Machine for Complex/Centra apnea?

Hello, I am new to the forum but not to apnea. my Respironics Bilevel AutoSV has got to be 8 years old. Time for a new one?
I have 50% complex/central apnea, hence the Bilevel SV requirement. Do I actually need the the Bilevel SV or will a modern auto machine cut it for me?
I guess I have a lack of trust in the medical establishment in steering me towards the most expensive option. The Bilevel SV option has come way down in price, retail on my existing machine was $8000. I suppose I should just trust my Doctor, but I think that I can influence what he writes on the prescription for my next machine.
What machine are you complex/central patients having success with?
Thanks for your help,
Bayard

AutoSV. That's exactly what it is for. The others do not attempt to correct central apneas.

Once you have your prescription, you can take it anywhere (e.g., cpap.com), and have it filled with the appropriate machine at a price point that you can research. While they aren't cheap, they aren't 8 grand anymore either.

Good luck

I have a couple of used machines :

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/hab/5032348413.html

or this one :

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/hab/5072789067.html

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/hab/5072755511.html

PM if interested

Do you mind saying how your central apnea was diagnosed? I'm a newbie and curious.

what is exactly 50% complex/central apnea, is it that half the time a plain CPAP would cause an obstructive apnea to become a central apnea?

The current Respironics machine is the BiPap AutoSV 960.
ResMed has a similar model in the S9 series and may already released one in their new series.

You can get one new 960 for less than $3,500 including heated humidifier and hose, I did.
The 950's become available from time to time at substantially less.

AVI123:

50%. Complex/central apnea likely means that half of his apnea events are centrals.

JDS74, a Resmed S9 VPAP Adapt SV is quite costly:

S9 VPAP™ Adapt is an adaptive servo-ventilator with a backup rate specifically designed to treat central sleep apnea (CSA) in all forms, including mixed sleep apnea, complex sleep apnea (CompSA) and periodic breathing such as Cheyne–Stokes respiration.

http://1800cpap.com/resmed-vpap-adapt-w ... AuMI8P8HAQ

AVI123: So does the Respironics 960. I can't speak to the going market price of the ResMed machine, just what I paid for my most recent 960, which was less than $3,500 last fall.

Bear in mind that what a DME lists for a price, and what an insurance company is willing to pay for a machine, are two very different things. That's why it's better, if you are going out of pocket, to use a supplier like cpap.com, secondwindcpap.com (hope I got that right), or trusted sellers on this forum, because they aren't going to charge higgledy piggledy prices.

I have the Respironics 960 ASV, and $3,500 sounds about right as the "official sticker price." You might not have to pay that much, however, if you shop smart.

so Bayard don't have much of a choice. It seems that the sophisticated Adapt ASV machines justify their prices and/or their market is limited. What's the prevalence of Complex Sleep Apnea syndrome? May be the market for these machines is small.

From this 2009 published study it seems that Complex Sleep Apnea was limited to 6.5% of those with OSA and even this was transitory and was almost eliminated after CPAP therapy.

http://www.aasmnet.org/jcsm/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=27486

Conclusions: In this large retrospective study of 1286 patients with a
diagnosis of OSA, 6.5% had CPAP-emergent or persistent CSA. However,
CPAP-emergent CSA was generally transitory and was eliminated
within 8 weeks after CPAP therapy. The prevalence of CPAP persistent
CSA was about 1.5%. Severity of OSA, a CAI of 5 or greater
per hour, and use of opioids were potential risk factors.

Centrals were the dominant problem for me. S9 VPAP Adapt reduced them to near zero and reduced AHI from average 14 to average 1.x It's not cheap but the results are dramatic. Best of luck.