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Intro - Haroldsdrifting - 03-15-2019
Hi,
My name is Harold. I was diagnosed with SA somewhere around 2006. I was given a Fisher & Paykel Sleep Style 200. I used that for a few years but then after a while it seemed to stop working. I talked to my doctor somewhere around the end of 2010 and instead of adjusting the machine he suggested a mouth piece. I'm sure you're all familiar with the one that moves your lower jaw forward. This worked about 85% of the time or so.
I lived with that until six months ago. Age and and I guess my love for caramel syrup in my coffee helped me put on a bunch of weight. The mouth piece stopped working. When I woke up five days in a row with a migraine and so light headed I felt drunk I decided it was time to dust off the old CPAP machine and give it a try again
Unfortunately my situation has changed drastically and I don't have health insurance... So that sucks. I do have limited access to a Doctor though. Although he is a general practitioner. I am going to see a pulmonologist in the beginning of April though I don't know how much he will be able to help with SA.
I saw what it said here on the board about dumb brick machines which is sadly what I have, Sleep Style 200. I am considering upgrading to an APAP but I would have to pay for it and of course money is tight. So I'm looking at refurbished machines. The GP did write me a prescription for a new mask so I'm hoping he'll write me one for an APAP machine.
I've toyed with buying something off of ebay but frankly, I'm a little worried about that. There's obviously no warranty but worse than that is I'm sure they haven't been cleaned or sterilized in anyway. Who knows who breathed what into them? Anyone know how much of a gamble that is? Can they be cleaned and sterilized at home?
Honestly I'm kinda on the edge here. Waking up is a nightmare. I feel like someone had been punching me in the face for half the night. If I'm lucky and don't have a headache I still have to sit there in bed for 20 minutes before I can gather enough of my wits to begin the day. Then there's the light headedness, sluggishness and drifting off to sleep at the drop of a hat.
I've started toying with the pressure on my machine but so far I've only gone up the recommend .5 and there hasn't been much improvement...
RE: Intro - mesenteria - 03-15-2019
What information can you extract from your machine? Does it give you a readout of some kind so that you know it's doing its job?
I think you should get a used machine from reputable sellers at the auction sites. Those with ratings below about 95% are likely to be troublesome as often as not. Those with solid star ratings, and who have many sales showing, will stand by their product and you'll have recourse anyway if you pay by credit card, or the auction site will intervene.
Don't worry about cleanliness. You'll put in your own new filter, and you should acquire the appropriate headgear, cushion, and tube for the machine you purchase, but new. About the only likely/possible problem will be if the previous user was a smoker and left smoldering cigarettes near the bedside. New tube and mask won't have been exposed to that.
About the way you are waking: IF....IF....the machine is actually pretty much treating you, it might be the normal brain fog so many of us who know we are properly treated feel. Honestly, I can't tell you how many people come to this forum complaining that their machine says they are getting the correctly configured pressures, and that their daily AHI is well below the 4.9 upper limit of events per hour, but that they live in a fog, and still feel tired. This may be what you are experiencing. However, we don't know how well your current machine is treating your apnea.
You'll get more responses, so please be patient.
RE: Intro - jaswilliams - 03-15-2019
If you want to buy new look at Supplier #33 or for open box and lightly used look at Supplier #2 but both these options are dearer than your local Craig’s list
RE: Intro - Sleeprider - 03-15-2019
Please keep your eyes open for a Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset. They are by far the best choice for your situation with full data and the best auto CPAP response available. As Jaswilliams said, you can get a new one for about $600 with humidifier and tubing from Supplier #33. Many members have gotten very good prices through Craigslist sellers, and a good search tool for Craigslist is the SearchTempest search engine. Enter the search term CPAP Machine or Resmed and you should find some.
RE: Intro - Gideon - 03-15-2019
Periodically I see a particular seller on CT forum w very low hour autoset for 415 to 435 is that manageable?
RE: Intro - Haroldsdrifting - 03-15-2019
There is a display on the sleep style 200. I can change the water temperature and through the clinicians menu I can change the elevation and the pressure. As far as I know there is no feedback into how well it’s working. There’s no data card.
I didn’t think of craigslist for a cpap. There are several machines there. The most promising looks to be a ResMed S9 Auto CPAP
RE: Intro - Sleeprider - 03-15-2019
The S9 is a very competent machine. Please note that it uses an SD card for data and produces about the same data and therapy as the Airsense 10. Get a copy of the Clinician manual before you look at the machine so you know how to use the menu to find the total run hours. https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-pressure/change-cpap-pressure-settings-adjusting-your-machine-with-a-clinician-setup-manual
If you get the S9, you need to use the SD Card Lock to prevent system files from being written when you insert the card into a computer. Read this article http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php?title=Secure_Digital_(SD)_memory_card
RE: Intro - Sleep2Snore - 03-15-2019
Get either an ResMed S9 or better size wise a ResMedAirsense10Autoset.
If you get a bargain you might want to look at a Resperonics Dreamstation.
I tried all three machines and I went for the ResMed 10 as it was smaller, neater than the S9. The Dreamstation was OK but it had a strange set up where the humidifier was at the rear of the machine and the hose came over the top which I didn't care for, also it didn't appear to be so quick in responding as the ResMeds. However, if you get a bargain I would not overlook it.
The Resmed Airsense 10 has manuals online or you can download one from here.
Set on auto low around 8 and leave it set to 20 high. It should not go higher than you need. It is up to yourself if you use EPR to drop the pressure when you breath out to help when breathing against the pressure. The ramp function leaves some people feel they are being air starved, so you might not use it, it you can avoid this I would.
New machines around $600 and second hand low usage around 400 from the second hand firm of almost same name in our list of users.
Masks have evolved a bit these days, though I wouldn't recommend one as everyone get on better with different masks. $200 is not a huge amount between a second hand and a new one, but the firm does have a warranty on their second hand machines. At the end of the day it is what you can afford.
RE: Intro - Haroldsdrifting - 03-15-2019
So there is a Resmed s9 available on Craigslist for $300 (asking) but there’s also one online for $289 refurbished with a six month warranty. I don’t know how to refer to this seller because it’s not on your list of suppliers.
I’ve tried to look them up online but I can’t find much. I would love to be able to ask if anyone has bought anything from these people and how satisfied they were with their purchase. Is there a way for me to do that?
RE: Intro - Melman - 03-15-2019
You can refer to the seller by name to allow someone to do a google search but cannot give the internet link. For example, I can suggest someone search for an item at Amazon but not include the link or even try a workaround to post a link by replacing . with dot.