03-31-2017, 08:26 AM
Advice re: changing CPAP settings
Good morning! I am new to the forum and am looking for some advice regarding changing my CPAP settings.
I started CPAP therapy almost 1.5 years ago. My initial pressure was 13 cmH2O. I did fairly well at that pressure, but still didn't feel quite as good as I should. My average AHI during that time was 2.90, with very rare nights where it went above 10. I also found that I was still up 3-4 times every night.
After a year of therapy, my doctor ordered another sleep study. My pressure was lowered to 6 cmH2O. Since then my average AHI has been 8.47, with several nights above 30. The majority of events are hypopneas.
My first thought is to call my doctor and have him change my pressure back to 13 cmH2O. However, I am not very comfortable with this doctor. To my knowledge, he has never reviewed any of the therapy data. I found out that he has an undisclosed financial interest in the sleep center, so I suspect that his answer if I contact him will be to send me for yet another sleep study. Since the sleep center is out of network for my insurance, it has been a fight to get each of the past sleep studies paid for, with the sleep center telling me that the portion of the bill which I am responsible for will be written off once I schedule my next study. I still haven't seen a bill for the most recent study from December, although my insurance is denying it as not medically necessary.
I have found the clinician setup manual for my machine. My only concern is about the compliance data sent to my insurance company. I have read the part in the Wiki about changing your own settings, and the fact that it is not illegal to do so. But I don't know whether or not I could have an issue with my insurance company if I do change the settings, or if they would even know. My thought, since my machine is an auto CPAP, is to set it to auto with minimum pressure at 6 cmH2O.
Also, is there any reason I need to continue seeing this doctor? What happens as far as my prescription if I were to switch to another doctor?
I started CPAP therapy almost 1.5 years ago. My initial pressure was 13 cmH2O. I did fairly well at that pressure, but still didn't feel quite as good as I should. My average AHI during that time was 2.90, with very rare nights where it went above 10. I also found that I was still up 3-4 times every night.
After a year of therapy, my doctor ordered another sleep study. My pressure was lowered to 6 cmH2O. Since then my average AHI has been 8.47, with several nights above 30. The majority of events are hypopneas.
My first thought is to call my doctor and have him change my pressure back to 13 cmH2O. However, I am not very comfortable with this doctor. To my knowledge, he has never reviewed any of the therapy data. I found out that he has an undisclosed financial interest in the sleep center, so I suspect that his answer if I contact him will be to send me for yet another sleep study. Since the sleep center is out of network for my insurance, it has been a fight to get each of the past sleep studies paid for, with the sleep center telling me that the portion of the bill which I am responsible for will be written off once I schedule my next study. I still haven't seen a bill for the most recent study from December, although my insurance is denying it as not medically necessary.
I have found the clinician setup manual for my machine. My only concern is about the compliance data sent to my insurance company. I have read the part in the Wiki about changing your own settings, and the fact that it is not illegal to do so. But I don't know whether or not I could have an issue with my insurance company if I do change the settings, or if they would even know. My thought, since my machine is an auto CPAP, is to set it to auto with minimum pressure at 6 cmH2O.
Also, is there any reason I need to continue seeing this doctor? What happens as far as my prescription if I were to switch to another doctor?
