[CPAP] Can my mom use my machine to test?

[elocin71]

I was diagnosed in September 2014 and my daughter was just diagnosed last month, so apnea seems to run in my family. I managed to get my mom to wear an oximeter and downloaded her data into Sleepyhead. Her data looks suspiciously like my daughter's, with O2 falling under 93% at times.

My mom doesn't have the money right now to do a sleep study and I think it would be a hard sell without any proof. Can I set my machine up so that my mom can try using it? After my study, they sent me home with my PR System One and it auto-titrated. I'm just afraid that I won't be able to get it back to my settings afterward.

Or can machines be rented? I could use my prescription.

Any suggestions?

Thank you

[big_dave]

It's nice of you to want to help your mom like that. You will want to get a clinician's manual from http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-pr...tup-manual . Then, write down your own settings so you can change them back when you're done. Of course, that will leave you without a machine while she's trying it out.

If you used auto trial mode to set your pressure, you will want to use the data from Sleepyhead to set the pressure when your mom is done with your machine.

Edit: One more thing to be aware of: If your machine is a DS450 or DS460, it is limited to 30 days in auto trial mode. (The DS560 does not have this limitation.) If auto trial mode isn't available for your mom, many people on Apnea Board can still help you.

[trish6hundred]

Hi elocin71,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more suggestions. Your Mom is very fortunate to have you looking out for her.
I wish you both good luck.

[Sleeprider]

If your mom is using the machine, she will be using a therapy pressure of at least 4.0 cm, so it is not a good representation of untreated apnea. You can get home testing and prescription services for as low as $299 from Supplier #30. That would not only identify apenea, but would give you a diagnosis and Rx. That is about as good as I know of for uninsured people.

[Mosquitobait]

The primary disadvantage of not doing a sleep study is in the case that there is another cause of symptoms. For instance, many of the same symptoms can be caused by diabetes (other than the snoring and gasping).

I'm doing what you are doing for both Mom and sister. Mom is unwilling to do a sleep study and sis has no insurance coverage for it. So, since I now have a backup machine, I plan to 'experiment' on both to determine if they actually need a machine. My Mom's doc was ok with this (She wants the reports). If sis is tolerant of the machine, and shows (as I'm sure it will) that she has apnea, then we can get her a home study via Supplier #30. However, if she finds having something on her face intolerable, no amount of convincing will get her to use the machine anyway (issues from a neck injury), so there would be no point in forking out $300 to cover it.

[DeepBreathing]

Or can machines be rented? I could use my prescription.

I think what you're suggesting may not be strictly legal. Apnea Board or its members can't advise you on a course of action which may be against the law.

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Or can machines be rented? I could use my prescription.

I think what you're suggesting may not be strictly legal. Apnea Board or its members can't advise you on a course of action which may be against the law.

I assumed, and will continue to assume, that everything discussed here was hypothetical.

Allegedly,
OMMOHY

[Mosquitobait]

Or can machines be rented? I could use my prescription.

I think what you're suggesting may not be strictly legal. Apnea Board or its members can't advise you on a course of action which may be against the law.

I assumed, and will continue to assume, that everything discussed here was hypothetical.

Allegedly,
OMMOHY

Using YOUR machine on another family member is not an issue. Using your prescription to buy or rent a machine for someone ELSE is what would not be legal.