Great info, maybe I could find some more answers here?  I'm looking for a place to post data from my machine, or review examples of other people's data from fully data capable machines for comparison.  Does anyone know where I could find that information?

What brand and model CPAP do you have? I have a Resmed VPAP Auto (a bi-level). I also have the ResScan 3.7 software and cable reader.


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Resmed VPAP Auto. Humidaire 3i, ProBasics Zzz-Mask full face, ResScan 3.7, S8 ResLink, Embla oximeter.
Currently trialing PR SystemOne BPAP Auto w/Bi-Flex, EncorePro 2.2, ConTec CMS-50D+ oximeter

I found this link on google and I was wondering if anyone has been able to cure their sleep apnea without using a cpap or any kind of mask?

{{Commercial link removed.  Please review posting guidelines}}

You want to CURE your sleep apnea? Have a tracheotomy. Other than that there is NO CURE. Only therapy.


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Resmed VPAP Auto. Humidaire 3i, ProBasics Zzz-Mask full face, ResScan 3.7, S8 ResLink, Embla oximeter.
Currently trialing PR SystemOne BPAP Auto w/Bi-Flex, EncorePro 2.2, ConTec CMS-50D+ oximeter

[quote="james14"]I found this link on google and I was wondering if anyone has been able to cure their sleep apnea without using a cpap or any kind of mask?

{{Commercial link removed.  Please review posting guidelines}}

Sounds like he is using some kind of dental apperatuse for repositioning your tongue.  I wouldn't call this a cure but just a another treatment.  If you sleep apnea is caused buy something spacific, such as being to fat, I guess loosing waight could make the apneas stop?   Maybe?  Ask a sleep doctor.   A cure has never been mentioned by any of my doctors that I have seen over the past 5 years sence being diagnosed.    I have seen ENT, Nerologist, Sleep Specialest and Primary care docs.   I have an aptment next week, if I can remember I will ask about this "cure."  

Peace.


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I'm to sexy for my CPAP

Okay. Just an update on fully data capable CPAPs, APAPs and bi-levels as best I have been able to determine and the year they were first introduced as best I was able to determine.

CPAPs

Resmed S8 Elite II w/EPR (2006) http://www.resmed.com/us/products/s8_elite_ii_epr/s8-elite-ii-epr.html?nc=patients

Respironics M Series Pro w/C-Flex (2006) http://remstarpromseries.respironics.com/

Covidien (Puritan Bennett) Sandman Info(2008) http://www.puritanbennett.com/prod/Product.aspx?S1=SPT&S2=&id=323

Fisher & Paykel SleepStyle™ 244 CPAP (unknown) http://www.fphcare.com/osa/SleepStyle200withSmartStick.asp

APAPs

Resmed S8 AutoSet Vantage (2006) http://www.resmed.com/us/products/s8_autoset_vantage/s8-autoset-vantage.html?nc=patients

Resmed S8 AutoSet II (2008) http://www.resmed.com/us/products/s8_autoset_ii/s8-autoset-ii.html?nc=patients

Respironics M Series Auto w/C-Flex (2006)
Respironics M Series Auto w/A-Flex (2008) http://remstarautomseries.respironics.com/

Covidien (Puritan Bennett) Sandman Auto (2008) http://www.puritanbennett.com/prod/Product.aspx?S1=SPT&S2=&id=324

DeVilbiss IntelliPAP AutoAdjust (2009) http://www.devilbisshealthcare.com/products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474400469899&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524447450278&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474398844499&bmUID=1218549169266&bmLocale=ca

Bi-Levels

Resmed VPAP Auto (January 2008) http://www.resmed.com/us/products/vpap_auto/vpap-auto.html?nc=patients

Resmed VPAP Auto 25 (July 2008) http://www.resmed.com/us/products/vpap_auto_25/vpap-auto-25.html?nc=patients

Respironics M Series Bi-PAP Auto w/Bi-Flex (2006) http://bipapautomseries.respironics.com/

Covidien (Puritan Bennett) Sandman Duo (2008) http://www.puritanbennett.com/_Catalog/PDF/Product/A.ad%205732%20Sandman%20Duo%20CPAP%20ds.pdf


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Resmed VPAP Auto. Humidaire 3i, ProBasics Zzz-Mask full face, ResScan 3.7, S8 ResLink, Embla oximeter.
Currently trialing PR SystemOne BPAP Auto w/Bi-Flex, EncorePro 2.2, ConTec CMS-50D+ oximeter

Thank you so much for all the valuable information in this thread!

