Prescription "without" onsite Sleep Study?

Is there anyone within Ontario that has successfully acquired a CPAP prescription WITHOUT going to a sleep clinic/sleep lab for a sleep apnea study?

I have heard of In-Home options that use either a CPAP auto unit or a portable system of sensors. I stumbled onto a website for a CPAP RX Package for $99 from Easybreathe, but that screams of being a scam/cash grab.

While I believe medical professionals have a strong value in society, like lawyers, I believe some aspect of the industry are overvalued beyond absurdity.

Yes, I understand that the Ontario Government pays a portion of a new CPAP machine every 5-years and that my insurance company will pay 80%. Thank goodness, because the industry is clearly overpricing these units substantially, but I'll be damned if I'm forced to undergo another on-site sleep study. There is no reason sleep apnea cannot be assessed from the comfort of ones home with less BS to stick all over your body. It's amazing they don't toss in some leaches, electroshock or perform a bloodletting for good measure... but I digress.

I live within the Greater Toronto Area in Canada. I've had two sleep studies in my life and in both instances (at two different clinics), it has been the worst few hours I've had to endure with the craziest nightmares.... So thanks, but no thanks!!!

There is no convincing me of ever returning for another sleep study. I have already spent the last 8+ years avoiding the second part of the study for prescribing the CPAP pressure. Yes, that's right, I am proudly self medicated. The default pressure that was prescribed was 6, but I found 16 to be comfortable for me.

I'm always amused by the reactions I get from industry professionals when this fact comes out, as if I'm popping pain medication or risking blowing my lungs from my chest. Ridiculous. Luckily there are good people in the world that give us the opportunity to hack the CPAP security and allow us to control our machine settings.

I have all the usual symptoms of sleep apnea, but what I found interesting and surprising at the time when I was diagnosed was that my airway closes and I stop breathing 63 times an hour.

My CPAP machine is over 5 years old and isn't functioning properly. There's a problem with the main system that's preventing my humidifier from turning on. It only beeps and flashes a light. The CPAP also randomly shuts off once or twice a night, turning back on automatically just after waking me up gasping for air.

Aside from that, the system works well enough, but I need to get a new one before this one decides to stop working - Thank you built-in obsolescence!

My efforts to bypass the sleep clinic process has been met with the same nonsense from every professional I've asked: Family Doctor -> Referral -> Sleep Clinic = Prescription. Industry brainwashing at its finest.

Sorry, this was not intended to be a rant, but my frustration did bleed out a little. In closing, I go back to my original question:

"Is there anyone within Ontario that has successfully acquired a CPAP prescription WITHOUT going to a sleep clinic/sleep lab for a sleep apnea study?" If so, please share the details.

Thank you.

InTouch28 wrote:Family Doctor

While drowning in your cynicism, did you think to ask this guy if he would write you a prescription that would be acceptable to whatever entities you want it to be acceptable to?

BTW, these people - http://www.easybreathe.com/Physician-Co ... p4117.html - are not a scam.

It's a nice, cheap service for people who need it and appreciate.

Don't know how it works in Canada.

Hang Fire wrote:BTW, these people - http://www.easybreathe.com/Physician-Co ... p4117.html - are not a scam.

It's a nice, cheap service for people who need it and appreciate.

Don't know how it works in Canada.

What a "rip off".....$99 to write a prescription. It's most likely already written and for $99 they will e-mail it to you.

LSAT wrote:

Hang Fire wrote:BTW, these people - http://www.easybreathe.com/Physician-Co ... p4117.html - are not a scam.

It's a nice, cheap service for people who need it and appreciate.

Don't know how it works in Canada.

What a "rip off".....$99 to write a prescription. It's most likely already written and for $99 they will e-mail it to you.

offer up a cheaper alternative.

LSAT wrote:What a "rip off".....$99 to write a prescription. It's most likely already written and for $99 they will e-mail it to you.

LSAT wrote: It's most likely already written and for $99 they will e-mail it to you.

$1 for the girl to scan and email and $98 for the psychic who knew what name to put on the script.

Don't have answer for you but hope the rant helped. My doc, a family doc who specializes in diabetes said today that he would happily write scripts for supplies, but not a machine because he doesn't really have enough training in pulmonology. That's why he sends everybody needing a cpap to a sleep doctor. My brother's doc, an internist, had no hesitation to write a script because pulmonology is actually a subspecialty of internal medicine. He can read all the stuff and gets it. YMMV depending on who you talk to. So maybe you just need a different doctor.