I am so stupid!!! Have questions, please help!

Ok, before anyone tells me, yes I already know I am stupid! I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea a year ago and never got treatment. I have noticed myself waking up more and more gasping for air lately and decided, ok dummy it's not gonna go away on it's own! So now I need to know a few things. How do I go about getting my CPAP? Does insurance pay for it? One of my major problems is that my nasal passage is always "stuffed up", so how will the CPAP help me? Any answers will greatly be appreciated!

u will have to start over- i am sure u will need another test. so see your dr and get refered to the correct dr and they will order a test.once u have the test they will give u a machine/this will all be paid by insurance as long as u see your dr and get and necessary approvals. just get it done and get the machine - u will feel better.u can tell the dr about your stuffed up nose and they will give u an approriate machine/you arent the first person with a stuffed up nose/good luck

Thanks Randy! I will call my Dr. first thing Monday morning and see what he says.

If you have insurance it will pay for it. If not I have 2, would be interested in getting with you to get one of the 2 to you. I used my old one about 2 times and if Im not mistaken my copay was about 150 for it. Which is alot less than the 400-600 dollars they cost.

Thanks for the offer John, but I do have insurance and it will go towards my deductible for the surgery, so I am better off using my insurance. But thanks again!

your're right, it won't go away on it's own. Did you ever go back to the sleep clinic for the follow up to determine pressure etc? My insurance paid 100% for all of my testing, supplies and such. Your doctor has to write a prescription for the machine and supplies which in turn has to be forwarded to which ever agency you or your doctors chooses. go for it.

First of all, you are not stupid. There are no stupid questions. I work in a sleep lab and know first hand what to do. You will probably need another initial sleep study because of the length of time between the first one and wanting CPAP. What will happen is that your doc will refer you with a prescription for a sleep study. Since you already know that you have severe sleep apnea, tell the technician and they can probably do a "split-night" study on you. Meaning that you can have the second sleep study AND CPAP titration study all in the same night. If that is the case then after the study a doc will interpret the study and recommend a CPAP pressure for you that will work. All CPAP is air pressure keeping your airway open so you don't stop breathing at night. CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. The pressure maintains your airway so you sleep more soundly, your oxygen level doesn't drop and your snoring will cease. Trust me when I say CPAP can change your life. It's like any new treatment (ie: medicines) in that you should give yourself 2 - 4 good weeks of being on the system to feel the biggest difference. Once a doctor prescripes a pressure for you, simply take that prescription to a home care company/DME supplier and they will take care of setting you up. Set up is usually done as a two month rental initially through insurance. That is to make sure that you comply with treatment. If you do, then your home care company/DME will apply to your insurance company so you can purchase the machine. Then it will be yours. Keep in mind that you can replace you machine tubing and masks every 6 months or so. Check with your insurance about that. As for feeling all "stuffed up", etc. The reason you feel that way is because people who have sleep apnea usually do a great deal of mouth breathing. And as you mouth breath, your sinus cavity dries up. Hence the stuffiness. You might need some humidity with your system. Tell your sleep tech that you have "stuffiness" issues. And ask about heated or regular humidity. Hope I have helped...hope I wasn't too late! But this website is new to me! I hope to have gastric bypass surgery in April 2005. Donna

I would also suggest a good exam by a ear/nose throat specialist. before i could tolerate bipap,,(much nicer than c-pap.) i had my divated septum straighten, and a uvala plasty,done. then the bipap worked like a charm. saline nasal spray,"ocean" or a generic like equate will help the stuffy nose.