I thought I was supposed to feel better

[zonk]

I see my dr. 2-morrow, but if he just says keep trying, that will be $195, I am going to adjust my own pressure down a little at a time until I find a pressure that I can sleep with, Then maybe I can slowly raise it as I get more time using it.
It's either that or just giving up. I would think it would be better to sleep with a lower pressure than no sleep or no mask. Maybe I am wrong about that, but I am new to this.

Good idea. Actually the new DreamStation CPAP have a feature "Ez-Start" ... reduces the therapy pressure setting for the first few days of operation and gradually increase this setting until prescription therapy pressure is reached.
There is more to it, but the manual does not allow me to copy and paste

Given your pressure 16, I would think, APAP might been a better option as the machine only increase pressure if needed throughout the night and that might result in lower pressure delivered

[I_will_never_sleep_again]

Good idea. Actually the new DreamStation CPAP have a feature "Ez-Start" ... reduces the therapy pressure setting for the first few days of operation and gradually increase this setting until prescription therapy pressure is reached.
There is more to it, but the manual does not allow me to copy and paste

Given your pressure 16, I would think, APAP might been a better option as the machine only increase pressure if needed throughout the night and that might result in lower pressure delivered

I didn't know how APAP worked, that makes sense, because I don't understand how one pressure could work for a person all the time. There are always different situations like drinking more alcohol, or being around smoke, or having a cold, or being around dust, and the biggie for me is mowing leaves in the fall, my wife says I snore like crazy after dealing with leaves.
Why don't they always prescribe APAP?

[eseedhouse]

Why don't they always prescribe APAP?

Some insurance carriers pay out the same amount for the CPAP machine and the APAP machine. Since the DME supplier gets the same amount for either, this gives them an incentive to give you the cheapest machine, normally the CPAP, and pocket the difference.

This isn't so of all of them. I was offered the most highly priced machine by my DME.

[I_will_never_sleep_again]

Some insurance carriers pay out the same amount for the CPAP machine and the APAP machine. Since the DME supplier gets the same amount for either, this gives them an incentive to give you the cheapest machine, normally the CPAP, and pocket the difference.


My insurance (Anthem) doesn't pay anything, I just got a $3760 bill for my sleep study, insurance paid $400.
They have me renting my cpap machine for 2 years at $50 a month, then they buy it ( but really I will be the one to buy it). If I finally get a machine I can live with I am going to tell them forget renting, let me buy it, or I will buy one online and here's your 100% marked up machine back.

[CHanlon]

My insurance (Anthem) doesn't pay anything, I just got a $3760 bill for my sleep study, insurance paid $400.
They have me renting my cpap machine for 2 years at $50 a month, then they buy it ( but really I will be the one to buy it). If I finally get a machine I can live with I am going to tell them forget renting, let me buy it, or I will buy one online and here's your 100% marked up machine back.

Ask your doctor to let you try an autoset machine. Set the Pressure to. Something like a range of 8 to 18. Ignore the ramp settings. You won't get hit in the face with that 16 pressure, it'll only get there is you need it when you're actually sleeping... And when you don't need it it backs down. Like if you started to wake up.

I went through all the same issues when I started, with a prescribed pressure of 19. Rather than accept a machine set at 14 to allow me to doze off, that would fail me the first time I needed 19, I fought for an autoset.