Apnea/CPAP?

Yep, that’s the one.

So… I’m going to be joining the masses here. My wife continued to suggest to me to get a sleep study done, finally did. and I have mild apnea. I’m totally curious how this will impact me once I get a CPAP machine, as I’m not overly tired during the day, but perhaps that’s just because that’s what I’ve grown accustom to.

Any recommendations/suggestions regarding models? Also, have any of you worked out a method in taking your machine camping? I do a fair amount of camping with my boys - and I certainly don’t want this to stop that from happening!!

So my sleep apnea was about as severe as it can be: close to 70 events per hour. I was totally convinced that while I might be a little tired, I was fine. The difference when I started was night and day, despite the fact that I “thought” I wasn’t overly tired. I wouldn’t even dream of sleeping without my mask now. So don’t let the fact that you don’t “think” you’re tired influence whether or not you get treatment. It will make you feel better, I promise.

If you have insurance, the model will probably be outside of your control. I have the Resmed AirSense 10, which is pretty great. More important than your machine, I think, is what mask you choose: I use the AirTouch F20, which has a nice layer of foam around the mask, for optimal comfort (and some innate ability to mop up drool).

For camping, they actually sell battery packs so you can run your CPAP while camping, although they’re a bit expensive ($279, I think). But, you know, if you skip a few days, it’s not going to be the end of the world: my insurance will only start kicking about it if I don’t use my device something like 20 days within a calendar cycle, and even then, they’ll just call me and make sure everything’s okay before they start threatening to take the device back. (For insurance purposes, most people effectively “rent” their devices through insurance for a few years, because the companies want to make sure you’re compliant with treatment).

Anyway, congratulations! Being diagnosed with sleep apnea is a wonderful thing: your life is about to improve a lot, perhaps substantially, thanks to something that will barely impact you after you get acclimated to it.

Yeah they have batteries, which I have not used. You can also go without it for a few days. My insurance will get pissy about compliance after a certain amount of time, but really when I told my physician I was using it every night, she seemed surprised. I told her why the hell would I have my insurance and myself pay for a machine I don’t use.,… of course I am using it, every night. Except for the one night I spent on planes…

You can ask your physician but the compliance seemed pretty generous, and it felt like it was by month maybe not week. I forgot to ask them for how long. I purchased my machine outright since I met my deductible.

yea, I asked about the compliance; they said it was really mostly during the first 30/60/90 days or so, and then every once in a while going forward. I must be DX with sleep apnea, before insurance will pay, and I have to cover 20% of any DME going forward compliance might be referenced in case the insurance co says “so, is he using it regularly” before they pay 80% of the cost for any of the items that need to be replaced over time… I guess hoses, masks, tubes, filters… etc

That being said, depending on all the pieces of the puzzle I might prefer to buy replacement pieces from amazon or other sources.

My AHI 13.2, total respiratory events for the night 95. (looks like most of them were hypopneas, which, based on my untrained knowledge, would be what caused my SpO2 to be 93% - no idea if that’s low or what)

I still question the at home sleep study, I mean according to the data I spent 50% of my time on my side and the other half on my back. I don’t remember sleeping that much on my back! and I just feel like all of this is a complete pain in the ass for something that is borderline… I’m kinda venting to you all/this crowd as well, you have have been there before!

I am not sure if it will make you feel any better, but I had a home test and then the actual test… same result and a few thousand more in costs.

I am torn about the supplies… it is cheaper online but a bigger hassle for insurance and some have questionable sources/genuine parts.

Sleep cycle always has a person roll onto back because that is where the best deep sleep occurs. So that is normal to roll onto back even if you don’t remember it. That is what they really want to capture on the study since the most breathing issues occur on the back and where the max pressure is determined to be set at

It’s been awhile, but I know I have ordered from thecpappeople.com

I think cpap.com too, but I’d have to doublecheck.

One thing to remind folks is that number of apnea episodes per night does not necessarily correlate with symptom severity. I had very few, but couldn’t stay awake during the day. Other people have dozens, but never know anything is wrong.

already love the qt3 apnea support group :D thx all!

I’ve been using the Resmed Airfit F20 for the last year, I might have to see if my supplier can switch to the AirTouch so I can give that foam a try.

how much do the resmeds cost? i haven’t been to my followup yet it’s been bumped until later this month but i think i can get blue cross coverage for 1 every 5 years or something. i’m told the first payment is roughly $250 on a total of anywhere from $1k-2.5k.

I want to say my 9 was somewhere in the 1200 range with the humidifier? It’s been awhile. I could be misremembering that. No clue on the newer models.

I recall my AirSense10 being in the vicinity of AUD$1800.

I paid $18/month for a year for my DreamStation unit. The supplies (masks, hoses, filters, etc.) are shipped quarterly and cost me $58 each time.

I’m guessing a lot of the prices people are quoting are from a DME. I wonder how easy it would be to buy from like cpap.com

ex: CPAP masks

I buy almost all of my supplies from cpap.com. No complaints so far. Everything has shipped very quickly and worked as advertised. They need a copy of your prescription from your doctor for most items they sell (legally required in the US so everybody probably does this), but they have a form you can fill out where you give them your doctor’s info and they can request a copy directly from the doctor’s office. They are based near Houston Texas and according to their website you can actually come pickup stuff directly from them if you’re in the area. I haven’t taken advantage of that service yet though.

can you use your insurance with them? or it’s all out of pocket? I might check them out depending. since I’m going through my insurance, I figure I’d rather go with a local supplier while I’m trying to find the right mask and all.

Based on this they are out of network, maybe can do a claim either for insurance, FSA/HSA or both.

Their pricing though… could make cash just a better option. Their heating tubing is $32. The same one at my local store is 67.50. With an 80/20, it’s still a better deal to use insurance for me… but after the deductible.

One nice thing is that you don’t need a prescription for a mask, unlike the unit itself.

I like my CPAP a lot.

2 months in.