Just need a night sleep

So I am looking for a company that will support me and take my insurance at the same time. I had one place and I feel like my needs are not being meet and I have had nothing but problems with them all the time . I went to find a second place asked all thes questions to find out two weeks later that they will not help me. I broke Down. I just want to find the right mask for me. Why is this so hard?

You need to contact your insurance company directly and get a list of the equipment providers in your area that they have a contract with (in network) and then interview each one to find one you are the most comfortable with.

Actually I think that finding the right mask is the most difficult part of this whole cpap experience.
What mask(s) have you tried?
What about it(them) did you have a problem with?

Pugsy wrote: Actually I think that finding the right mask is the most difficult part of this whole cpap experience.

Really?



Seriously?

Pugsy wrote: Actually I think that finding the right mask is the most difficult part of this whole cpap experience.

So true!!!

Bertha de Blues wrote:

Pugsy wrote: Actually I think that finding the right mask is the most difficult part of this whole cpap experience.

So true!!!

If only....

I'd have to agree with finding the right mask being the most difficult part of using and adjusting to CPAP treatment. It seems to be the one problem that every person faces at the beginning of treatment.

There are other problems that people can and do face with trying to get properly diagnosed, getting the treatment honed it to working its best, etc. But with actually using the machine, from what I've read over the years, having an issue with finding the right mask is what almost everyone deals with. So as frustrating as finding a good mask is, you are definitely not alone! I was throwing them across the room at 2:00 in the morning when I first started out because the stupid things wouldn't stop leaking. I can laugh now, but it sure wasn't funny then.

And finding a good DME provider can be equally as frustrating for many people, unfortunately. Pugsy has great advice to call your insurance company to find out what providers are in their network, and talk with each one until you find the best fit for you.

WearyOne wrote:I'd have to agree with finding the right mask being the most difficult part of using and adjusting to CPAP treatment. It seems to be the one problem that every person faces at the beginning of treatment.

Yikes, I'm starting to feel all alone here.

I researched ahead of time, chose my mask, picked it up with the machine, and no problem - with the mask anyway.

I never even tried another mask. They put me in a Nuance Pro for the titration study and that was an OK mask except for hose placement. I chose the best mask for my needs and have been told repeatedly there is nothing better *for me*.

Now if we want to get into ALL the other problems I have had....

Yep...it all starts with the right mask because if we aren't comfortable with the mask and it is annoying or painful or whatever we don't sleep well....and we gotta get the sleep first and foremost.

Obviously other things are also important and involved but they don't really matter much unless someone can actually get to sleep.

This is why I tell people to try as many masks as they can when starting out cpap therapy. Most DMEs have a time limit on mask swapping and I don't advocate burning up all that time limit trying to make a mask work when it doesn't seem to be working well. Try something else while you can and not have it cost an arm and a leg. You can always go back to a prior mask if it works out that one is indeed the best one for a person.

Once you find one that is "mostly okay" then you can start trying little tweaks to fix minor annoyances to make it better than "mostly okay".

I tried the Wisp once...lasted all of 90 minutes with it. Horrible sleep quality. Kept waking up over and over again because it caused nasal congestion from resting on my nasal bridge area. I thought for sure that I had used it most of the night though because of the number of wake ups pulling the damn thing off my nose so I could breathe. Come to find out (looked at the report) I only lasted 90 minutes before I swapped it out for my usual mask.
No way was I going to invest any more time or effort in trying to make that mask work for me. It got returned to the DME promptly and I just got my usual primary mask.

The only way to learn though is to try something. If we don't try we never know and we don't learn.
So I try lots of masks...mainly because I like trying new stuff and not because I am unhappy with current equipment.
Sometimes I learn that so and so mask isn't that bad at all...and sometimes all I learn is what a stupid mistake that mask was.
So I always learn something...might not be what I initially thought I would learn but I learned something.

MaxINTJ wrote:Yikes, I'm starting to feel all alone here.

