In the Saint Louis area most doctors prefer to prescribe Respironics machines. I had decided my goal was to get a Resmed S9 Autoset that had just came out. Finding a sleep lab that would be accepting of someone wanting an Autoset was quite a problem at the time. I heard from one place that people generally don't continue with therapy after they get those machines because we don't see many of them again. I found a lot of humor in that statement after the research I had done on auto-titrating machines. Sleep study finally occurred and got my paper prescription and located a small family owned DME firm that would see that I got the machine I wanted and not a brick.
I started with a S9 Autoset in May of 2010. Doctor said to use it in CPAP mode at 18. They didn't even set it up to collect data. I was lucky that I adapted to the machine easily. They about had to kick me out of the sleep lab and were able to do the full study in one night. After getting the machine on me I wanted to stay there with the thing attached to my face. It was the best sleep I ever got. Compliance was not an issue and the machine was mine after 30 days. I quickly switched it to APAP mode and a 16/20 setting with an EPR of 3. It worked great and my AHI was always below 4.
After about 18 months I upgraded through self pay to a S9 VPAP Auto and I used it for about 18 months before upgrading it to a S9 VPAP Adapt in the past month. The S9 Adapt in ASVAuto mode is a wonderful machine for me and it is a luxury to have it. I could never justify to have the insurance company buy me such a machine but with my contacts I had developed it was quite affordable.
History:
- 2010-05 - S9 Autoset Mode: CPAP 18
- 2010-06 - S9 Autoset 16/20 EPR 3
- 2011-12 - S9 VPAP Auto Mode: VAuto Max IPAP: 20 Min EPAP: 12 PS: 5.0
- 2012-12 - S9 VPAP Auto Mode: VAuto Max IPAP: 16 Min EPAP: 11 PS: 4.0
- 2013-07 - S9 VPAP Adapt Mode: ASVAuto Min EPAP: 4, Max EPAP: 15, Min PS: 3, Max PS: 15
I look forward to being more active on your forum.