Re: New member with questions

Can anyone provide me a link to how I can read my doctors records for a CPAP machine? I am going to have to go black market to get a machine, and need to be able to configure it. If my insurance company finds out, I will no longer be able to afford my monthly insurance premium. Also, any suggestions as to where I can obtain a machine without a new prescription. My last sleep study was in 2008. I tried a machine back then and returned it. I'm willing to give it a shot again, but not at the expense of losing my insurance all together.

Thank you.

I'm confused. If you have insurance, why not go back to the doctor, ask for a referral for a sleep study, and go from there? What am I missing?

Contact STLMark about a machine.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=90706&p=845561#p845561
Assuming your past diagnosis was plain jane OSA the 560 machine he has should be all you need.
Provider/clinical manuals for machines (whichever you buy) can be requested here via email
http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p ... tup-manual

If you stick with ResMed S9 full data machine or Respironics PR System One full data machines there is software available that is free and easy to use to monitor therapy.

Know your models though..not all machines will offer the data you are going to want or need.
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/
In the ResMed S9 models...avoid anything with "Escape" in the model name.
In the Respironics models....you want model number 450 or higher to have full efficacy data available.

If I use my insurance, the premium increases by $200.00 per month, bringing it to $350.00, just because of sleep apnea. I carry private insurance, as my employer doesn't provide it. That is why, I want to avoid using my insurance.

Thank you. That is very helpful information and is what I was looking for. I just needed a place to start. My previous machine, I tried (unsuccessfully), was a Resmed Tango with a heated humidifer. Maybe I will find something that works for me now. I'm getting older and I don't bounce back as easily as I once did, so those sleepless nights are catching up with me. Thank you again for giving me some helpful information.

My sleep study says, "Obstructive Sleep Apnea syndrome well controlled with CPAP at 8cm/H20 with heated humidity."

Pugsy wrote:Contact STLMark about a machine.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=90706&p=845561#p845561
Assuming your past diagnosis was plain jane OSA the 560 machine he has should be all you need.
Provider/clinical manuals for machines (whichever you buy) can be requested here via email
http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p ... tup-manual

If you stick with ResMed S9 full data machine or Respironics PR System One full data machines there is software available that is free and easy to use to monitor therapy.

Know your models though..not all machines will offer the data you are going to want or need.
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/
In the ResMed S9 models...avoid anything with "Escape" in the model name.
In the Respironics models....you want model number 450 or higher to have full efficacy data available.

Spitfire, if you can hang on until January 2014, your insurer will no longer be able to raise your premium based on your health condition under the Affordable Care Act. It's worth hanging in there for a few months as the year is winding down.

As a matter of fact, it's probably too late for your insurer to raise any premium that will begin next year based on your health status now. So you may not even have to wait.

Spitfire, I highly recommend you get with a professional advisor in regards to your insurance, what coverage you currently have, and what your options are when Obamacare kicks in. There are a lot of changes in the works that will affect primarily the lower cost plans of those who are self insured, and the high end plans referred to as Cadillac plans. Many of the lower coverage plans will have to either go away, or increase coverage, which in most cases is going to unfortunately increase costs of the plans. Depending on your income, you may or may not be eligible for some financial assistance. Finding out what the future holds for you in regards to insurance may significantly alter your options in regards to how to go forward with treating your sleep apnea.

States are setting up advisory services to help the public get through the transition process, so if you look around at what's available in your area I'm sure you can get some good advise. Unfortunately, half of the information floating around right now is just a guess, which makes sorting it all out tough.

Thank you to everyone who replied and offered suggestions. I finally decided on a machine, found a doctor that was willing to work with me, without using my insurance. I ended up with a ResMed Auto-set S9 with heated humidifier and a ResMed Swift FX Nano mask. The machine seems great and I can tell that my quality of sleep is better if I use it. I can fall asleep easily but I am having trouble staying asleep. Around hour 3 or 4, I wake up. I can go back to sleep, but my stress level and expectations, hinder that process. Sometimes, I can't stand having the mask on my face either. I should mention that I am slightly claustrophobic, so I have that working against me. My doctor seems happy with my readings and tells me to stick with it. I have expressed my concern about waking up, but he didn't seem to have any suggestions for me. The only time I haven't awakened is when I took an Ambien. That was only a test for me to see if I could go a whole night with the machine. Unfortunately, instead of feeling wonderful the next day, I had an Ambien hangover In an effort to address the waking issues, my doctor said I should stay up later. I have, and I'm still waking up. I told my husband, I'm tired of chasing sleep. Could this be CPAP induced insomnia? Any suggestions?

I've been using CPAP since September 25. I have not used the machine approximately 4 times since having it.

In addition to addressing my sleep issues, I also found out I have hypothyroidism and low testosterone. If there is a silver lining, I was addressing my sleep issues before finding out about the other issues. I would have been really upset if I had managed to get 8 hours on my machine for a week and still felt like my knuckles were dragging the ground!

I understand there are ways to access the data on my machine, and change settings. I have access to a website from ResMed, but it seems very generic and basic. I don't see the settings on my machine. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks everyone

Download and read this pdf copy of the provider manual
http://www.apneuvereniging.nl/forum/pdf ... manual.pdf

There are some additional instructions with pictures if you need more clarification..there's a video at the bottom of the page too.
http://www.apneaboard.com/resmed-s9-cpap-setup

There is some data on the machine's LCD screen. You must have Sleep Quality set to ON (default is usage) and have patient set to allow access. All this is explained in the manual.

Check out my signature line for information on software that you can use to see even more detailed data that the machine gathers which isn't available on the LCD screen.

Sleep maintenance insomnia...trouble staying asleep or getting back to sleep...can have many causes and not all of them are tied to sleep apnea or the machine but the first thing to look at is the software reports to see if there is anything there screaming "fix me and you will sleep better". Start with the obvious first and then keep looking if the obvious doesn't yield any answers.

I didn't know females could have low Testosterone.

herefishy

Yes, I didn't know women could have low testosterone either until I had my blood work done, recently. Turns out the older you get, it leaves the body. Also, if you are using oral contraception, that zaps your testosterone too.

I mentioned that I was waking up while using the machine, well last night my husband told me that my mouth was opening a little bit, and then I woke up. I have breathing through my nose since I was 18, after having my tonsils, adnoids, and turbinate surgery. Up until that point, I was a mouth breather, because I had no choice. Other than another mask, or a chin strap, are there any other things I should look for. Honestly, I hate this. I hate chasing sleep, it's all consuming. Has anyone had any experience with dental devices? If so, I may have an excellent Res Med machine available soon.

Thanks!