How long did it take you to get CPAP?

I'm wondering how long it has taken CPAP users to get established from the first time their primary care physician suggests a sleep study to having a properly working system.
My doctor suggested a sleep study on June 12, 2009. It was scheduled for September 29, 2009. I received my first CPAP equipment on November 12, 2009. I had my sleep titration study on January 3, 2010. I'm still waiting for an appointment with a sleep doctor to discuss the results of the sleep study. This will be my first talk with any professional. It seems to me to take an exceptionally to move this process on. Without this forum I probably would have given up, so thanks everyone for the helpful advice.

I don't remember specific dates, but I went from Primary care doc, to neurologist, to sleep doc, to PSG lab, to DME in about 2 months...maybe 10 weeks. It seemed like a lifetime considering my symptoms...but it was SOOOOO worth it!

Wow, they are really making you wait a long time!

I first saw my primary care doctor about my wife's observation of my sleep problems in mid November 2009. Sleep test scheduled for early December, followup with PCP 1 week later, titration sleep test 1 week after that. I received my CPAP machine on Dec. 23, 2009. I have to admit that I really pushed the schedule to get the therapy quickly and also to get the expenses counted in 2009 under my high-deductible policy.

That is TOO long! Had my sleep study appointment within a week following my doctor's referral, then had my CPAP machine in about another week. So, took only a couple of weeks.

My doctor suggested sleep study on October 27, 2008. Sleep study was scheduled for December 1, 2008. I got a letter from doctor of results on December 26, 2008, and asking me to make an appointment with him. I had that appointment on December 29, 2008. I then walked across the parking lot to DME, and came home with all my CPAP stuff.....and I started that night.

Not sure why it took so long between sleep study and the results, but somebody mentioned insurance...and I got the summary of claim letters for the sleep study on December 29th.... Though it let me go on my winter vacation without the worry until later (I canceled a trip in February because I hadn't worked out all the details of how I would take CPAP with me...along with other stressors...) I knew that xPAP was coming, because it was a split study...

Oh, I joined cpaptalk.com on December 28, 2008.

I hear the sleep lab here is more backed up now and they are running 3 beds a night (instead of 2, guess they uses the ADA bed whether they need to or not now).

The Dreamer.

I had quite the battle to get to where I am now. It started with my becoming suspicious that I may have OSA after discussing it with my brother in law who has OSA. I raised the issue with my cardiologist (I have paroxysmal atrial fibrillation) and requested a sleep study. He agreed and referred me to a sleep specialist and I was scheduled for a sleep study a couple of months out. I was unable to sleep during the study and the results came back after 5 weeks as inconclusive with no OSA detected. By then I pretty well knew I had the condition and insisted upon a second study. 2 more months passed till the second study. This time I took a sleeping pill. The follow-up consultation was scheduled for 4 weeks later so I put myself on the cancellation list and got an appointment after only a week. The second study showed moderate OSA (no surprise to me by then). By then it was the week before Christmas and I couldn't get an appointment with the DME to get a machine until after Christmas. Finally got my machine December 29th with a prescription for pressure between 5 and 8. My sleep doctor told me to use the machine for a couple of months until I was used to it, then return for the titration study Mar 1st. Till then, I was supposed to use it at any pressure between 5 and 8. Well, I really had no trouble getting used to the machine. I'm using a Swift mask and it's very comfortable. I quickly determined from the machine statistics that a pressure of 8 wasn't high enough and it wasn't doing anything for me but I was expected to use the machine till Mar 1 at this ineffective pressure level. I phoned my sleep doctor and told him I wanted the rx changed to allow me to use the machine at a higher pressure. He agreed and extended it to 10. After 2 weeks I realized that 10 still wasn't high enough and requested he raise it to 12. He agreed again. That brings us to now. Last night was my first really good night on this machine. The pressure is now at 10.6 and is finally getting into the zone where the machine is able to do it's job. The AHI for last night dropped like a rock from the previous night. The AI was at 0.6. More importantly, I felt really good this morning, better than I have felt in years after a night's sleep. It's a wonderful thing.

The whole process has been ploddingly slow and never would have moved, or even started at all, had I not pushed at every step of the way. The CPAP technology is amazing. Everything else about the medical system and associated processes, at least as it pertains to OSA, is bureaucratic, backed up and overloaded.

That said, I'm certainly happy with the way things are turning out. At this point, I believe my heart condition was caused by the sleep apnea. Who knows what else it did to me before finally being diagnosed and treated.

Grateful to my HMO for moving faster than some. From primary care doc to referral to having my APAP was about 5 weeks. Would've been faster if I'd been able to clear my calendar to take advantage of earlier appointments. But my HMO starts with in-home sleep studies and titrates at home using APAP, so it moves faster than getting into a sleep lab.

Six months seems like an eternity to wait!

Pam

pmcall57 wrote:Grateful to my HMO for moving faster than some. From primary care doc to referral to having my APAP was about 5 weeks. Would've been faster if I'd been able to clear my calendar to take advantage of earlier appointments. But my HMO starts with in-home sleep studies and titrates at home using APAP, so it moves faster than getting into a sleep lab.

Six months seems like an eternity to wait!

Pam

It seems that way to me too. If I hadn't been insistent I might still be waiting for the first study!

I had my first sleep study (split-night) on 10/4/07 and titration three weeks later, on 10/24/07. Got my machine on 11/6/07. So about a month, all told. (I pushed hard to get the diagnosis and the equipment ASAP.)

My initial sleep study was in 1993. I don't know how relevant my experience back then is to current practice, but this what happened.

I don't remember exactly how long I had to wait for a base-line sleep study after my regular doctor referred me to a sleep lab at a local hospital, but it wasn't long. My memory is that I only waited a day or two. I still have the multipage sleep study report. It shows titration was done seven days after my base-line study, that I met with a sleep doctor two days later, and that he prescribed CPAP equipment. I remember going directly from his office to the DME where I selected a mask and picked-up a CPAP machine. So, the time from initial referral to the start of treatment was less than two weeks.

21 days.

PCP - 10/6,
ENT - 10/9,
1st sleep study - 10/12,
titration study - 10/13,
DME brought equip to me - 10/27.

took me 2 months due to fighting my insurance and loosing but i got one reasonable for a limited income at secondwindcpap.com

I think it took about 2 months. From the time I saw my primary doctor in June to receiving equipment in August. The V.A. has been on the ball for me.

Mine took several months because I went though a sleep lab in 2008. I had to see the doctor first, wait for study appointment, etc. A friend just had this done with a home sleep test and it only took about 10 days! A testing device was sent by UPS the day the doctor ordered it, and the DME used an auto adjusting unit to set the pressure when the doctor got the results. I have heard this is the way things are moving with healthcare reform, cheaper for the insurance company and more being controlled by primary care docs.