I need a travel cpap

Does anyone have a travel size cpap for sale? I no longer have a prescription so I can't buy a new one. My husband and I sometimes camp without power. I haven't found a battery for my Dream station that will last a whole night so I'm looking at smaller machines.

bluper@cableone.net wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 22, 2020 1:44 pm

Does anyone have a travel size cpap for sale? I no longer have a prescription so I can't buy a new one. My husband and I sometimes camp without power. I haven't found a battery for my Dream station that will last a whole night so I'm looking at smaller machines.

Current Travel CPAP Systems Starting at $279

https://www.secondwindcpap.com/

good luck!

and brace yourself. you are going to get a lot of negative info about travel cpaps.

ETA: oops. forgot secondwind needs a prescription to sell. would recommend as miss e advises.

You can get a prescription from any doctor, nurse practitioner, or even dentist. It's handy to have one, so you might inquire.

I haven't been to the sleep clinic in 15+ years. My primary care doctor writes me the scripts for masks/machines. It hasn't been a problem. I have a DreamStation that I use nightly and a ResMed AirMini that I used to use a lot for travel, but with COVID have used it very infrequently, used it about 3 weeks ago during a power outage.

Depending on how you are camping, I had found that my former ResMed S9 or S10 would work about 12-14 hours off my battery ( at a 17cm). The AirMini would certainly last three nights on the same battery no problem pack. I certainly appreciate the convenience/size of the AirMini and it is more power-friendly. I have used it on Boy Scout camping trips ( including one night in the high 20's ), multiple long international flights to Europe/India, and on short weekend trips to my parents. I'm glad I bought it but is more a luxury/convenience than anything else.

I'm sort of curious...
What constitutes a "Current Prescription" for a DME or online company to sell you a CPAP/BiPAP machine? My DME say's One year.

This is the kind of Gov't bureaucracy that ticks me off.

If someone was written a prescription, by someone with the authority to write a prescription for Sleep Apnea equipment, then that prescription should be good for life.

Getting a new CPAP or CPAP equipment from a DME is NOT the same as abusing medicine or pills with re-occurring trips to the pharmacy for a refill.

I was blown away when my DME told me my prescription needed to be renewed...just so they would provide me CPAP supplies such as hoses, filters, masks, etc...
Getting through to my PCM is a PITA to ask for a "renewal" script...then to go pick it up, etc...then to take a picture and send it into the DME, etc...just so some auditor can check a box somewhere and justify their existence.

It's not as though those with CPAP's will magically wake up one morning and be cured but will continue to insist on huffing on our CPAP's!

I wonder what DME's do for those using prosthetic devices for missing limbs? DME: "I'm sorry Mr. Jones, we can't sell you the latest prosthetic leg because your prescription is over a year old and according to our auditors, your leg may have grown back"

The medical-industrial complex is just as bad as a legal-industrial complex...it's all a self-serving, self-licking ice cream!

OP, sorry for the hijack - I hope you can get your dentist to "write you a script for a new CPAP device"

JLROhio wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 22, 2020 10:46 pm

What constitutes a "Current Prescription" for a DME or online company to sell you a CPAP/BiPAP machine? My DME say's One year.

This is the kind of Gov't bureaucracy that ticks me off.

If someone was written a prescription, by someone with the authority to write a prescription for Sleep Apnea equipment, then that prescription should be good for life.

Some docs do write a RX for life or actually they usually do 99 months which is code for life.
Some docs actually write the RX with an expiration date on it....so that you have to come back and see them and they get another office call payment.
Here's the real monkey wrench in the equations...some DMEs actually adopt an in house policy where they require you to have a "current" prescription and current means within last 12 months even if you have a "for life" RX. It's their own in house police they have decided to adopt and they can do that. It sucks but it is legal. If I ran across that with my DME...I would be voting with my feet and find another DME that didn't do that. It's not really the government...it's either the doctors or the DMEs. In some cases it is the insurance company but in most situations...it's the doctor or the DME making up their own policy. I have Medicare...my RX says 99 months and I got it in May 2009. I haven't been back to the sleep doctor since August of 2009. I have never been asked for a new "current" RX...and if I had been then I would be shopping for a new DME. Medicare doesn't require it despite a lot of DMEs saying Medicare does. They just decided to have their own in house policy which is legal. It stinks but it is legal. They won't be honest about it though...they will blame your insurance or the doctor or something like that.

Now if the doctor did write it with an expiration date....legitimate gripe but that's the doctor doing that.

Now it might be the person's insurance company. I saw a notice about such a requirement in my DME's office. I forget the name of the company but when in doubt...always verify with the insurance company and don't ever rely on what the DME office staff tells you.

Thanks all. I've asked my primary care Dr. To write me a prescription. She has no idea how to write one for a cpap. She is trying to get my script out of the sleep Dr. That dropped me because I didn't appreciate what he did for me.

bluper@cableone.net wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:47 pm

Thanks all. I've asked my primary care Dr. To write me a prescription. She has no idea how to write one for a cpap. She is trying to get my script out of the sleep Dr. That dropped me because I didn't appreciate what he did for me.

If you still happen to have a copy of your old RX, maybe you could provide that copy as a template for your Primary Care Doc to write a RX

That should at least work for the online retailers.

I never even saw my prescription let alone received a copy. I never saw my sleep lab report either. My Dr. Kept it all very hush, hush.

bluper@cableone.net wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:42 pm

I never even saw my prescription let alone received a copy. I never saw my sleep lab report either. My Dr. Kept it all very hush, hush.

if you are still able to get in touch with that doctor, you should do so. under law(in the united states), you have the right to that sleep study and, i believe, the prescription as well.

good luck!

My prescription looks like this.

Order
CPAP Machine OrderID:XXXXXX

Diagnosis
Obstructive sleep apnea of adult ( G47.33 )

Details
Comments: Pt using Quattro full face mask and heated humidification
Mode: CPAP
Set pressure ( in CM WATER ): 17 CM H2O
Heated humidifier with water chamber: yes
Tubing: Heating
Mask Fit to Comfort

Signed: xxxxxxx

bluper@cableone.net wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 22, 2020 1:44 pm

Does anyone have a travel size cpap for sale? I no longer have a prescription so I can't buy a new one. My husband and I sometimes camp without power. I haven't found a battery for my Dream station that will last a whole night so I'm looking at smaller machines.

I prefer to travel with the cpap I use daily. Then I need to get supplies for only one thing and they are covered by insurance. In your case, wanting battery powered cpap you might want to consider a 12V adapter your daily cpap for use on battery, not only for camping but so you can use it if/when the power goes out as it seems to do at the most inconvenient times. If you search this forum for battery backup there is some good reading one I recall talked about using an auto jump starter battery which should be portable enough to camp with. You could re-charge it using your car. If needed get two, so one could charge while using the other.

Keeping in mind the travel cpaps I know about don't come with the bells and whistles like auto, ramp, SD card, etc. But the biggie for most is the lack of a humidifier.