[Diagnosis] Already giving me headache...I'm not a technical person

[CarolC]

Hi everyone...it took me awhile to remember my password and then I couldn't find my posting...but I kept scrolling and found it, and so many good replies! The test I took was overnight last Friday, I was to be there at 9, I was early, the tech was standing out by his truck, locked out of the sleep lab building. So after waiting 45 min someone came to unlock, I got set up with the wires and gizmo in a super-bright flourescent lit room...took me forever to fall asleep. Someone else was being tested and they came in about 10 PM I guess, I had just gotten hooked up, I didn't have time to ask any questions. The tech was frustrated and said "what else can go wrong?" so I didn't want to bother him. The room seemed kinda warm and I wondered if I could sleep. But then it was really cold overnight, the room temperature had dropped and I was shivering and had so much trouble sleeping. I thought maybe the mask was defective as air was coming out...and I thought maybe that was making the room cold. Well, the tech said (when I waved my hands at their camera, when I had to pee)...that it's the CO2 coming out, it's supposed to. He hadn't explained it, anyway I guess I was supposed to feel some air when I passed my hand over (it was full face mask, as I told him yes I have dry mouth in the morning, and he deduced I am a mouth breather). So...after freezing my ass off all night, I did wake up and he said I did well, that he "got me to 12" and most people go to 13 and that 12 is good. I have no idea what that means. He said I slept in (it was only 6:30 AM) and he clearly wanted to go home...so I didn't ask any questions. I did tell him I had a very vivid dream of being hooked up to machines with somebody watching me...and he said lots of people tell him that, and it's like "The Matrix". I had to laugh. I told him I was really cold all night...and he told me it does seem very cold in that room, and the other patient was boiling in his room so the tech brought a fan in to plug in for that dude...and the tech said his office felt warm and he didn't know why my room got so cold. He said "that never happened before...are you haunted?" And I thought, maybe I am.  Anyway, I don't know what the make or model of the machine is, it sounds like Humana isn't going to pay for it since my doctor didn't see me first (even though I did call my primary care offfice to see if I needed to see them or to get a referral...and they said no.) I'm so tired of the whole Medicare system and the general medical system that overmedicated my husband and I am sure shortened his life. And now here I am, with severe sleep apnea and I'm now supposed to fight them for the equipment, I guess. I don't know if I can use a used machine...I have had an offer of one that's in somebody's closet. But I wouldn't know how to hook it up, set the numbers, etc. Well, thanks everyone for posting. I'll wait and see.

[mesenteria]

You can press your family doctor for a prescription with veridical and legitimate diagnoses from certified sleep labs even if he/she didn't happen to refer you for the test in the first place.  Or, you need a 'nuther family doctor.    I can't imagine a health professional, especially one with whom you have an established relationship for service, refusing to even look at and to consider the meaning of what you bring to him from a sleep lab for your sake.  What else is he/she there for?

You should contact him/her, and also your insurer if you have one and make sure both are working for you.

[Sleeprider]

Well, you have had a sleep study. Congrats. Now I think you are getting a CPAP machine, and our recommendation from last week remains unchanged (posts 7-9). The Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset will provide your best therapy, data and will adjust to meet your needs. Supplier #33 is a good source for uninsured new and used machines. Craigslist may have what you need in a lightly used machine nearby, for example the Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset near Charleston, SC.

[bdouglas52]

Carol,

You mentioned Medicare in your post.  Medicare rents my CPAP for me and I pay 20% of the monthly Medicare approved cost (I think mine is about $13.00 per month).  They rent for a 3 month trial.  If you meet the compliance criteria and you revisit the doctor within the first 90 days and the doctor reports that it benefits you, they continue to rent for an additional 10 months and then the machine is yours.

If you just buy a machine outright, Medicare will not reimburse you.  For Medicare, you will need to go thru one of the Medicare approved DME suppliers for your area.  If you have a particular machine that you want, you will need to get your doctor to write a prescription for that machine or the DME supplier will likely give you the cheapest machine