just a big thank you

want all of you to know how much i appreciate your helpin this forum, i have to print some as my short term memory is a little too short! i read several posts daily, and go over ones i have printed, my cpap newsi have been on loaner for 10 days,machine is a resmed spirit advantage, it has media card, docs. are trying to see why why my treatment is not working very good for me, if this auto machine is working better, and giving me some sleep, my children will give me the money to purchase an auto,i think my dme is trying to get me to purchase one from him,( med-res), but i wonder if i am free to purchase another one from cpap.com with my doctors new prescription, i would like to maybe get a respironics auto, my dme mentioned maybe a bilevel would work better , are they the same as a bipap?are they more expensive/my loaner will be picked up 12/4, then they will read data and results from mt oximeter study at home, cant wait to get this report, i will check in with you folks before i make a decision, i have been on cpap med-res for 17 mo. and still no sleep, i definitely need auto, and should have since starting treatment, thanks a bunch!sundance12

Hi, for one thing, you are completely free to buy your own machine (with the MD's script) from wherever you want - but run it by your insce. company first to make sure they'll cover it. You didn't say what pressure your machine is set at, or what mask you use - and they could have a lot more to do with how you're sleeping than the machine, cpap or not. Do you know your settings? What kind of mask do you have? Bilevel is what bipap gives you, but you would only need such a machine if your MD thought you did - it's not something you just 'choose' and it does cost quite a bit more. An Apap costs more than a Cpap, but you could use it in cpap mode if you wanted to, with the option of Apap, which you don't have with a straight Cpap machine, of course.

Julie wrote:Hi, for one thing, you are completely free to buy your own machine (with the MD's script) from wherever you want - but run it by your insce. company first to make sure they'll cover it.

Im a newbie and never did see a copy of my Rx. I have the reports from all of my sleep studies but i never thought about getting the script. Would the script have been issued by my referring physician or the doctor at the sleep lab who dictated the reports? I suppose i could get a copy from either the sleep lab or my DME right?

I wish i had found this place BEFORE. I thought i was an informed patient going into this but now i know i really wasnt. I must admit though that the whole process was pretty straightforward. My MD ordered the sleep tests ( had one last year but kept putting off treatment so i went back to him to re-order again)...i had the testing done this year in a different lab than last year...and this lab contacted the DME of my choice...all went very smoothly but i never did see any "paperwork" other than the sleeplab reports (which i asked for since i work at that hospital)