help with what to expect during titration sleepover

hi all,

first time poster. i was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea, and lost weight and that didn't help my symptoms. i went to ear-nose-throat specialist, and he said due to shape of my tongue, i need CPAP.

i went for initial sleep study, but not yet for titration. i understand they'll give me a machine when i'm there, but i'd like to learn about the machines and what options i have. i don't want to spend all the money on the appointment and walk out with a low quality machine. how do i ensure i get the best quality machine and one that is well suited to me? what if i want to try a different one after the first one they give me. does insurance cover multiple machines? about how much are they? are sleep centers different quality - do some give better machines and better care?

i breathe out of my mouth, so i think from my reading i need a full face mask? any real good ones out there?

any other advice is much appreciated!

Do some more reading and if you haven't seen these start here and I think a lot of your questions will be answered.

http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/

http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/what-y ... me-part-i/

Start with your insurance company....for a list of cpap suppliers in your area that will work with your insurance company. You aren't obligated to get your equipment from the sleep center if you don't want to...especially if it isn't a full data machine. You do have options.

Mask preferences...highly individual between people. There are lovers and haters for all masks. Just because I might hate a mask doesn't mean the next person might hate it and just because I might love a mask doesn't mean the rest of the people have to love it too. You are just going to have to try some to see what works for your face and your needs.
When checking equipment suppliers...find one that has a 30 day per mask return policy...the mask manufacturers offer 30 days per mask...with no limit to the number of masks tried. Unfortunately often the equipment providers will only allow 1 swap....and tell you that is all that is allowed and that's not true...they just choose to make up their own in house rules.

The titration study will be just like your sleep study, except that they will fit you with a CPAP mask during it. During the titration itself, they will probably use their own machine; they have diagnostic machines that they can control from the observation room which are capable of CPAP, bilevel, and even ASV functions. They will fit you for a mask (hopefully they take more time on that with you than they did with me) and you will go to sleep as before. They will start with low pressures and slowly increase as you sleep until they are able to eliminate (or at least significantly reduce the number of) events.

You said you understood that they would give you machine at the study itself. You should be aware that, depending on where you are and what your insurance coverage is, you may not have to purchase your machine through the center that does your sleep study. Also be sure to read the things that Pugsy pointed to, and above all make sure your machine is fully data-capable before you accept it. I would suggest deciding what machines you will accept before you go so that you won't have to make that decision after a night of possibly-disturbed sleep. If you can't get what you want right there, you can always try to work with your doctor to get it from another source. (This may not be an option, however, if your treatment is being covered by certain HMOs in the US or by a national health care program like the UK's NHS)

You mention that you breathe through your mouth at night. I too, thought that that meant I needed a full-face mask; but, as I learned, it is entirely possible that your mouth-breathing is actually you gasping for breath because of your apnea and it will disappear with treatment. I started with a full-face mask, but soon switched to nasal pillows and have had absolutely no issues with mouth-breathing. That is not to say that you cannot use a full-face mask if you want, merely that you should not assume that your mask options are necessarily limited because you've been told you mouth-breathe without therapy.