CPAP prescriptions

I just found this site after an Internet search, and would like to ask some questions.
I have a very strong belief that I have sleep apnea, and have probably had it for a long while.
I am a confirmed snorer, and sometimes wake up gasping for breath, with heart pounding.

It has been suggested that I get a sleep study, and would probably greatly benefit from using a CPAP device at night.
Here's the problem: I have recently defaulted on the health insurance I've had for many years due to the inability to pay for the escalating cost, and still keep a roof over my head.
So without the insurance, I won't be getting a sleep study anytime soon, as I also can't afford the 2000 to 5000 typical costs for the study I found doing a basic search for this.

I thought I would just start using an air machine to see if this would help, and have discovered a prescription is needed.
I assume a sleep study is needed in order to obtain a prescription, but would like to know that for sure.

Now for the questions:

Is it possible or likely I could get my family doctor or a Nurse Practicioner to give me a prescription without a sleep study, based on my description of symptoms?

Maybe get a machine with automatic settings?
Or make adjustments on my own through trial and error?

Is the use of these machines that dangerous that I couldn't experiment on my own without a sleep study, and
are they basically impossible to obtain without a sleep study and prescription?
Just asking...
Thanks in advance for any advice or replies.

By the way, I guess this may be an international site, so I should note that I live in PA, USA
if that makes any difference in what I am able to do. Thanks again for any replies.

I can't answer your question directly, but I can add this information from my own experience.

My family practice doctor sent me for a sleep study. The sleep study was done at home. The report was then sent to back to my family practice doctor. My family practice Dr. wrote a prescription for a cpap machine. Ultimately I ended up being referred to a sleep specialist.

So if your family practice doctor can send you for an at home sleep study and then write the prescription for the cpap machine, it should cost you far less than an in house sleep study and sleep doctor.

Hi and welcome
To self diagnose is not a good idea you need to have a proper sleep test. I don't have insurance either and neither do alot of the members here. There are many ways to get a cheaper machine including here with cpap.com. There are auction sites, craigs list and the like. Some pay by the month for their machine which is what I did and some get in on a rental basis....and you don't have to pay
anywhere near $2000 to $5000 as you think. My machine was $1600 canadian, but on cpap.com its half that in U.S. dollars. Canadians typically pay double if they buy them here as opposed to the states. Do your homework on a machine...but PLEASE go see a doctor...one morning you may not wake up and then where will your family be. Read as much as you can on this site, education is a good thing...just click on the light bulb at the top of the page and read, read, read.
Hope the next time we fhear from you, you will be on the way to getting your cpap.
Good luck.
Nan

I can't see where it would hurt you to experiment with CPAP (auto) without a sleep study. There is a gizmo on sale over the internet that for $70 should do a basic diagnosis of sleep apnea. If you're interested in it I'll google it and try to come up with a URL. Based on symptoms, and direct observation- do you have someone who can stay up all night, or at least part of it, to watch if you stop breathing, count and time episodes? Maybe take a couple of the on-line sleepiness score tests.
Armed with that info maybe your family doctor would help you out with the prescription, given your circumstances. Good Luck.

If you can get hold of an auto machine then we can help you get set up to give it a try and see how things go. However, it would be best if you find some to first come here with ALL info. on them, the mfgr name, model #, year, number of hrs already on it, why it's being sold, etc., etc. and then we can try to help (i.e. advise whether it sounds like a good deal or not).

The sleep center where I did my study (I have insurance) told me that they offer similar pricing to uninsured patients as what they do when contracted with insurance carriers. For instance, my sleep study was billed at $3800 but the contracted rate with my insurance carrier was approx $800. They said they offered uninsured patients a payment plan. Don't know for how long or the details but it would be worth checking out.

I know that some people have done home sleep studies however I don't know anything about the equipment or how those are done.

Sleep apnea is a serious health risk and like any medical issue should be treated by a medical professional. I'd check out options to get seen by a doctor.

Good luck.

In order to get a machine you need a prescription. This means that a doctor needsto diagnose you as having sleep apnea which basically means you need some form of a sleep study.

I would suggest that unless you had some exotic condition that these machines are not hazardous. Apparently one manufacturer of these machines once said that the only way to hurt somebody with one of these machines was to hit them over the head with one. Suggest that the doctor presdcribing the treatment will verify it is ok.

Suggestion first you find a doctor who will work with you to do a home sleep study. You then rent a machine to do the test. After using themachine for a couple of days you return the machine and the doctor downloads the test data. Many family doctors may not know how to interpret the data so you will likely need to see a sleep specialist.

Once you have a diagnosis you find a machine you can afford. Consider the Internet suppliers. Suggest that you get an APAP machine. A used ResMed S8 Autoset with humidifier might be the right balancebetween cost and capability.

I have heard of people buying an auto on Craig's List which does not require a perscription. With some careful adjusting and getting a machine that you can get the software to read the data you could come very close a working setting. Without the software you would be flying blind.

Jerry

I diagnosed and treated myself without a sleep study or a doctor's involvement...other than phoning a good old retired family doc who was willing to write me a prescription for an autopap.

How I got started on cpap:
Jan 25, 2005 subject: not diagnosed yet, many ? brand new here my story and Poisson's reply with good reasons why a PSG sleep study is important.


My eventual sleep study:
Nov 19, 2005 subject: First Sleep Study...finally! - rested gal sleepydave on that board goes by the nicknames StillAnotherGuest and Muffy here on cpaptalk. Many thanks to him for helping me get a real sleep study. Well worth doing!

DPJaco1 wrote: Now for the questions:
Is it possible or likely I could get my family doctor or a Nurse Practicioner to give me a prescription without a sleep study, based on my description of symptoms?
Maybe get a machine with automatic settings?
Or make adjustments on my own through trial and error?

No one likes to play doctor, and most of us would encourage you to first seek professional advice. However, rested gal is THE resident expert and when she speaks, we're all ears . If you go down that route, this forum is the best place to hang out.

Whichever route you choose, keep us updated; we here to help. You might also want to open up your 'pm' feature, others might prefer contacting you privately.

Wow, thanks for all the replies - and in such a short time.
I will be considering the advice in all of them, of course.
I can see that I have a lot of learning to do, and it looks like I found the right place to do it.

Just a couple of responses to these replies for now that immediately come to mind:

Of course I realize a study would be the best thing, and it's not always a good idea to play doctor.
I fully intend to get one eventually, and seek out any possible options in the mean time - asap.
But, as mentioned, money is a problem at the time being, (and is the reason I no longer have insurance)and it is likely
to be a stumbling block in the short term. That said, I would rather give it a try if possible
even without the study, (if it wasn't doing any harm - at least as compared to no treatment).

Nan - The numbers I cited are not the cost of the machine, they are high/low estimates of getting a professional study done based on a cursory Internet search. Iim sure this needs further looking into.

Rested Gal - thanks for posting here and providing the links to your story. Great posts!
What you had done initially is what I was considering (out of necessity), what an inspiration to know that someone had actually went down this route (apparently for some of the same reasons I have) and had some measure of success until a real detailed study could be done.

For now I need to get to work and study up on this. Looks like it's gonna be an adventure.
(Also need to figure out how to navigate the site a little better, having some log-on issues for starters)

if I had it to do over again.. I would find the best most honest place that rents home sleep studies for the best price,
(its nice to deal with real people if they are honest and caring, otherwise forget it)
and then have a friend doctor write a script for a machine if I needed, or have the equipment place tell you who the
absolute best doc was they worked with, and have he/she write it up.

My sleep study was pretty useless, everything I know, I learned here..

and yes, Rested Gal is one of the resident YODA's here! but she looks more like princess leia : )

In an ideal world, we'd all have several multi-thousand dollar sleep studies and the very best machine out there. In the real world, money may limit our options. My opinion is that for you it is far more dangerous to continue untreated than to find a used machine at a yard sale or on craigslist.com and start treating yourself without a study. If money is going to keep you from having a study done, then get a machine without a prescription and start getting the therapy you need.

This is not rocket science, and for the vast majority of people, it isn't even a tiny little bit dangerous. After all, people do things like scuba diving without a breathing study, and scuba diving's a LOT more dangerous than using a PAP machine.

toQ
that is a very good post. Thank you.
I was one of those who has never been to any sleep study, what I have is just one night test with Oximeter.
Never been to any Sleep specialist and my GP has almost no knowledge of Sleep Apnea and he just left everything to the DME. The DME could care less since I have no insurance so I end up being a drop out for 6 months... and then after self study, now get an AHI of <1 and just struggling with leaks...

Treat yrself first and be a sceptic. Do not trust anybody - browse and use Google and stufy hard for your own good