Re:Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker
by bhc on Thursday November 15, 2018 @09:43PM
(#18465878)
How do people obtain regulated medical devices like CPAP without a prescription? I assume a sleep study is required to get a prescription from a doctor.
Re:Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker
by jchw on Thursday November 15, 2018 @09:54PM
(#18465951)
I think there's a loophole in that you can buy CPAP machines without a prescription from second-hand sellers. Last I checked it looked pretty inexpensive, too. So, really, you don't need a prescription to try one if you really wanted to.
There's probably some safety concerns, but I've become cynical about a lot of it. Doctors of course want everyone to go to the doctor first, but is it really that dangerous to use a CPAP machine if you didn't need one?
Re:Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker
by carlmr on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:56AM
(#18467264)
>There's probably some safety concerns
Apparently dry nose and skin irritation. I wouldn't worry too much about it. But if you can get a doctor's appointment you might get an insurance to pay for your experiment.
Re:Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker
by BurningFrog on Friday November 16, 2018 @01:19AM
(#18466870)
You can buy used ones from someone who has bought it with a prescription.
It can be preferable to going through the "proper channels", since it can take many months to get the machine through the US medical system, and you need to get some goddamn SLEEP.
Re:Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker
by paulie_a on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:40AM
(#18467208)
You literally can buy them on eBay.
Re:Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker
by patja on Friday November 16, 2018 @12:00PM
(#18469944)
Have you tried? I had a tough time buying a used CPAP on eBay. I had a saved search on file for over a year before I was successful. Every listing that came up, eBay would quash because of the prescription requirement. I finally got one that was a buy-it-now where the seller and I managed to consummate the deal within a few minutes of the listing going online, before the eBay secret police could remove it.
Re:Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker
by goshx on Thursday November 15, 2018 @11:13PM
(#18466341)
My friend bought his on Amazon.
Edit: removed link.
Re:Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker
by car on Thursday November 15, 2018 @11:41PM
(#18466473)
Your link contains an Amazon affiliate id.
Here the unadulterated URL: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K9H22M4
Awful.
Almost 3 years later I requested another sleep study because I was done with no progress. The study found out that what I really needed was a BiPAP machine and a MUCH higher pressure.
Now the insurance replaced my old machine by a Philips-Respironics DreamStation Auto BiPAP, which comes with an app (DreamMapper) that you can sync every morning using bluetooth and it shows the usage time, % of mask leak detected, and detailed AHI information like: Total clear airway apneas, total obstructive apneas and total hypopneas.
This is really all I needed to monitor it myself and adjust whatever I need without having to wait 6 freaking months.
I have a friend that didn't want to go through the study and ended up ordering the same machine as I have. He's been adjusting his settings based on the app. He's very happy with the results and probably would have similar results if he had done the sleep study.