I got a CPAP

[bibboid]

Back in February I finally got my CPAP machine.
It has been two months and I am still trying to get used to this thing.

Does it ever get better?

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

I never had a hard time adjusting, personally... my whole airway tends to be pretty narrow, so my CPAP gives me the added benefit of opening up the whole thing wider and making breathing easier. I think lots of times doctors assume everyone hates the full face mask, but if you dislike the nasal pillows, give a mask a try. It might be more comfortable.

[bibboid]

Let me tell y’all the story.
I’ll do it in little bits ‘cause there’s a lot to it.

I have snored for years and my wife said I would regularly choke and gag in my sleep.
Five years ago my doctor set me up with a sleep study and they said I have serious sleep apnea.
Next thing I know a company I never heard of is calling me to arrange delivery of a CPAP.
I asked them if there was a copay or a fee or charge and they said, “We are just going to deliver the machine now and worry about the charge later.”
Ummm…..No. I don’t think so.
I told them to send me a payment schedule in writing for me to clear with my insurance and we can get the machine then.
They didn’t want to.
A month later I saw my doctor again and he said the vendor claimed that I ‘refused’ the machine.
I told him what happened and he said he would reach out to them and straighten it out.
Company called me again and quoted me a price per month but would not say how long I would be paying or send it to me in writing.
For six months my wife and I fought with them.
We couldn’t get a clear answer from them.
The doctor could not get a clear answer from them.
The insurance company could not get a clear answer from them.
If I recall correctly, the last time we spoke I told them to go eff themselves before hanging up.

And that is how my first round with the vendor went.

[Evil Homer]

I been on cpap for almost 5 years. It took me months to figure out which mask fit me. I absolutely hate having to wear this thing, especially when traveling. But I do feel a huge difference in my restfulness if I don’t wear it. There are days I feel like ripping it off my face and smashing it into a thousand pieces

[bibboid]

That first part took place in late 2019.
Then the pandemic hit and everything got back-burnered
So let’s jump to early 2023 when I get back to regular doctors visits.
New doctor looks at my history and asks, “Did you ever get a CPAP?”
I tell him the above story and he seems shocked.
He submits paperwork to start the process again.

Same vendor calls me and has me fill out a survey to see what machine I will need.
A week later they call and say that I need to pay them $35 so they can process my paperwork.
Ummmmmm….No. I don’t think so.
How much will they charge per month? They won’t tell me.
How long is the term of the lease? They won’t tell me.
“Give us $35 and then we can answer your questions.”
Ummmmm….No. I don’t think so.

Again, I had the doctor try to get information out of them with no success.
Again, I had the insurance company try to get information out of them with no success.
After three months of fighting we finally said “screw it” and sent them the $35.
Within a week they are ready to send a machine out.
“How much will it cost?” $70 a month.
“For how many months?” Twelve.
“Can I get that in writing?” We’ll get back to you.
*Morgan Freeman voice*. They never got back to him.

A month later I call back and ask the same questions.
They now say $120per month for the same term and they will get back to me in writing.

A month later I call back and it is now $30 per month and they will get back to me.

Finally December rolled around (at this point it was $50 per month) and we just said “Screw it” and told them to send the machine.

[bibboid]

January rolls around and we call the vendor to see if they are sending my machine.
They asked if we had scheduled a date and time?
We said No, because they had never asked us to.
So we schedule for a week later.
The day comes…..no machine.
We call and ask what is up and they said said it was cancelled because we never set up an appointment with a technician to set it up.
Again, this is because they never told us we had to.
So we schedule a technician appointment for a week later.
That day comes, the technician calls, but we still didn’t have a machine to set up.
Technician says he will schedule the delivery himself and get back to us.
Diagnostics are run. Settings are changed. Everything appears to b3 functioning properly.
I am given the contact information for a respiratory therapist for any future questions.
I send her an email introducing myself so I pop up on her radar.
The machine is finally delivered the second week of February.

[bibboid]

So I get the thing set up and working.
The first few nights I can barely sleep because I am getting used to having this big thing strapped to my face.
The thing is, I can no longer sleep on my left side (which I prefer) because the mask vents out the front and it would blow air constantly in my wife’s face.
And I can’t sleep on my back because that tends to break the seal and the mask starts making a hissing noise.
So I have to sleep on my right side and too much of that makes my right hip hurt.
Basically I would use it for just over four hours (the bare minimum I have to use it every night) and then take it off and get some actual sleep for the rest of the night.
It has been two months and I have slowly gotten a little more used to it but I still only keep the thing on all night maybe twice a week.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it just blew air on my face.
That is how it works when I first turn it on
But then sometimes it decides it has detected a leak so it does something to make itself twice as loud.
And that doesn’t make it happy then it starts beeping an alarm until I turn it off and on again.

And then some nights it just decides to double the pressure in the mask.
It is basically forcing me to inhale and resists my efforts to exhale.
And because it is pushing more air than my lungs will hold, it ends up pushing some to my stomach.
So I have to turn it off, sit up so I can belch all the air out of my stomach, and then turn it back on.

[Ishmeal Loves Kaseyhausen]

I got a CPAP back in 2010 or 2011. Before that I would choke in my sleep, snore ungodly loud, and doze off during conversations or the scariest, when driving. The first day after I got my machine was like a whole new world opened up.

I was switched to a BI-PAP 4 or 5 years ago. Even more life changing. You will get used to it.