I researched ahead of time, chose my mask, picked it up with the machine, and no problem - with the mask anyway.

I never even tried another mask. They put me in a Nuance Pro for the titration study and that was an OK mask except for hose placement. I chose the best mask for my needs and have been told repeatedly there is nothing better *for me*.

Now if we want to get into ALL the other problems I have had....

You are special.

For your preferences...you chose the best one that fits your preferences. No it isn't perfect but it was/is your best option.

Most people don't come into cpap therapy with the extra baggage that you brought with you. You are the exception...the outlier.

I have an idea that might help your issue with the venting but I need to test it on myself to make sure it isn't a fatal idea. More on that later.

Pugsy wrote:You are special.

I've been told that a lot throughout my life for some reason

Pugsy wrote:Most people don't come into cpap therapy with the extra baggage that you brought with you. You are the exception...the outlier.

Baggage? But I hate travelling....

Pugsy wrote:I have an idea that might help your issue with the venting but I need to test it on myself to make sure it isn't a fatal idea. More on that later.

But, but, but, if it's fatal, who will tell me if you die?

xxyzx wrote:your only problem is you

you are not special

just sleep on your back
problems solved

you dont want solutions
you want to do what you want to do and make it work even when it cant

I am not the problem at all, doctors are. If they would have just given me good sleeping pills I would have been getting sleep, I wouldn't have a CPAP, and my neck would not have been injured.

You just seem to think that everybody can change anything about themselves with a snap of their fingers. Sorry to inform you, but that just isn't true.

MaxINTJ wrote:

xxyzx wrote:your only problem is you

you are not special

just sleep on your back
problems solved

you dont want solutions
you want to do what you want to do and make it work even when it cant

I am not the problem at all, doctors are. If they would have just given me good sleeping pills I would have been getting sleep, I wouldn't have a CPAP, and my neck would not have been injured.

You just seem to think that everybody can change anything about themselves with a snap of their fingers. Sorry to inform you, but that just isn't true.

A piece of advice here, MaxINTJ - ignore xxyzx. He uses no filter in his comments and trying to argue or reason with him is futile. Don't waste your time or energy. Unless it entertains you - then go for it!

Seriously though - don't give him the satisfaction of responding to him.

Please stick to Becca's problem.
This is HER thread.

chunkyfrog wrote:Please stick to Becca's problem.
This is HER thread.

Yes! Apologies there, Becca.

xxyzx wrote:you can buy your own sleeping pills OTC if that was what you needed
you can buy some heavy duty pills on many street corners

OTC stuff doesn't work, and I prefer to keep my job and stay out jail, thank you very much.

xxyzx wrote:you did it to your neck by sleeping on your stomach for 30 years
it was not the cpaps fault it finally gave out

Proving it WASN'T CPAP would be very difficult.

I spent over 20,000 nights sleeping the way I wanted to and the way I was comfortable. Zero neck problems, zero neck injuries.

I spend 7 nights (0.00035 of the nights) with CPAP and end up with a neck injury.

In those 20,000 days I worked multiple different jobs, slept in all sorts of different places and positions, had falls, accidents, and generally lived life without neck issues. Coincidence? Yeah, it could be - with astronomical odds.

xxyzx wrote:i think most people can change if they want to
and smart people change when they have to
you dont want to change at all

Yeah, change for change's sake SUCKS, it always has - that's always been what the left wants - to be "progressive" just because. Nope, I'm definitely not one of them.

[quote="xxyzx"most people would find the pain you claim to have enough motivation to change immediately

so far you are stuck on stubborn and need to blame others for everything because you are 'special'[/quote]

Had you actually been paying attention, you would know that the acute pain I was having PREVENTED BACK SLEEPING. Not that I can sleep on my back anyway, but I tried every position possible to minimize the pain.

And the only person I blame is the doctor for wanting to find out why I couldn't sleep instead of just letting me sleep.

I'm the one who put the mask on and tried to follow doctor's orders....