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Respiratory Home Care Equipment & CPAP Supplies
General
Studies suggest that having OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea) raises the heart rate and increases blood pressure, placing stress on the heart. This may be because apneas frequently reduce blood oxygen levels, activating the branch of the nervous system responsible for increasing heart performance. In addition, levels of chemicals in the blood that cause inflammation and promote elevations in blood sugar rise. Such inflammation can damage the heart and blood vessels. Both hypertension and diabetes increase the risk for heart disease, and the likelihood of being diagnosed with one of these illnesses increases as a result of OSA.
Machine FAQ’s
We understand your apprehension. However, over time you will get used to sleeping with the machine. And, more importantly, you will feel the positive effects each morning when you get a restful night’s sleep using the machine. Your health is worth it!
Many times this is due to condensation and your humidifier being turned up to high. Try lowering your humidifier setting. We recommend keeping it between 1-3 depending on the humidity in your area. You could also use a tube cover. This wraps around your tube and insulates the heat, which minimizes condensation, and reduces water in your mask.
Up to 40% of PAP users experience nasal congestion and dryness of the nose and throat. These symptoms can be severe enough to prevent patients from continuing their treatment. The humidifier add moisture and warmth to the air delivered by a CPAP or bilevel system. This reduces symptoms of dryness and congestion, improving comfort and compliance. Research also shows that nasal resistance can promote mouth breathing, which in turn leads to additional dryness. Heated humidification can prevent the large increase in nasal resistance that results in mouth breathing and leaks.
Usually red marks cannot be completely avoided. However, if the marks are painful or become cuts or sores, your mask needs to be adjusted. When wearing a nasal mask it should fit directly on the bridge of your nose, with the bottom sitting in between your top lip and bottom of your nose. The mask should not sit directly under your nostrils (mask is too small) nor should it sit on the top of your lips (mask is too big). A full face mask should sit directly at the bridge of your nose and in between your bottom lip and the bottom of your chin. If the mask sits on or under your chin it is too big. If it sits on your bottom lip it is too small. If you think you need to be re-fitted, contact us via email or give your location a call.
Yes, this is very normal to hear the machine “ breathing” with you. It’s pumping air as you breathe in and releasing air as you breath out.
Water filtration systems do not remove all of the minerals naturally present in spring water. The minerals will damage the metal portion of the humidifier reservoir. Distilled water is recommended because of the problem-causing minerals have been taken out.
We recommend that you wash your water tub daily in warm water, using a mild detergent. Rinse it well, and allow it to dry away from direct sunlight.
Also, on a monthly basis try to do the following:
• Inspect the water tub for wear and deterioration.
• Replace the water tub if any component has cracked, become cloudy or pitted.
• Clean white powder or deposits in the water tub by using a solution of one part household vinegar to ten parts water.
It may be that you are mouth breathing or have a mask leak.. If you mouth breathe, you let lots of air escape from your mouth. All the extra air that escapes uses up your water more quickly.
Waking with abdominal bloating may be a sign that you are swallowing air while using the CPAP. For some people, adjusting your sleeping position can alleviate this. There is no correct position, so you may need to experiment a little. If changing positions does not help, contact your physician. He/she may want to decrease your pressure to see if the bloating stops.
There are several reasons why people might remove their masks while sleeping. We suspect that the most common reasons involve the pressure setting and inadequate air supply. For instance, if the pressure is set too low or the mask is leaking significantly, air supply may be diminished. If the pressure is too high, it may be too difficult to exhale against it or may cause the mask to leak. You may also just need sometime to get adjusted to sleeping with the mask. This is all new to you and the more you use the machine the easier it will become and the quicker your body will get used to sleeping with the mask.
In most cases a dry mouth indicates that a person is breathing through their mouth while sleeping. Since a mouth-breather using only a nasal mask is not receiving adequate therapy, doctors attempt to remedy the problem by prescribing a chinstrap which helps to keep the mouth closed or a full-face mask (covering the nose and mouth) allowing a person to continue to breathe through the mouth. In some cases if you are on a particular type of medication this may cause your mouth to become extremely dry. Read the side effects on any medications you have been prescribed.
Condensation may have formed causing water to get into the tubing. You can “air dry” the tubing by turning the machine on for few minutes and letting it dry out.
Yes, contact one of our first-class set-up team members and he/she will be happy to walk you through the settings.
New Patient FAQ’s
We contact our patients once every 90 days to follow-up on your therapy and to remind you of how often you should be changing out your supplies. We care about customer service so anytime you speak with one of our representatives, you can be confident that they will take care of you.
Most insurance companies cover your supplies. We will call your insurance company to verify coverage before sending any items to you and then we will also call you once we have verified you benefits. We work with each of our patients individually to make sure their insurance is approved prior to sending supplies.
Most insurance companies actually approve receiving new supplies on a quarterly basis. One of our insurance specialists can verify your insurance and go over your benefits with you.
While it is good you are washing your supplies, they still need to be changed on a regular basis to avoid bacteria growth. Most insurance companies approve re-ordering supplies every 90 days. We can always customize your orders to receive supplies as often as you feel you need them. Or you can use our Online Store to have the items sent to you in a timely manner.
Your CPAP/BPAP machine has several supplies that should be changed out on a regular basis. Your mask should be changed out once every three months and your filter should be changed once every two weeks to avoid bacteria growth.
You could possibly be approved for a replacement machine. We would just need a few pieces of information to verify if your insurance would cover you for a new machine. Contact us.
If you are having problems with your current mask we can suggest a different type of mask that might work better for you. Contact your first-class set-up technician and we will arrange for a re-fitting.
We have specialists that work hard to ensure we have the proper documents needed in order to send your supplies. Once we have the correct information up-front we will not need to get it again. We would need to know the name of the doctor that ordered the sleep study or the name of the facility where the sleep study was performed and we would do everything we could to get a copy or the original study.