Wow! I love scuba diving and don’t consider myself claustrophobic at all but I don’t think I could wear that mask. With that much area to form the seal, don’t you have problems with leaks?
Discuss with your current doctor, first of all; I suspect they’d want to do another sleep study given that yours was so long ago.
When I went for my titration study, they handed me a mask and told me to get used to it. No trying of different styles. When** Typo Knig** went for his, at a different clinic, they had him come in beforehand and try several different styles before picking one for the titration. I think his was a much better experience as a result.
The DME provider should also be willing to let you try a couple of different ones. I actually took the first one she brought me (they came to my house, ditto with Typo) because she strongly recommended it and it was a hell of an improvement over the titration one. There are aspects I don’t love about it (like the strap tends to ride off the back of my head, and the pillows are in my nose due more to inertia than anything else), and I might try a different one next time around, but it works well enough in general.
You can usually get things sorted out for side sleeping. Several things come to mind: a hose clip that puts an elastic around the hose - and a clip (like the ones that come with identity badges) that attaches it to your bedding or your clothes. Reduces the pulling on the mask / hose structure.
A different pillow - one that lets you scrunch it a bit to get it out of the way of the gear - might be useful.
The machine: there are some features to look for, that I would strongly recommend. Specifically, heated humidifier, and exhalation relief. An earlier thread had a link to another forum which discussed the various options. If you do try this again, discuss before they order the equipment and tell them that if they do not meet this, you will not try the equipment. I specifically asked for a top-featured model, an auto-titrating one. This was because I believed the in-clinic titration results were flawed (turns out they weren’t THAT far off). Typo Knig’s is not auto-titrating but does have the exhalation relief.
Insurers vary on how they cover it. Another poster (Duke?) recently got one and apparently he had to pay up front, then I gather would get reimbursed if he used it for 2 months. Mine “rented” it for me over a period of 11 months, then it was considered purchased.
Oooh - that earlier thread (that I started about 2 years ago):
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=556722&highlight=cpap
Scroll down to YWalker’s postings - she (he?) linked to that other forum with a lot of good info about the machines.
Oooh - a general comment: the air those things move is not enough for any kind of exertion. Get your minds out of the gutters ;), I mean the even slightly-increased breathing rate resulting from getting up, going to the bathroom, coming back to bed, and flopping around getting comfy and getting the hardware positioned. I find I have to take a couple of breaths through my mouth before I get past the feeling of being short of breath.
I didn’t address the cost. With an in-network DME provider, I think I was paying 18 a month during the rental period, for the machine. The mask / hose costs me about 25 every 3 months if I replace it that often (again, this is after insurance pays their part). A bit more when I get a replacement water reservoir (every 6ish months).
I think insurance pays for a new machine every 5ish years. Since I’m not quite 2 years in, I don’t know for sure.
Since we have the same mask, I’m curious how often you actually replace yours. I’ve had mine 5-6 months and don’t know if it needs to be replaced or not. Do you replace the whole headgear or just the nose part? Do you clean yours regularly? (I certainly don’t) Can you tell when yours needs to be replaced? Like I said, I’ve had mine 5-6 months and I like the way it’s fitting. I’m afraid that if I get a new one, I’ll have to break it in or something.
Sorry for all of the questions. Feel free to ignore anything you feel is too personal.
The DME provider contacts me every 3 months to ask if I want them to send one. The first year I did, because I’d hit my out-of-pocket limit and so it was “free”. Realistically I’d like to replace the nose pillows every month or two - I think you’re supposed to.
The thing comes with everything, including headgear, though the only time I’ve actually bothered with that was last fall. We stayed at a hotel for 3 nights, and they stuck us in a godawful SMOKING room. Everything reeked when I got back - I was afraid the machine itself was ruined. Fortunately tossing the headgear / hose, and getting a fresh reservoir and filter, was enough.
Oh - and I can’t tell for sure, but sometimes it seems like it’s not sealing as well when the pillow is getting old. I’m not good about washing it every day either, but I typically have one “in use” and another spare, that I wash and swap out every couple of days.
Speaking of costs, Resmed can suck it for their US/Canada pricing structure. Here in Canada their products cost roughly 40% more than US pricing and Resmed will pull their distribution rights from any US retailer that’s caught shipping to a Canadian address.
My provider had loaner units and loaner masks of all shapes and sizes so you could try different combinations until you found one that worked for you.
I’m fortunate that I’m double insured so I get 100% coverage for both the machine and replacement parts.
I’ll also put in a plug for using a mask liner. I hated hated the slick feel of silicone against my skin plus I got an awful red triangle around my mouth and nose that took half a day to disappear, so I found someone selling mask liners made out of micro-fiber cloth. It reduced leaks and the red marks and made the mask more comfortable. Google Pad-a-cheek for the covers plus other things like hose covers.
Another of the difficulties I had was, the edges of the mask didn’t always make a good contact with my face all around, so it leaked. How well-tailored does the mask need to be (and how well-tailored does it need to be) for this to work? Do I just have a non-ANSI-standard shaped face or something?
How often should the mask be replaced? And simpler (or maybe cheaper) than that, is it possible to just replace the soft rubber seal around the edge of the mask? I never felt that my HMO provider nor the DME provider were “accessible” enough to stop by and ask questions like that – they always seemed to be so perfunctory in their dealings.
Re: Loaner masks and pillows (mentioned a few posts above): Gaak! Is this for real? That squicks me out. How thoroughly can you sterilize things like that, so that more than one person can use them? That sounds almost like trying out several sets of loaner dentures until you find the set that fits best. Bleah! Really?
No I don’t have any leaks that I’m aware of. It really fits my face amazingly well. I sleep on my back mostly but even on my side it’s fine. I really do love this mask.
That’s the problem I had so I went with the one that covered the entire face. Before that I would futz with the mask a few times a night and I would try a new design every time I was eligible for a new mask.