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CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
#11
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
(07-15-2019, 09:02 AM)DaveL Wrote: Thanks for your post. My story is about the same.
Things are much better.
However, I live in Ontario Canada where equipment specification is restricted, and cost is extremely high.  My sleep doc sells equipment. I haven't had a prescription from him for a new machine, though I'm overdue. My fault.  I want to specify what I get based on wonderful information here.
My old sleep doc (from h_ll) told me that my actions were effectively "practicing medicine without a license." because I changed pressure on my machine. I have other stories that add stress...
I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn by reading here. I don't feel worthy to help or advise others because I have so much to learn.
The last time I checked, the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her was listed (incorrectly) as a CPAP in Ontario and as such you can get IMHO the best APAP at a CPAP price.
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#12
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
(07-15-2019, 09:19 AM)bonjour Wrote:
(07-15-2019, 09:02 AM)DaveL Wrote: Thanks for your post. My story is about the same.
Things are much better.
However, I live in Ontario Canada where equipment specification is restricted, and cost is extremely high.  My sleep doc sells equipment. I haven't had a prescription from him for a new machine, though I'm overdue. My fault.  I want to specify what I get based on wonderful information here.
My old sleep doc (from h_ll) told me that my actions were effectively "practicing medicine without a license." because I changed pressure on my machine. I have other stories that add stress...
I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn by reading here. I don't feel worthy to help or advise others because I have so much to learn.
The last time I checked, the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her was listed (incorrectly) as a CPAP in Ontario and as such you can get IMHO the best APAP at a CPAP price.
Thanks bonjour. 
I'm treading water carefully with my new sleep doc: he sells equipment himself.
During the follow-up after my first sleep test in 10 years I said I wanted an autopap machine. He said no; he said that my treatment was effective using a cpap machine. Then he asked why would I want an autopap?
DaveL
compliant for 35 years /// Still trying!

I'm just a cpap user like you. I don't give medical advice. Seek the advice of a physician before seeking treatment for medical conditions including sleep apnea. Sleep-well

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php..._The_Guide

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#13
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
(07-14-2019, 08:29 PM)DaveL Wrote: What did people do?

The same thing that a lot of people still do -- nothing! Many people have CPAP machines but don't use them.

Before we had CPAP machines the only remedy was a tracheotomy. And those were done under the most extreme of cases. Doctors just assumed patients can live with the problem if it's not bad enough to require surgery. What else could they do? There was no effective treatment.

CPAP machines are rather complicated and I doubt the technology to create them existed until the computer age came around.

Unfortunately, many doctors are still operating under the old mindset. They seem reluctant to send patients for sleep studies, and they seem reluctant to learn this new technology. Many doctors just check for compliance, as if getting the patient connected to a CPAP machine is all that's needed.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#14
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
(07-15-2019, 09:45 AM)DaveL Wrote:
(07-15-2019, 09:19 AM)bonjour Wrote:
(07-15-2019, 09:02 AM)DaveL Wrote: Thanks for your post. My story is about the same.
Things are much better.
However, I live in Ontario Canada where equipment specification is restricted, and cost is extremely high.  My sleep doc sells equipment. I haven't had a prescription from him for a new machine, though I'm overdue. My fault.  I want to specify what I get based on wonderful information here.
My old sleep doc (from h_ll) told me that my actions were effectively "practicing medicine without a license." because I changed pressure on my machine. I have other stories that add stress...
I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn by reading here. I don't feel worthy to help or advise others because I have so much to learn.
The last time I checked, the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her was listed (incorrectly) as a CPAP in Ontario and as such you can get IMHO the best APAP at a CPAP price.
Thanks bonjour. 
I'm treading water carefully with my new sleep doc: he sells equipment himself.
During the follow-up after my first sleep test in 10 years I said I wanted an autopap machine. He said no; he said that my treatment was effective using a cpap machine. Then he asked why would I want an autopap?
Per the Province of Ontario, the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her IS a CPAP, the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet is not, it is an APAP.  This is a loophole in the Ontario system.
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#15
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
(07-14-2019, 09:38 PM)PaulaO2 Wrote: They died. Slowly. They developed various conditions.

My father also had sleep apnea. He was diagnosed late in life but by then, it was too late. He was notorious for his snoring.

According to my brief Google searching, obstruction was not "discovered" until the late 70s. Sullivan began toying with gadgets and positive pressure in 1980. But the first consumer available device was not until '85. Even then, the machines were created with the idea of them being band-aids until the person had surgery.