I just completed my titration sleep study about a week or so ago, and am working with the DME to pick out my machine.

They tend to be a Resmed shop, but their rep has been going out of her way to work with me on this.  She said that she could order a Respironics machine if I preferred.

I think I may have misinterpreted the opening post in this thread as implying that the patient couldn't download data from ResMed machines because it said that ResMed has prohibited the sale of AutoScan software to patients.  Doesn't ResScan fulfill the data access role?  Is it readily available to patients?  And does the DME have to set some settings to make this data available to you?

I've told my DME rep that I am a very data-driven person, and having access to the data is a priority for me, and that I'm aware that I'll need to purchase software an likely an interface that my insurance likely will not cover.  Based on what I've seen here, I've told her that I would prefer either the ResMed S8 Elite Pro with EPR (assuming that the data availability issue can be verified; ResScan software?) or the Respironics M Series Pro w/C-Flex(with Encore software and the interface.)

It appeared to me that the data capability is mainly available in the higher-end machines, that include either EPR or C-Flex (or A-Flex).  Unfortunately, the sleep study physician didn't write her prescription to include EPR or C-Flex.  The DME rep is contacting my ENT to see if he'll re-write the prescription to allow it.  I believe she said that as far as the insurance company was concerned, the machines with or without the EPR/C-Flex had the same code, but unless it was prescribed, she couldn't give it to me.

Has anyone posted what data is available from either the ResScan or the Encore software on their respective machines?  Do they each provide pretty much the same data, or is one more detailed than the other?

Oh, horsepuckies!!!! Just as you can be provided w/an APAP set in CPAP mode w/a script that provides just one pressure setting so too can you be provided w/a CPAP (or APAP) w/EPR or C- or A-Flex w/the EPR or C-Flex or A-Flex turned off. She's using her company's policy on this NOT your insurance's or your doctor's. Other than that your DME supplier sounds like one of the better ones.

The Resmeds provide more data and easier access to that data via the LCD screen than the Respironics. You just have to have access to the advanced/detailed patient menu (Efficacy & Usage Menus) turned on in the Clinicians Menu. It is possible to buy the necessary ResScan 3.7 software and cable reader but it takes some innovation and patience whilst searching for it. You can buy the software from Australia and find the cable reader in the USA cheaper than Australia. You can also find the two as a bundle from a couple of USA online suppliers. Until you can find and buy them you get plenty of data via the LCD screen.

Respironics does make a patient version of their software for sale and you also need a card reader for it. The cable readers are proprietary to each company.

I prefer the Resmed software and data, easier to install, easier to use and for me the data is presented in a more understandable format. Even w/the MyEncore and EncoreAnalyzer freeware complimentary to Respironics EncorePro software I found their software a real PITA to install, not as easy to understand - BUT - LOVE the Daily Events Per Hour table and wish Resmed would include something similar. MyEncore and EncoreAnalyzer are not compatible w/the patient version EncoreViewer software.

I prefer the Resmed xPAPs as well, at least the fully data capable ones, to the Respironics, but my preference has NOTHING to do w/the therapy both brands provide, only w/non-therapy matters.


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Resmed VPAP Auto. Humidaire 3i, ProBasics Zzz-Mask full face, ResScan 3.7, S8 ResLink, Embla oximeter.
Currently trialing PR SystemOne BPAP Auto w/Bi-Flex, EncorePro 2.2, ConTec CMS-50D+ oximeter

Two weeks later, and still no CPAP machine.  

I knew she'd be calling my doctor's office on a Friday, and he's out on Fridays, and wouldn't be back until Monday.  So, I waited until the following Thursday, and called to ask what was going on.    She told me that when she called, the nurse told her "Oh, yeah, that should be no problem; I have it right on my desk, "  but a week later she was still waiting to hear back from my doctor's nurse.  I asked her to call and ask again.

Monday morning, I had a voicemail from late Friday that she had gotten the nurse to get the prescription rewritten, and that they were ordering my machine.  She had open appointments on Thursday to come pick it up.

So, I took off work this afternoon to go pick it up.  It was some guy name Jeff who was showing me the equipment instead of Sherry, who I had spoken with earlier.  I discussed with him that having access to the data was very important to me.  He said he didn't know why anyone would want that information because they wouldn't know what it meant anyway.

So, he started showing me where it plugged in, how to detach the humidifier from the front.  Then he turned it on, and we started watching it ramp up.  Then I saw the label --- and saw that he was giving me an Escape II instead of the Elite that I had specifically asked for.

