CPAP Service provider

[SMA]

I am looking for an adequate service provide for my cpap machine. I have tried the two in my area and have been very unhappy with their services. Lately I am also having difficulty with the mask itself. Can anyone help? Thanks.

[stacy]

In my area they have stores called CPAP Express...they are independently owned as I understand and may vary with what products they provide, but I have actually browsed thru a store and they have lots to choose from. I believe they still work with your insurance co. but they are new to the Rochester area, so it seems like they would do whatever they had to, get and keep your business.

Hope this helps...

[Gerard Lynham]

Several years ago I had a problem with my previous cpap system. After trying to find a service provider myself I tried Respironics, the manufacturer. respironics website support for patients was nonexistent; I could not search for a service provider. Eventually I went back to my insurer . To cut a long story short they replaced my cpap machine; servicing the old machine is often not cost beneficial.

I am now seeking a service provider for my Respironics REMstar C-pap machine. Again, I tried the Respironics website but support for patients is still minimal. You still cannot search for a service provider. I have left a phone message for Respironics on their service support phone line and they "promise to return the call within 2 days". I will also go to my insurer seeking a service provider or replacement.

I needed to buy a new mask just over a year ago. Again, I found Respironics service support useless. Online I found cpap.com which is a very useful website. You can see pictures of masks by manufacturer. Also there is a guide to help you select the correct mask size. Delivery was within 3-5 days. I was satisfied with the service and product.

Hope that helps.

[Charlie]

What sort of durable medical equipment provider (hereafter, DME) did you go through? Was a big chain? Or a local pharmacy? Many times a local pharmacy DME can provide better, face to face service. Although, some chains, esp ones that may specialize in CPAP equipment may be able to do the same. what you should do, is call the Dr. with whom you have been working, and see if they have a list of other DME's in your area that you can contact, and ask if any other patients have expressed a preference. I don't think that, legally, a Dr's office can't recommend a specific place or brand, as they might get into trouble with insurance providers. If they don't have a list, contact the sleep lab where you did your sleep study, they should have one.

A good DME will have a variety of masks for you to try and will let you do so without pressuring you to get a specific brand. Contact them to see if they accept your insurance. And always contact your insurance to see what they pay for an how often. Many insurances will pay for a new mask and equipment every six months, and some once a year.

Gerard mentioned www.cpap.com. That is a good site to start at to see what your options are as far as equipment goes. Also, you may want to try www.talkaboutsleep.com if you have any other questions. It is a site that is owned and run by sleep apnea patients. Many of the members there are very knowledgeable and will answer any question you may have. Plus, they too have a store with many brands and styles to choose from.

[John Hoag]

I urge everyone who has symptoms of sleep apnea to consider a dental appliance for treatment as an alternative to CPAP. It is very cost effective, less intrusive, and if it works for you, is a much better alternative to having a cpap machine. I have used one for over two years now, and am extremely pleased. Check it out.
John Hoag

[SMA]

Charlie, I know it is alittle late since you sent your reply but I just wanted to make a comment on the statement that you made about the doctor not being able to "legally" recommend. In my case not only did he recommend but he made the appointment. I have since left Tyler, Texas and am now looking for a supplier/store near San Antonio, Texas.

If anyone knows of such, I sure could use the help. Thanks

[Peggy Durkop]

SMA - Sorry to hear you live in S.A. so do I...small world. I joined when I saw your post though I don't think I'll be much help. My first sleep study, the doctor just told me I had to find a neurologist, but she didn't know of any. I've seen about six now and still haven't found one willing to take me as a patient. They say that my prognosis is so poor that they feel I'd be too much work. One laughed as he asked, "what's in it for me?"
The second sleep study was done in Houston hospital, same results as the first with over 1100 apneas a night, stay in stage one and two sleep most of the night, fall asleep ANYTIME , ANYWHERE that I am still for thirty seconds, even the toilet. I am on oxygen concentrator all the time . I was prescribed a BiPap machine that second study, but since the doc was in Houston and I was in San Antonio, he didn't know of any providers. Go figure? I could not find one single provider in SA who knew anything about CPAP, even if they sold the stuff. I tried for a year to work with about six masks that I bought online. Respironics told me I had toilet go to Austin for any assistance. I am too ill, so they said, "good luck" Just about every doctor has told me that I probably won't be able to find a local doctor. I also have a non functioning endocrine system that was dx as probable lesions on the pituitary. I lost about forty percent of my vision in 30 days two years ago. Retinologist says nothing is wrong with my eyes. He said that probably the lesions spread to my retina. When I ask about the next step, he looked at me dumbfounded and said. "There is no next step. Even if we found these lesions we would not be able to do anything about it. So why look for what you can't fix."
I have Variable Immune Deficiency and receive IV's every month, just got a letter from the prescribing doctor ,telling me to find another doctor. (I think he knew he wasn't doing anything but barely keeping me alive and not trying to really help. I kept asking him for a referral and he kept replying he didn't know of anyone) The main and critical component that we have in San Antonio right now is this "fear" of lawsuits. It is well kinown in Texas that everybody in SA sues and the city's been hurting when there was a mass exodous. I'm starting to see a bit more incoming, but most are in plastic surgery, elective stuff. My story is long and drawn out, but I know with all my being that I would not have gotten this ill had doctor's not patronized me in the beginning with the "Your a woman of 44, getting old, having to make adjustments, empty nest syndrome." They simply ignored my protests that I wasn't depressed but was falling asleep without warning, like standing at the opened refrigerator door or better yet, on the toilet. Do you know how difficult it is to balance yourself for hours while you sleep on the john? I was sleeping 20 hours a day and yet of all the doctors I saw, no one suggested a sleep study until I had been ill for six years.
They say that European patients are diagnosed three years earlier because they are not dragged through the whole "depression diagnosis" before anyone would even listen to them. I couldn't find help before diagnosis because they didn't know what to treat. I thought, no I prayed things would be different after every one knew what we were fighting.

But no, now they use the excuse that the diseases processes I have are all one the rare disease list .
"And surely, lady, You don't expect me to know about all those obscure and rare diseases."
"Yes, I do I proclaim, that is your job?"
"At some point we have to just be honest about who we can and cannot help." With that last comment I knew the appointment was over.
Wham, Bham , thank you Mamh I believe there is a lot more people with rare diseases than any medical system is willing to look into.
I've rattled on, sorry. I am trying to get an extensive report that I wrote on all of the diagnoses and treatments I have done. I have wanted to do either a web page or some other form where I can send doctor and others to look at my stats. I have a webpage, but nothing is on it. It is almost impossible to to do anything that cannot be finished in an hour. If I fall asleep before completing it, I forget everything when I awake and usually start over. The only people I ever see outside the three rooms I live in are the one doctor I have left and the infusion people.
It took me four hours just to write this, because I keep dozing off. Please don't hesitate to keep in touch at needamiracle(at)gmail(dot)com You know the drill.
Forwarning: I don't check my email everyday.

I know it sounds crazy but just knowing that someone is out there doesn't make me feel like that fallen tree in the woods that falls but no one hears.
Peggy

[MDuen User]

DO NOT USE ALLCARE MEDICAL IN New Jersey

These guys are a bunch of criminal leeches on our healthcare system. They charge exhorbitant upfront fees for CPAP device payments and then charge high monthly fees. I terminated my service, and they now want to charge me for 3 extra months. I paid a representative of theirs in cash at the Penn Sleep Center and they claim never having received it. Then they claim billing me and I never received any bills. I faxed them confirmation of payment and they claim never having received the fax.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY.