Sleep Doctor and DME ....A GOOD Day!!!!

mommaw · Post by **mommaw** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:30 pm

Hi All,

I just have to share my day with you! Today was my 1st visit to my sleep doctor since going on the bipap and I had a very good visit. I went armed with lots of questions, literature printed from various web sites and one special user review. Wader, I'm talking about you. I showed him your review of the REMstar auto w/C-Flex and he was extremely interested. We discussed the reasons he put me on bipap, the fact that one night sleep test (in uncomfortable conditions) may not acturately show what pressure was needed all night. He said I may need a new sleep study. I said: "Why don't we use the autopap as a one month home sleep study"? He thought that was a good idea and said he would be interested to see what the results were!! So he gave me a note to take to my DME, I came away with a new REMstar auto w/c-flex, a heated humidifer AND a new ResMed Ultra Mirage full face mask. I am so happy. They set the pressure range at 6 to 20 since I was on bilevel at 18/14. I go back to my DME in a week, take the card and she will print the results for me to take to the doctor. I am to do this each week for a month, then we will decide which machine I will use.

Sorry for the long post. It's just that you folks have helped me so much that I had to share.

Looking forward to hopefully not having the leaf blower in my nose all night tonight.

Gilda

Joe A · Post by **Joe A** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:55 pm

WTG Gilda!

Please keep us posted! I would be interested in hearing your experience as I too am a BiPAP user. I would like to see what your experience is when switched to an auto-PAP.

Good choice on the Ultra Mirage FFM....The FP431 didn't seem to work for many Bilevel and Auto pap users.

Good Luck! Don't forget to report back!

littlebaddow · Post by **littlebaddow** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:56 pm

Hey Gilda what a great story.
It's great that things are working out for you and hopefully others will be able to learn from your approach.
It certainly shows the value of being prepared when talking with the medical people, an informed patient dealing with a professional whose ego doesn't get in the way of the best interests of that patient

MartiniLover · Post by **MartiniLover** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:30 pm

Ditto's. Me too! I am on BiPAP since December and although I like it a LOT better than the CPAP I was on, I have always wondered about those test. I went from a 9 on CPAP to 13 on BiPAP. I could have been too low starting out. I had 3 tests within 6 months.

Please keep us posted as how the switch back to CPAP is, and how you are doing and ..........what your weekly results are.

We are all happy for you.

tk · Post by tk » Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:28 pm

Gilda I am so happy to read your post. After two sleep labs I was put on the Remstar c-flex at a 20 setting, hard to breathe out against! Ten went to the Remstar which is auto-titrated, that was much better, but still had significant apneas and the machine was topping out at 20 a lot. So have been trying the Remstar Bi-pap pro2 w/bi flex, with a 24/16 setting and that has helped more. But I'm not sure how much my insurance will pay and that machine is much costlier, plus it is noisier than the auto one. I'll be renting it another week to ten days and need to make a decision. Even with the 24/16 setting my AHI average is 10.6, which the DME says isn't that good. Waiting to see the doc. Have seen and ENT surgeon and much to my schock (and relief) they didn't push tonsil and/other surgery. I need to lose about 80 lbs.
Am anxious to hear how you do, and does anyone else have numbers like these? Or comments?
Thanks to all,
tk

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:32 pm

Gilda! Good for you!

And how fortunate that you have, as littlebaddow says, a doctor who will work with you - rather than just make pronouncements from on high.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:37 pm

tk, you do have it rough up there in the stratosphere of pressures. Hope the doctor has some good ideas when you see him. I can't imagine that he won't prescribe the bipap and that the insurance company will go along with it. Sounds like medical necessity since you're already over the top range for cpap/autopap which go only to 20.

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 7:13 am

Gilda,

You made my day! I love to hear when the things we do here help people communicate with their Docs. It's even better when the Docs listen.

Sleeping With The Enemy · Post by **Sleeping With The Enemy** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:22 pm

Gilda,

I am so happy for you and I am pretty confident that you will get everything you expect and more from the Remstar Auto W/C-Flex.

I love my machine. Words can hardly express how comfortable the treatment is with this machine.

Heidi

Mask	Humidifier

Additional Comments: Pur~Sleep Oils (Love Them) Aussie Heated Hose, Encore Analyzer, Pad-A-Cheek Guards (Work Great!)

Machine	Mask

Sleep Doctor and DME ....A GOOD Day!!!!

Sleep Doctor and DME ....A GOOD Day!!!!

the numbers and bi-pap