Grrrrrr.

I told him I wasn't at all interested in an Escape, and he said he'd check with his Remstar rep and get a replacement for it.

We also discussed masks.  During the titration, I'd used a Zest mask that covered the nose.  That worked well for me, and I found it reasonably comfortable.  I told him that I was concerned that once my peak allergy season hit (usually around October), though, that it would be impossible to get any airflow through my nose.  He told me that when that happened, I'd need to get my doctor to write a prescription for a full face mask.  

That raises another question for me.  During my earlier conversations with Sherry, the DME rep I'd spoken with earlier, I'd mentioned that the sleep lab had given me the Zest mask.  At that time, she said something along the lines of "Oh, good, then we don't need to get you a mask."    

So, for now, it appears that I will be getting a machine only.   Under the insurance reimbursement for this, though, shouldn't a mask be covered?  Although I haven't received the bill from the titration sleep study, I'm pretty certain that the cost of the mask will not be included in that, since the mask is labelled "Not for resale; for short term use only." (I'm not too concerned about that; I'm pretty certain the "short term use" is just words on a label, and that I have their standard mask.  I think that technically the sleep lab was not supposed to give it to me, and should have just discarded it, but that the lab tech was just being nice.)

I also asked the DME guy about the cost of the Elite vs. the Escape.  He didn't have the comparative cost info to give me then.  He said "Here's the number that matters; here's what your insurance will pay regardless of what we give you," and showed me a flash of the paperwork on his clipboard.   (It was $1591.47)  Does that sound right?  If so, now wonder they're trying to palm off a cheaper machine on me.  All the more profit for them.  It just seems odd to me that it would be that high.

One more question ---- He let me glance over the sleep study doctor's report.  In that one, she recommended a compliance only machine.  Am I going to face another hurdle on getting them to  unlock the data to me?

If your sleep doctor did indeed script a "compliance only" CPAP I'd be inclined to clarify a few things w/her or fire her.

So did you accept the Escape II or did you hold out for the Elite II?

This local DME guy you ended up w/is a "jerK". He is either less than truthful or less than knowledgeable. Your insurance contracts w/the local DME supplier by HCPCS (insurance) code NOT by brand or model. Both the Elite II and Escape II are HCPCS e0601.

This jerk is also being an a** about the mask.

You need to start by FAXing a WRITTEN request to your sleep lab doctor for a copy of her dictated results (1-2 pages each), the full scored data summary report w/condensed graphs (5+ pages each) from both your in-lab sleep evaluation PSG "and" your in-lab CPAP titration PSG "as well as" your equipment order (script). These are part of your medical records and as such assuming you are in the USA you have a LEGAL RIGHT to these copies under HIPAA.

It would appear from all the horsepuckies you've been fed so far that you are going to NEED all of these copies to have ANY idea of who, if any of them, are being truthful w/you.

And as far as the INSULTING remark the local DME supplier jerk made, not being a very tactful person when it becomes apparent someone isn't being truthful or respectful of me, when the jerk said to me "he didn't know why anyone would want that information because they wouldn't know what it meant anyway" I would have told him just because HE wouldn't understand did NOT mean that I wasn't intelligent enough to understand it!

And YES, your insurance will cover a mask NOW. NO, your sleep lab does NOT charge your insurance for the Zest they gave you.

I would be inclined to call my insurance company and ask them what local DME suppliers they are contracted with and HOPEFULLY you will have the option of more than this one. But you are going to have to do this w/in 30 days!!!! And the SOONER THE BETTER. Once you've had that Escape II for 30 days you are STUCK WITH IT! You have these first 30 days to get out from under this local DME supplier and change to another IF you have the option of other local suppliers. I would make it CLEAR to the current DME supplier WHY you are returning the Escape II, not just because it is not the Elite II but also because the jerk was less than truthful or respectful w/you. They might shape up and start playing it straight w/you - if not they lost a sale. And your future business as well.


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Resmed VPAP Auto. Humidaire 3i, ProBasics Zzz-Mask full face, ResScan 3.7, S8 ResLink, Embla oximeter.
Currently trialing PR SystemOne BPAP Auto w/Bi-Flex, EncorePro 2.2, ConTec CMS-50D+ oximeter

CrohnieToo wrote:

So did you accept the Escape II or did you hold out for the Elite II?

Ah, Sensei, I have learned enough from you (and others here) to hold out for the Elite II.  So, I'm still without a CPAP for the moment, but I'm not going to get stuck with a substandard piece of equipment from the get-go.

