGranny wrote:

tazmania wrote:tazmania

My personal favorite to purchase at this time is ResMed's current top-of-the-line model - https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... idair.html

while the autoset is quite good, the autoset for her has more features.. which would seem to make the autoset the penultimate single pressure model in the resmed line.

of course, the aircurve10 vauto would be superior to that in some people's minds.

palerider wrote:the autoset for her has more features

+1

palerider wrote:single pressure model

Explain. I'm slow again today.

"Single pressure", as the class including cpaps and apaps, but not bilevel.
Just terminology. Science patois.

I wonder if your doctor even has a card reader for your machine.
If he does you should ask him for a print out of your history including several daily detail sessions.
If he doesn't, he has no idea whether your therapy is working or not.
Every thing that has been discussed here is like trying to drive your car with a blindfold on. No one has any idea if your machine is doing you any good or if your mouth is open loosing all your therapy.
We also do not know if you have insurance that will pay for anything going forward.

You may need an in lab sleep study to determine the best machine going forward. But if you were to buy an S9 Autoset for under $500 that might cost about the same as a sleep test and it can tell you if it is the right machine or not. If it works for you, you are done and happy. If not you can still get the sleep test and a fancier machine and resell the S9 to recoup part of your money.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

palerider wrote:the autoset for her has more features

+1

palerider wrote:single pressure model

Explain. I'm slow again today.

while I figure you know this, and are just being subtly snarky, I'll explain for others that might not know.

PAP machines are broadly divided into two camps.
First, machines that provide a single pressure, (whether it stays constant all night long, a basic CPAP model, (Resmed Elite) or varies slowly up and down as your needs vary, the Auto CPAP (Resmed AutoSet), these are loosely referred to as "CPAPS"

Second, machines that provide a higher pressure during the inhale phase of each breath and a lower pressure during the exhale phase of each breath. These machines are called "BiLevel" machines, Respironics trademarked the name "BiPAP" for theirs, Resmed uses the terms "VPAP" for the S9 line, and AirCurve" for the new Air10 line. these machines come in constant pressure models (VPAP S/Aircurve S/bipap pro) which follow your breathing pattern and spontaneously switch from low to high pressure and back as you breath) as well as auto adjusting ones (VPAP Auto/Aircurve Vauto/bipap auto) that, like the auto cpaps above, will respond to your varying needs during the night and raise or lower the pressures.

even more advanced bilevel machines are available that will monitor, breath by breath, your needs and react nearly instantly, whereas auto cpaps and auto bilevels react over a period of minutes. These machines are known as ASV. (VPAP Adapt/Aircurve10 ASV/bipap autoSV).

there are even more specialized machines that are for even less common needs, they and the ASV machines are in a class called "non-invasive ventilators" because they, unlike CPAPS and plain bilevel machines, will actually breath for you when needed.

because of all of these more complicated, more expensive, more specialized machines, it hardly seems appropriate to call the Autoset, while it is an excellent machine, the 'top of the line'.

Thanks to everyone for all of their opinions and knowledge transfer.

ChicagoGranny, thank you for the information regarding chin straps and collars.

Is the reason chin straps don't work exclusive to the interference with a FFM? I use nasal pillows and the strap I used temporarily didn't interfere. It simply just didn't keep my jaw shut no matter how tight I tried to get it. It was never restrictive enough to stop my jaw from dropping.

I will give your recommendation of a collar consideration. Guess it doesn't really matter if I pick a strap or collar I'm going to probably need one or the other so I might as well pick the one that is going to be most effective.

Postby bwexler on Tue Feb 23, 2016 6:25 pm

I wonder if your doctor even has a card reader for your machine.
If he does you should ask him for a print out of your history including several daily detail sessions.
If he doesn't, he has no idea whether your therapy is working or not.
Every thing that has been discussed here is like trying to drive your car with a blindfold on. No one has any idea if your machine is doing you any good or if your mouth is open loosing all your therapy.
We also do not know if you have insurance that will pay for anything going forward.

You may need an in lab sleep study to determine the best machine going forward. But if you were to buy an S9 Autoset for under $500 that might cost about the same as a sleep test and it can tell you if it is the right machine or not. If it works for you, you are done and happy. If not you can still get the sleep test and a fancier machine and resell the S9 to recoup part of your money.

bwexler, yes the Dr was able to download my data. Him and I went over the numbers quite extensively and discussed the reasons why he thought the machine (albeit an older model) was working very well for me when I was using it. He showed me the entire printout of graphs and numbers/averages, etc. We were looking at the data from well over a year's worth of tracking. What was alarming to me was the graph that showed the number of days where I used the machine for more than 4 hours a night. Green being a yes, Red being a no. There was almost more red then there was green. While I wear the machine the data showed that I had very respectable numbers related to AHI, etc. (sorry weak on all of the terminology and numbers, I'm learning). The Dr's goal was to simply help me find ways to use the device longer each and every night.

I am going to go back to the Dr for a couple things. The history him and I looked over and a prescription so I have the option of picking from any machine I wish to purchase.

I am on a high deductible plan for health insurance and after doing some research I've found as part of this last visit I actually pay a LOT more for devices and supplies if I go through my insurance. The companies overcharge the insurance company in their billing, insurance reduces the actual costs and provides a portion of coverage. However the net result is a big loss for me. So I'm done doing that.

The Dr's recommendation for me was that if the changing of pressures on my current machine didn't work he would recommend I do another sleep study where they can determine what is the best option for me in a new machine. As of right now I think I'm going to avoid doing that. It would just mean a ton of expense just to get me to a position where I can monitor my own therapy.

My current plan is as I stated prior; to purchase a new machine where I can track my own stats, find a way to keep my yap shut so I don't mouth breathe, work at training my breathing to see if I can reduce the mouth breathing.

If that doesn't work I will be purchasing a FFM.

I am encouraged knowing CPAP works well for me, I have no issues falling asleep with it (no ramp), and that I have minimal leakage and minimal apnea incidents. I just need something to extend the amount of time I am asleep using the machine.

Meanwhile I'm packing up my Respironics for a golf trip with my buddies in Palm Springs.

tazmania wrote:I might as well pick the one that is going to be most effective.

You will never know until you try.

I recommend starting with a collar because, compared to a chinstrap, it is cheaper, easier (no adjustments) and it doesn't interfere with mask headgear.

Back from the golf trip. Had a blast. Didn't sleep well. My roommate has undiagnosed sleep apnea and his snoring and choking/growling during an apnea kept me awake a lot. I used some ear plugs to minimize the effects. So tempted to give him my machine. LOL.

Granny, I'll be purchasing that collar here shortly.

I thought I'd provide some stats I see from my CPAP display to see if anyone had any feedback. Being rather ignorant of some of these numbers and knowledge passed on would be extremely appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Here are two numbers I'm seeing:

System Leak 7 Day Avg 51.7 L/min (This 7 day number is higher than the 2nd Avg displayed for a longer period. Basically telling me the leak is getting worse? I'm using those P10 nasal pillows now which may be contributing to that?)
APN-Hyp index 7 Day AHI .4

Playing with my pressures has increased the number of hours using the machine from 4.25 to just slightly over 5 hours. Not enough but better.