We've come a long way, baby.

This.

My dad passed away at the age of 57 due to kidney failure most likely resulting from untreated high blood pressure.  He had been prescribed CPAP but "couldn't stand it" so didn't use it.
His brother (my uncle) passed away at the age of 58 due to congestive heart failure after an earlier stroke devastated his quality of life.  
Their dad (my grandfather) lived to 82, but had a tracheostomy for the last 20 years of his life that let him breathe at night.

Each was known for their epic snoring, as was I.

I didn't start CPAP therapy until the age of 44 with an AHI of 58 due to a combination of stubbornness, denial, and a little bit of incompetence in the medical community, but there is little doubt I've suffered from it since I was in my late teens.  My hope is that I can at least prevent if not reverse the health damage from untreated OSA.

Thank goodness for CPAP!
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#16
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
(07-15-2019, 10:29 AM)bonjour Wrote:
(07-15-2019, 09:45 AM)DaveL Wrote:
(07-15-2019, 09:19 AM)bonjour Wrote: The last time I checked, the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her was listed (incorrectly) as a CPAP in Ontario and as such you can get IMHO the best APAP at a CPAP price.
Thanks bonjour. 
I'm treading water carefully with my new sleep doc: he sells equipment himself.
During the follow-up after my first sleep test in 10 years I said I wanted an autopap machine. He said no; he said that my treatment was effective using a cpap machine. Then he asked why would I want an autopap?
Per the Province of Ontario, the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her IS a CPAP, the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet is not, it is an APAP.  This is a loophole in the Ontario system.


bonjour thanks!

Your comment is an incredible help! I'll see if I can use this to get a machine.
DaveL
compliant for 35 years /// Still trying!

I'm just a cpap user like you. I don't give medical advice. Seek the advice of a physician before seeking treatment for medical conditions including sleep apnea. Sleep-well

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php..._The_Guide

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#17
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
I worked with a guy back in the late 70s into the 80s who had apnea real bad. Multiple vehicle accidents, constantly falling asleep and irritable. He didn't last long as he was into his 30s when he passed away. Always wondered how he would have been if technology had advanced enough at the time to have cpap machines readily available.

Poor guy had to suffer right up to his passing which with out doubt was cause by a form of apnea.
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#18
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
Not sure what Ontario's system is thinking there, but in reality, an APAP is a CPAP that is simply auto-adjusting.  "APAP" has been used as an informal term, when the more accurate term is "Auto-CPAP".

The term "CPAP" stands for "Continuous Positive Airway Pressure" meaning that the pressure is "continuous" or "non-stop".  That continuous pressure happens in BOTH what most folks call CPAP & APAP machines.  The only difference is that one machine operates at a continuous fixed-pressure, while the other operates at a continuous auto-adjusting pressure.  The positive airway pressure is continuous in both of them.

So, technically, a CPAP machine includes both those that operate in fixed-pressure mode and those that operate in auto-adjusting mode.

But, there's so much confusion over this issue that even government programs, insurance companies, DMEs and medical providers are often clueless, which is probably why Ontario's system has it confused.

I'd say, take advantage of their confusion while you can.   Coffee

Here in the states, the billing code for both CPAP and Auto-CPAP is the exact same.  No difference.  It's usually the DMEs that throw fits over you asking for an Auto-CPAP when your script doesn't say either way (because they make more money if you accept a fixed-pressure CPAP instead of an Auto-CPAP), but they get reimbursed the same amount for both machines in the U.S. system).  That's why your life will be much easier [with some DMEs] if you have your doctor write the script for "Auto-CPAP with pressure range of X to X".
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.


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#19
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
Thanks SuperSleeper.
Sleep doc said begrudgingly I could buy an auto-clap without guvmint funding; however, the prescription would be written for cpap/13.

Someone here was very helpful giving me a link to search for used auto-cpap equipment However, I've lost it.

I hope they'll help again, and tell me what sites to look on.
DaveL
compliant for 35 years /// Still trying!

I'm just a cpap user like you. I don't give medical advice. Seek the advice of a physician before seeking treatment for medical conditions including sleep apnea. Sleep-well

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php..._The_Guide

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#20
RE: CPAP treatment started in 1980...what did people do before?
DaveL - Look at Supplier #2. They have an excellent review history.
Crimson Nape
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com
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Useful Links -or- When All Else Fails:
The Guide to Understanding OSCAR
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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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