Someone from further up the food chain at the DME supplier (or I'm assuming so; their area code showed that they were from another part of the state) called me Friday to apologize for the SNAFU, and to say that the correct machine had been ordered.  I asked her to specify the model, and she said it was the Elite II with EPR.

I also asked if they would go into the clinician's menu to unlock the usage and efficacy data for me.  That's when she went into the spiel that I couldn't have access to the clinician's menu, blah, blah, blah.  I told her that I didn't want access to the clinician's menu, but that I wanted THEM to access it  to set it up up so that I could access the efficacy and usage data myself.  She said that I could access the hours of usage information, but I told her that would be of no real interest to me; I wanted the other data.  (Since I've never actually seen what info is available, I wasn't that certain about what exactly what data would be available.  Are they counting apneas/hypopneas?  Airflow leakage rates?).

She said she would look into what she could do; she wasn't familiar with that feature.  

I am not getting the vibe that these folks are deliberately trying to hide something from me; I just think that they just never give anyone anything other than the compliance-only Escapes, and they flat-out haven't run into someone who knew enough to ask for anything more than that.  They certainly have been willing to go back and investigate more every time I've told them they're not giving me what I wanted.   Even though the guy's statements above made him sound like a real jerk, it wasn't quite as condescending as it sounded.  I think he was a fairly simple guy himself, and he just commented (before I made my real pitch about how much I wanted to see the data) that he didn't see what anyone could get out of all that stuff.  Once I told him that I was very data driven and interested in seeing it, he agreed that if that's what would help motivate me to use it, he wanted me to have it.

It's frustrating that it's taking so long, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

Another question --- what about his comment about needing a separate prescription for a full face mask?  Because my titration study was done entirely with the Zest mask which was just a nasal mask, does that mean I need a separate study to determine the flow rate for a full face mask, or do you just assume that since I needed 10 cm H20 for that mask, that the same flow rate would work for a different mask?

Actually, you shouldn't need a new script for a full face mask, however, they are a different HCPCS code, so theorectially, yeah, they are w/in their rights to request a specific script for a full face mask. You're right, this supplier doesn't sound too bad other than insisting on going by the book and being somewhat unsure of themselves when they encounter a patient who knows a little bit about what is going on.

The access you want for the Efficacy Data via the LCD screen is the "advanced or detailed patient menu". They can find reference to it in the Users Manual AND the Clinicians Manual. If I remember correctly it is a matter of turning "SmartData" on in the Clinicians Menu.

The Efficacy Data includes the 95th percentile of Pressure, the 95th percentile of Leak, the AHI and the AI (from which you can figure the HI yourself). The 95th percentile is the number AT OR BELOW which you spent 95% of the night. You can also see those averages for 1 week, 1 month, 6 months and 1 year when you've used your xPAP that long.

If you do get the full face mask be sure to ask them to change your Mask Selection to the proper mask - which is Standard if you use other than a Resmed mask. At the Standard mask selection the Resmeds autmatically SUBTRACT 0.4 L/s (24 L/M) from the reported Leak rate. It is then up to you to find the allowed vent rate for that mask at your set pressure in the chart/table printed in the mask's literature and compute your true leak rate.


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Resmed VPAP Auto. Humidaire 3i, ProBasics Zzz-Mask full face, ResScan 3.7, S8 ResLink, Embla oximeter.
Currently trialing PR SystemOne BPAP Auto w/Bi-Flex, EncorePro 2.2, ConTec CMS-50D+ oximeter

Where can I buy a longer than 6 ft power cord for my new Resmed S8 AutoII cpap?

Finally, there is a mask that was invented for women who hate feeling like darth vader or tangled to death with hook-ups.  I was ready to quit the Cpap machine and give up.  Fortunately, I tried the SWIFT LT for Women.   It allows me to drink water, read, watch tv, and have none of those hard plastic and velcro straps all over my head.  The little nasal pillow is a dream compared to the mirage quattro, oracle 452, and others.  I sleep 7 hours without waking, turn on my side, L & R, and use it with my Resmed S8 Auto II Cpap with H4i.  This is a great combination.  My settings are 10-14.  Everything is perfect except that I need a longer cord than came with my machine.  Do you know where I could purchase a 10' power cord or one longer than 6 feet?

Have you considered using an extension cord or power strip to extend the length?

I would think that the machine has a low enough amp draw that using one of these wouldn't be an issue.