CPAP Rental? (Canada)

Hi all,

I have finished all my appointments and now Im just waiting to meet the surgeon and do a sleep study this month.

My doctor told me the sleep study results take too long, and I will probably have to rent a cpap machine to be on the safe side.

any recommendations on where I can rent a cpap machine? Preferably in Canada.

In Ontario, the only doctor that can get you set up on a CPAP machine is one who specializes in sleep disorders. Ask your family physician to refer you to a specialist and the sleep doctor can recommend a place to rent machines as you will also need a prescription from them to get a machine and set the pressure. If you do have sleep apnea you will need to bring it to surgery. OHIP will pay part of the costs for a machine if you need it long term. Good luck!

Lina-Ann it works exactly the same way in the US. You want to seek out a pulmonologist. The machine settings (how much and how hard the air will blow) are based on the results of the sleep study, so I'm not sure I agree with your doctor about you just renting a CPAP.

In the US CPAP machines are treated as medical equipment (so you simply can't just rent one - you need a prescription). I had very severe sleep apnea, went through 4 sleep studies over the course of 3 years. But the good news was that after I lost the weight the sleep apnea went away and I no longer need the machine.

The CPAP machine saved my life and so did my WLS. Good luck.

You cannot rent nor buy a CPAP machine here in the US without a prescription. The machine has to be set to your specific needs/pressure. It can be very dangerous otherwise.

I would question a doctor that suggested otherwise.

As others have mentioned, getting a CPAP (rent or purchase) requires a prescription. To get a prescription, whi*****ludes the strength the machine is set to, you need to have a sleep study.

Does your doctor just want you to get a CPAP without a study first?

The sleep study is valuable for many reasons. While apnea is common for obese people, not all of us have it, actually. I've had teenage clients skinny like sticks who had it and I did not at the time.

I do not know how Canada works, but in the US it is a medical device that requires a prescription. This is for a few reasons. One, is that it is often valuable to gt a BiPAP machine instead of a CPAP depending on your apnea. Those are typically more comfortable to use.

CPAP machines are also...really freaking expensive to rent, like hundreds per month, at least in the US. I think it's 3-5k to buy a BiPAP machine.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I called my WLS doctor and he clarified with me that he will be "rushing me through the sleep clinic process" and "'telling them my results are a priority." I'm not sure how he can do that.

thanks everyone