Newby Here

First of all I want to say thanks for all the great advice. I am a physician and my husband has used CPAP for years and have recently realized how little I know about it.

My husband made me go to the Sleep Doctor because I had started sleep talking, moaning and groaning (he said I sounded like a porn star) all night. It was waking him up all night and when we were visiting my parents I kept them awake and I was sleeping two rooms away. I also have major daytime sleepiness and fell asleep in meeting all the time. (not so professional). At least I never fell asleep when I was with a patient...just yawned a lot. Anyway had the diagnostic sleep study thinking they were going to find nothing because I wasn't snoring, but lo and behold, I had over 30 AHI. Fortunately I was able to get back in quickly and was titrated and got my machine last week. Got a machine, a mask similar to the one I had the study in, and a prelim setting waiting the final read of the study. I am now three days into it and I can't stand the comfortgel blue mask so I will be getting another (and giving the other to my husband since it is the size he uses and he needs a new one).

My questions...

Do most DME companies have a selection of masks or do you typically have to get them on your own? (I already found the site where you can try them for a week)

How helpful is it to you and your sleep doctor to monitor the data yourself (sleepyhead)?

What are key questions to ask the DME company when I go in the the 1 week follow-up when they do the initial card read?

Many thanks for the information,

Jenn

Jenn --

I think they make masks for men only... I hated the comfort gel too. It was too heavy and, like every other mask I tried, it leaked like a sieve. The clinic I was going to gave me some choices and I found a full face (that's what they told me I HAD to use) that I could tolerate. I used it religiously in spite of the fact that I had to strap it on so tight that I had a face ring that lasted most of the day. I also was given a c-pap machine, so the air blew at a constant pressure. After a year of total misery, I finally ended up crying in the office about my discomfort and was told by the Physician's Assistant that I was a "problem" patient. (I am 99.9% compliant! I DO NOT enjoy oxygen deprivation headaches.) Anyway -- they gave me a bi-pap machine and a nasal mask -- not a comfort gel (still too heavy). It leaked too, but not as badly and I used it until last year when I finally got fed up with my sleep doc (I never saw a doctor -- only the PA) and switched to my mother's pulmonary doc who also specializes in apnea.

My new doc told me to use nasal pillows. I told him that my previous doc (the PA) said I couldn't use pillows because my pressure is too high (16). He said that was BS and to get the pillows. He recommended the ResMed Swift. When I went to the sleep store to get them, I had to argue with the nurse because she insisted that my pressure was too high to use them. I insisted that she give me the new rig and she begrudgingly gave me the ResMed Swift LT for WOMEN!!! Getting the Swift was the best advice a doctor ever gave me. It's comfortable and it doesn't leak, although some pillow sets are better than others. See if you can get this rig.

Emilie

jenn1270 wrote: Do most DME companies have a selection of masks or do you typically have to get them on your own?

Depends on the size of the DME office how many different brands or models that they will have on hand and in stock. Typically they will carry the major big sellers but they have the ability to order any mask you might want to try and they don't normally stock it.
My DME now sells Respironics machines but they still stock ResMed masks. Especially the high volume selling mask....like the Swift LT or Swift FX and whatever nasal or full face masks that most of their patients use.

jenn1270 wrote:How helpful is it to you and your sleep doctor to monitor the data yourself (sleepyhead)?

If you were diabetic would you want to blindly give yourself X number of units of insulin without ever checking your blood sugar? Especially when first diagnosed and still in the adjustment stages?
If nothing else...seeing the reports and understanding the data reaffirms that things are going along optimally. You wouldn't want to go through all this hassle for 6 months and find out that things weren't optimal due to a leak or something.

jenn1270 wrote:What are key questions to ask the DME company when I go in the the 1 week follow-up when they do the initial card read?

Typically the DME mainly checks to see if you are using the machine the required number of hours to satisfy insurance requirements. They may discuss any mask issues and offer help if mask adjustments are needed. Since you are a physician the DME may treat you "special" and be more forth coming with information about what is on the SD card if they even bother to look at something past hours of use.

Welcome to the forum. Get yourself SleepyHead and you will be much more satisfied seeing things first hand and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out. Most of it is just plain common sense stuff anyway.

jenn: don't hesitate to try on the different masks at the DME. Ask them to hook up a cpap machine at your setting. This will help you see how the mask will fit and if it will leak. Most DME's will exchange a mask within 30 days if it is not right for you. Your face structure is different than other folks, so some masks may fit your face and some may not. I went thru several masks (4-6) until I found the one that is right for me. Finding a comfortable mask that doesn't leak is the key to your sucess.

Jenn,

My DME had no limit on how many mask that I could try. I did about 8 and I ended up keeping the last one. I don't think that I can say that I love any of them. They all have issues. After my first 90 days past, I got the mask that I liked at the Sleep Center. I'm entitled to get a new mask every 90 days.

Keeping in touch with my DME and Sleep Dr. proved to be a productive relationship for me.

My previous dme never actually showed me a selection of masks but when I had a nasal mask, I had problems with claustophobia. When I told RT at dme, she pulled out nasal pillows. Not sure about new dme because they gave me nasal pillows right off the bat. I'm assuming though if I said I needed another kind of mask, they would have one available. Thinking about a hybrid but worried that may again trigger the claustophobia.

jenn1270 wrote:First of all I want to say thanks for all the great advice. I am a physician and my husband has used CPAP for years and have recently realized how little I know about it.

My husband made me go to the Sleep Doctor because I had started sleep talking, moaning and groaning (he said I sounded like a porn star) all night. It was waking him up all night and when we were visiting my parents I kept them awake and I was sleeping two rooms away. I also have major daytime sleepiness and fell asleep in meeting all the time. (not so professional). At least I never fell asleep when I was with a patient...just yawned a lot. Anyway had the diagnostic sleep study thinking they were going to find nothing because I wasn't snoring, but lo and behold, I had over 30 AHI. Fortunately I was able to get back in quickly and was titrated and got my machine last week. Got a machine, a mask similar to the one I had the study in, and a prelim setting waiting the final read of the study. I am now three days into it and I can't stand the comfortgel blue mask so I will be getting another (and giving the other to my husband since it is the size he uses and he needs a new one).

My questions...

Do most DME companies have a selection of masks or do you typically have to get them on your own? (I already found the site where you can try them for a week)

How helpful is it to you and your sleep doctor to monitor the data yourself (sleepyhead)?

What are key questions to ask the DME company when I go in the the 1 week follow-up when they do the initial card read?

Many thanks for the information,

Jenn