[bibboid]

I was told to clean the machine and hoses weekly. Fine.
Dismantle the hoses and mask and wash them with soap and warm water and set them out to dry.
And the next night, the hoses don’t want to stay together.
Pull the slightest bit on the mask hose and it pops right out of the machine hose.
WHOOOOOOSH! Goes the air hose. BEEP BEEP! goes the alarm.
And off goes the machine for the night.

They gave me a number for a respiratory therapist to call when I have issues.
I called and left a message but she never called back.
I sent an email and she never responded.
On the third night of fighting with the hoses, I got an idea.
We have a roll of that stretchy bandaging wrap the doctors use in place of bandaids.
I wrapped that around the hose connection to hold it together.
It took four or five days of rewrapping to get it secure enough to hold firmly.
Most weeks it lasts seven days (until I have to clean the hoses again) but sometimes it comes apart midweek.
And that is how they still are two months later.
I have been texting the therapist every week to find a better solution with no response.
Good thing I don’t have a really important problem.

[Paul]

Apr 20, 2024 1:30:41 GMT -5 bibboid said:

I was told to clean the machine and hoses weekly. Fine.
Dismantle the hoses and mask and wash them with soap and warm water and set them out to dry.
And the next night, the hoses don’t want to stay together.
Pull the slightest bit on the mask hose and it pops right out of the machine hose.
WHOOOOOOSH! Goes the air hose. BEEP BEEP! goes the alarm.
And off goes the machine for the night.

They gave me a number for a respiratory therapist to call when I have issues.
I called and left a message but she never called back.
I sent an email and she never responded.
On the third night of fighting with the hoses, I got an idea.
We have a roll of that stretchy bandaging wrap the doctors use in place of bandaids.
I wrapped that around the hose connection to hold it together.
It took four or five days of rewrapping to get it secure enough to hold firmly.
Most weeks it lasts seven days (until I have to clean the hoses again) but sometimes it comes apart midweek.
And that is how they still are two months later.
I have been texting the therapist every week to find a better solution with no response.
Good thing I don’t have a really important problem.

The rubber on the hose end eventually becomes expanded and won't hold the CPAP mask end in anymore. You have to replace the hose every couple months. Make sure you're washing the hose with baby shampoo.

[wankah]

Knew someone who was an arsehole while in the books, but anyway, his final battle was to use cpap that he refused to use 'cause that was old man's thing. So, use it, even if it is drag.

[Paul]

I'm just going to throw this out there as a suggestion for not just the OP, but anyone here who uses a CPAP machine...

Get a heated hose. They help keep the water in your humidifier chamber warm and it makes it a lot more comfortable and helps reduce dry mouth (for me, anyway).

[bibboid]

Soon after they first sent the machine, they sent a bill for the setup. It was an itemized list broken down to the point that they separated the CPAP and the humidifier which are both contained in one machine. (?) We paid that.

Six weeks later we got a nasty phone call asking why we haven’t paid our bill. The wife told them they never sent a bill to pay. They basically called her a liar. Wife told them to send us a bill and we would pay it. A week later we still didn’t have a bill. Wife calls the vendor and they have no idea what she is talking about. Wife tells them one last time to send us an itemized bill and we will pay it.

Last week we finally got a bill from vendor. Once again, they are charging USA rental on both the CPAP and the humidifier separately despite being one machine. They charged us the highest rate of all the amounts they had quoted us and they added on a late fee for March. The wife called to question the amount and get the late fee reversed. They basically said that we just needed to pay it. Wife asked if this was going to be the charge for all 12 months of our rental. Vendor says the contract (which we never saw) is for fifteen months and not twelve. And then they say that once the machine is ours we will be responsible to pay a monthly fee for monitoring for FIVE YEARS.

Under these terms, we will be paying an out of pocket of just over $3000 by the time this is done. I don’t even want to know how much they will charge my insurance.

I will be stopping by our local pharmacy during the week to see what kind of deal they can offer me to buy my own CPAP. Then when I see my doctor in another week, I will have him write me a prescription to buy the machine. And then I am going to pack this one up and send it back with a note telling them to shove it up their asses.

[Sephiroth]

My father uses one. I wish he didn’t have to, it’s due to obesity. But he has sung its praises, saying it’s the best he’s slept in ages. When he showed it to me, I couldn’t resist asking if he’s wanted to say “Luke! I am your father!” He said “Of course!”

[Paul]

Apr 21, 2024 3:01:13 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

My father uses one. I wish he didn’t have to, it’s due to obesity. But he has sung its praises, saying it’s the best he’s slept in ages. When he showed it to me, I couldn’t resist asking if he’s wanted to say “Luke! I am your father!” He said “Of course!”

Oh yeah! Aside from getting good sleep; being able to pretend you're Darth Vader is the other big advantage of using a CPAP machine.

[floundertime]

I get a better quality of sleep with it. That being said there will be a couple nights a month where I just can’t sleep and I’ll take it off and try and sleep. Now I had those couple nights a week before I used it, so it’s not caused by that.

The only real issue I have is when I travel. Hate lugging that thing around the world and then trying to get distilled water overseas. Good luck with that! I bring my own water when I travel.

[Paul]

Apr 21, 2024 11:12:21 GMT -5 floundertime said:

I get a better quality of sleep with it. That being said there will be a couple nights a month where I just can’t sleep and I’ll take it off and try and sleep. Now I had those couple nights a week before I used it, so it’s not caused by that.

The only real issue I have is when I travel. Hate lugging that thing around the world and then trying to get distilled water overseas. Good luck with that! I bring my own water when I travel.

You might want to look into a ResMed AirMini travel CPAP machine or another travel-sized CPAP machine.