6 month checkup

One of the sites I visited said you need to have your machine checked every 6 months to make sure the blower is working properly. For those who have bought their own machines, who do you take yours to or do they come to you and does the ins (i have anthem bc/bs) pay for these kinds of visits?Terry

Which site?
O.

Sorry Oz I'm not sure....I was surfing a lot last night and don't know....prob one of the sites that sells equipment (not cpap.com though). T

If someone uses the 420E and the silverlining software package we are able to check our ''own'' machines daily, change settings, print out reports, check ap's, pop's, etc. Is this the norm that we have machines checked? Just curious, I am coming up on 6 mos..wondering?

TerryFlower51 wrote:One of the sites I visited said you need to have your machine checked every 6 months to make sure the blower is working properly. For those who have bought their own machines, who do you take yours to or do they come to you and does the ins (i have anthem bc/bs) pay for these kinds of visits?Terry

I think that the check is verifying the pressure settings with a manometer.

I am requested to bring my machine to every appointment with the sleep doc (in the sleep center) and the RT checks the pressure. Any qualified RT should be able to perform the check.

Note: if you use a PB machine with a sensor line, you must bring the hose so that the machine will function. The PB auto's will not function if the sensor line is not plugged in (the sensor line is a small diameter tube running inside the main hose to get readings for the APAP at the mask). I had a blonde moment one appointment and didn't bring the hose -- DUH!

I hope that this helps!

Jane how often do you need to see the sleep doctor? I didn't even think about that part! Terry

Been on CPAP for 16 months - machine has never been checked and I got it through the DME. Sleep Center never wants me to bring the machine. After first year, see the doc once a year. They never ask for downloads either. What a joke!

Hi Terry,

Well, it's been a long strange journey...

I had my sleep study in early December. Finally got my machine in mid January. Decided my first sleep doc was an arrogant b*s#$%d. Spoke to the RT's in the sleep lab on my way out and got a recommendation for a good doc who would actually LISTEN to me. In the mean time I had a vacation in Hawaii and decided that I wanted an auto, so I got it from CPAP.COM and had it shipped to Hawaii & shipped my CPAP home.

When I saw the new doc -- in March -- he was very good, did a thorough exam, talked with me for a long time (probably an hour ) and set me up for an overnight pulse oximetry to verify that my oxygen desaturations were being addressed.

I have seen him 2 times since then. The good doc doesn't know much about my machine, or software, but seemed interested in the excel download that I had done and the tweaking of the data that I had done. The sleep lab uses ResMed, and they are more familiar with that line, but he seems willing to work with me, which is all that I can ask for. He also treats me as an intelligent, thinking person, not a stupid person to be dictated to from on high (the evil doc). Can you tell that I have very strong feelings about this??

I had an appointment recently that had to be rescheduled into July, so that is my next appointment. I think that he is still concerned about my desaturations -- they went very low during titration -- into the 50's or 60's as I recall (OSA induced memory loss ). I'm not sure if everyone has follow-ups that often or not.

I sure hope that this makes sense -- I'm very tired!

Good luck and keep reading and asking questions!