CPAPtalk.com

I just got CPAP. The Doctor initially seemed quite attentive, explaining everything very clearly etc. At that time, he said that because I had significantly more hypopneas during REM sleep than during the rest of the sleep period, I should get an auto machine. When I came back to get the machine, I was issued a non-auto brick (like the cheapest one they could find!). When I realized what had happened (and BEFORE I used it), I called and said that this wasn't what the doctor ordered - he wanted an auto. I was told that I couldn't have anything else until they saw the data.

Well, I can tell you that either the 2 wks of data were WRONG about the quality of sleep or it was "technically correct" but at the cost of my comfort because I ended up more sleepy than I had been before using the machine and I woke up more often DUE to the machine (excessive air in my mouth, swallowing air etc). I finally insisted on getting the ResMed S9 Autoset and it's now on order (should be here on Tues). But at that point, once I rejected the cheap brick, the doctor became freaky. He was mad, he didn't want to be helpful. It was obvious that my comfort didn't matter, he only cared about his profit. They don't want to write a prescription because they want to issue the replacement masks etc.

So...I would like a different doctor because I don't want to deal with this guy anymore. Is there a way to "pre-qualify" a doctor before I pay for an appointment? I mean, can I explain "I've already got the machine, I've already done the sleep test...could you just review the results and write a prescription for the mask?" Is there some way to ask "Do you care about the patient vs your pocket"?

For about seven years I have been seeing my sleep doc once a year when we get back to CO (we have lived full time in our motor home for eleven years and just became snow birds this year). I take in graphs from Encore Basic and Sleepyhead along with representative graphs from my recording oximeter.

He has been very helpful over the years and I have called him asking about changing my pressure a number of times. He is okay with me knowing how to make changes and making them.

When I got a new machine a couple of years ago I asked him to prescribe an auto unit. He said that in his experience he has been able to get good results with the standard machines but went ahead and prescribed one. He did ask me to run a one month trial in auto mode and then a month with fixed pressure. I did and the results were very slightly better in auto. Not enough better to matter though.

On my last visit in the spring he said that he really didn't need to see me once a year. Just make an appointment if something changed.
Of course now Medicare wants me to see a doctor once a year anyway.

I first saw the sleep doc almost a year after I started therapy. I've gone back yearly,
just to chat about data, keep Medicare happy, and help the guy make a living.