As @Nesrie pointed out, for me at least they are pretty much an out of pocket only kind of operation. I use them because after some disputes with my insurance company around their durable medical equipment coverage and a very large balance billing I decided it was easier and less stressful to handle it myself with cash than bother with the complete racket that United Healthcare offers. If it costs me more in the end to do it this way I just consider it the cost of convenience and preservation of sanity. :-)
I know that the company that orders my supplies (Sleepmed) using my insurance purchases everything at CPAP.com. Not sure if the two entities are linked.
I was on UHC for a time, and we pretty much did this as well. EVERYTHING out of pocket - since the prices outside of a claim were jacked up so much, and the deductible was so high, it was a joke.
On BCBS now, so it will be 80/20. I’m suspecting that my cost should be better versus doing it myself, but I’ll give up the flexibility of picking specific gear. Since I haven’t got a clue what I really want, that should be fine.
I’m pretty much figuring I’ll want a full mask - as I don’t think I only breathe through my nose when I sleep, and I have a full goatee/beard, so, kinda curious how that whole thing will work with facial hair. From what I’ve read, there masks that can handle it!!
Well, there’s a natural cycle in your nose where one side will become blocked off so the cells can recover, then it will switch sides. So if you are blocked on one side all the time, it makes sense you’d have some trouble.
Got my results. They suck. Got it “severe” and need a more expensive AirSense 10. My REI (ha!) / AHI events index is 46.6 and I have 3k snore events in 7 hours of sleep with oxygen levels as low as 79%.
hm that’s what I’m getting on Friday I think – “resmed airsense 10” for my mild case. I’m still not sure even where I’m going to put it. I don’t have a night stand next to my bed at the moment…
Only problem with it on the floor the hose will tend to pull off your face from the weight. I would try to run the hose over your backboard or get a hook that fits under mattress to hold hose up. This has the added benefit of keeping water if you use humidity from collecting and pouring into mask during the night (by creating that loop over the hook water tends to fall back rather than down the tube into the mask - it can take some practice getting it right).
I just had my followup appointment from my sleep study late last year. Mild apnea on my side–about 12 AHI–but moderate on my back in the low 30s, and the downside is that I automatically flop onto my back as soon as I fall asleep. They’ve recommended CPAP and put in the call to their medical devices company, so in 5-10 business days I should be getting a fateful call. . .
I started putting mine on the floor, but that took up too much of the slack of the standard 6’ hose. So I put it on a mid-height stand, which gave me another foot of slack and that has worked for me. I avoided a full height stand because early on I would roll around in my sleep and jerk the actual CPAP machine rather hard. So my fear was I’d yank it off a stand and either break it or have the humidifier’s water basin soak and ruin the rest of the machine.
Has anyone tried the newer Resmed AirTouch foam cushion for the F20 full masks? I had my medical supplier switch over, but my next resupply isn’t due for another month. Supposedly very comfortable, but only last for a month per cushion instead of the 2-3 months for a regular one.
My biggest challenge was when I got my newest bed that goes up to sitting position etc. I forgot that the hose would move too and it pulled my machine off the night stand. Scared the heck out of me!
I had to move the nightstand forward to accommodate.
I tried nasal pillows my first week, but I’m such a horrible mouth breather (living in Ohio’s awful air my entire life, I’ve been this way since a small child) it just created this weird U-shaped air flow as the pressure just blasted straight out of my mouth. The co-worker I share a room with uses one though, and they are a lot more comfortable than a full face mask.
Have we talked pressure. I started off at 7 and the doct moved me up to 9 a year later. A young guy I work with, he’s 28 or 29, uses 14.
Did you know you were a mouth breather? I don’t think I am really, but occasionally I will, and I really don’t think these things will work well at all if I’m super sick and can’t breathe through my nose… :/
I’m starting off at 6. I guess it has a range of 6-20 because it’s auto? I’m not sure how this all works. Curious, nervous, and anxious about going to sleep tonight!!
Yea, I knew, but thought I could keep my mouth closed while sleeping. Nope.
Don’t stress and don’t give up. The full masks really bothered me after I gave up on the nasal pillow. In fact, after about 10 nights of struggling for over an hour to sleep, I almost tore the mask off with the intent of just giving up on using the machine at all. The very next night? I laid down and fell asleep within 5 minutes and it’s been smooth sailing ever since.
So stick with it. You’ll adjust, hopefully sooner than I did, and you’ll feel so much better in the mornings.
