CPA*****t?

I'm not very far into the process. I have my Orientation in Guelph this week.  To keep things moving, I completed my sleep study earlier this month.  I had my sleep study follow up today and sure enough, I have sleep apnea.  The doctor told me I could decide whether or not to get the CPAP machine.  He said that he's confident my sleep apnea will dissipate when I lose weight but that the anesthesiologist may insist I use the machine before surgery.  Has anyone else had a similar experience? What did you decide? What did the clinic doctors say about it?

I don't have daytime symptoms but I do snore and stop breathing in the night and I often have a dry, sore throat in the mornings.

What level of sleep apnea do you have?  The sleep doctor should have told you that and they also have to report it to MTO if you are diagnosed with certain levels of sleep apnea and don't use a cpap.  Your apnea may go away or it may not  Many have had it resolved and others even after losing all their weight still need it.  My sleep doctor didn't give me the option as I had severe sleep apnea and a machine was required or I would lose my licence.  I would contact your sleep doc again to find out if it's mild, moderate, severe, etc so that you will know which.  I would think if it's anything other than mild, you will have to get a machine as they won't do surgery without you using it.

If they do insist... you can rent the machines from what I have heard.

I am going through Guelph also, I had my sleep test and wasn't surprised that he told me that I had sleep apnea as I had a test about  7 years  ago but they said it was mild and didn't need a machine at that time.  This time the doctor said it was mild and I had it written in he file that I wanted WLS and he said that they would most likely want it to cover them selves as he said there are to many lawyers looking for a job...lol so he recommended it and I didn't want any delays at all.  Luckily I have coverage through my work so  knew that it covered it if I had to pay for it myself then it might have been a different story.  I have also heard that you can rent them but where I don't know.  Good luck to you in the process.

Cindy

Hi RedViking,

Cuter_w_Curves is right, you can rent a CPAP machine by the month, I think from basically any medical supply store.  You'll need a prescription from the sleep clinic doctor.  I recommend going to Shopper's Drug Mart's Home Health Care Centres.  They have lower prices than other places and I do love my Resmed S9 Elite CPAP with humidifier.  I was not given a choice; it was my driver's license or CPAP.

Do you have any supplemental insurance?  I didn't, but OHIP pays for 75% of the actual CPAP machine, hose, and a "basic mask", so I had to pay about $270.00 for the machine & hose, and $380.00 for a full face mask.  Nasal masks are much cheaper.

Jenn.  :)

Jenn, me too. I have the same machine and I love it. I have the nose and mouth mask because I sleep with my mouth open to I needed. It. My supplemental insurance paid for 50% of it and part of the machine is paid for by the government.

You may want to talk with the NP at your bariatric center.  At TWH they were unwilling to go forward until my sleep apnea was treated with CPAP.  As a side bar, you're not supposed to be driving if you have untreated sleep apnea.  Doctors who know you have it are supposed to report it, its very unsafe to be driving with it untreated.  

My sleep apnea was severe. I had my uvula removed six years ago to try and treat it without CPAP.  Didn't work.  Now, after 110 pounds off after RNY, I have no sleep apnea!  And no CPAP needed.  Good luck!  

hey i also have sleep apnea.. i was diagnosed with medium sleep apnea and it was cpap required or id loose my license as well.. so i had to prove i had the machine to drive again..  government pays like 700 or so towards it..  my whole thing was about 3000 and my insurance paid for the rest 100%...  at Guelph if u are diagnosed with sleep apnea and its cpap needed then u have to have one or they wont do the surgery.. i had to have mine with me when i went for surgery

I used a few "free trials" and rented for a month. that was it - total expenses of $100, fully covered by my insurance. But I didn't have to wait years for my surgery - it was all over within 8 weeks...

If you had severe case of apnea, the respirologyst wouldn't let you go without CPAP... but since you don't even have any day-time symptoms, it must be very mild...  Mine was very severe, but it was all fat related and it was gone very soon after my surgery.

The problem with CPAP was that the machine was locked to certain pressure settings by a secret pin code, which could not be released to user, according to two providers that I took machines for the trials. They claimed that was the "regulations". And they refused to reset machine without new sleep study... It was in 2008, not sure what're the rules today... I rented because I didn't want to get stuck with a $2000 device that is set to very high pressure settings, measured for a person with BMI of 62, while I was melting and dropping BMI units in dozens... And by the way, I hated CPAP. It was noisy and way too bothering. Sleeping with elevated adjustable mattress was way more comfortable.

Unfortunately weight loss does not guarantee that apnea will go away. It all depends on what caused it in the first place.  If it is just mild they may not make you get a cpap. A friend of mine did not. I was able to get rid of my machine about 6 months post op. You can rent a machine which is not very expensive. ADP will cover about $750 and a very basic mask which is not good so you will have to invest in a better one