Brands, features, styles… My trusty happy sleep machine started clanking the other night, and after ten-13 years, it is time for a new one. I haven’t slept well in days and it’s been a hectic week. I managed to pick up a prescription from my doctor for a new one, and sent it in to CPAP.com, which my SO recommended. But the choices are overwhelming. I can’t figure out what features I need or what half the jargon means anymore. When I got my machine back in 2001 (?) I had no choice…they sent a guy out to the house, he fitted me for a mask and handed me the machine.
I don’t use the ramp feature, I had a passover humidifier that I stopped using but the past few weeks I’ve been waking up with a horribly dry mouth and was just about to dig it out again. I’m happy with the mask I use, so no decisions to be made there. I travel by plane frequently so small and light are good. We don’t have many power outages so that autostart feature isn’t crucial. The cat that used to sit on top of my CPAP and shut the button off has passed, and the other cats don’t do that!
So help me sort through all the brands with your recommendations! My old one is a Respironics. My pressure is 8. That’s all I know!
I don’t have a whole lot of advice to offer, except that I’ve been using a ResMed machine for the past 7 years and have been happy with it.
I really think you can’t go wrong in picking a machine - they seem to be getting better and better every year. I got my first CPAP in 2004 and had a terrible time getting used to it because it just seemed very loud. When I married Mr. Ipsum in 2006 and got on his health insurance, I was able to get a new one, and it was so much quieter. I sold the other one on Craigslist, and the guy who bought it commented that this machine (the one I thought was so loud) was much quieter than the one he had been using. I can only assume that the ones made in 2013 have even more improvements.
If I were to get a new machine today I’d probably go with ResMed because I’ve been happy with my current one. By the same token, if you are happy with Respironics, it might be worth sticking with them.
I’m getting ready to replace mine, too, so I can’t be much help on what’s available.
But I did pop in to mention that my insurance requires another sleep study to verify that the pressure setting is still correct if it’s been more than 4 years since the last one.
From the reading I’ve done (prior to finding that out), if you don’t have to do that, you might want to look at one of the machines with monitoring or self-adjusting settings, just to be sure.
I would concur on the need to check that your settings are still good. You might have gained/lost weight. Something else might have changed. Or whatever.
I insisted on an auto-titrating machine (APAP) because I had reason to believe that my titration setting didn’t give the best data. The sleep clinic I go to now doesn’t necessarily love APAPs as a rule but didn’t insist on my switching. Plus an APAP machine can be locked down to be “just” CPAP mode.
I would definitely go for something with a humidifier. Even if you don’t need it all the time, better to have it than not.
CPAP.com and other sites will help you see what the latest and greatest and most popular models are, as well as what the prices will be like. Obviously what you pay if you have insurance may be quite different than that. They also have a lot of educational material there.
My own machine (nearly 3 years old now) is a REMStar System One - no longer the most current one. One nice feature (that I think the newest one has as well) is that the humidifier is detachable so you can take just the base unit if you’re travelling and want to save space. Others may have that as well. One thing I do not like about it is that the easy on/off button is a bit touchy. I’ll smack at it to turn it off in the morning and I’m not sure why - maybe my hand accidentally twists it or something - but instead of turning off, it just starts beeping nonstop until I smack it again.
Oh yeah!! A fellow Doper pointed me there 3 years ago when I was getting my first machine, and this thread in particular which has tons of information on things to look for. The thread itself is 5-6 years old so some models mentioned won’t be current, but the basic facts are still good.
A year or so ago I did a 30 day trial of a Resmed S9 and a 30 day trial of a Respironics System One.
The System One was a little quieter but probably not enough to swing me one way or the other.
I liked the display of the S9 better than the one on the System One.
However the Resmed S9 had a humidifier tank could not be opened for cleaning. It was also difficult to see the little internal piece of plastic that indicated how full the tank was.
That was a deal breaker for me and I went with the Respironics System One.
i have seen some posts on the CpapTalk forum HERE that indicate that the S9 humidifier tank has been modified so it can be opened. The forum is a good source of info and it might be worth taking a look at some past threads there.
Yes, about a year and a half ago, Resmed brought out a humidifier tank that can be opened for cleaning. Believe it’s top rack dishwasher safe, but I could easily be wrong on that.
The one thing they lacked back then when my husband was using CPAP was a Climate Line hose extension or even just a longer Climate Line hose, which would have let him put the machine on the shelf inside the nightstand, rather than being forced to put the thing on top.