When you were first diagnosed, how much information did you received about sleep apnea?
Very little. The clinic used a Phillips NightOne at home system. They gave me just enough info to do the one night trial with it. My wife had been diagnosed 3 years before me, and I thought I knew a fair bit. I should have done more research on it before going in for my diagnosis. For example I knew there was a difference between central events and obstructive, and asked what my breakdown was. She told me, and I did not know enough to ask any follow up question like "how likely are my central events to be treated with a CPAP?" She also told me that a CPAP was likely to cure my type II diabetes, which is total nonsense.
Who gave you that information?
In the clinic my GP doctor sent me to, there is no doctor. I think the company uses a contract doctor to read the sleep study and make the diagnosis. I think I figured out he resides in another province a few thousand km away. Obviously there was no opportunity to talk to him. There is a sleep technician at the clinic which talks to you, but I suspect based on what she told me, she has pretty minimal qualifications.
Where else have you gone for information?
The internet is invaluable. The only trick is in being able to distinguish between credible sources of info (about 2%), and the 98% which is not so credible, and mainly a sales pitch for something. A start is to focus on the .org sites, and not the .com ones.
Was there any support for questions or issues after?
I went back once after getting the trial machine from them. That was only to return the trial machine and tell them I was not buying it for $2400. From my wife's experience I knew ahead of time that I was never going to stay with the clinic, and was just going to buy the machine and mask package on line for $800-900. Not surprisingly they didn't want to talk to me much, after I told them that.
Were you told about other options than a CPAP machine?
I was aware ahead of time of the dental appliance option and had done enough of my own research with my diagnosed AHI of 37 that I knew I was not going down that road.
Were you given options on what machine or mask you used?
No, there was no option. I was given a ResMed AirFit P10 mask and a Fisher & Paykel SleepStyle machine to try free, and buy at $2400. Based on my wife's experience with a ResMed S9, I knew I was going to buy a ResMed. The SleepStyle machine was a brand new model, and not supported (and still is not) by SleepyHead. And worse still I believe it is unable to distinguish between central and obstructive apnea events. It increases pressure in response to both, and can't give you a breakdown of the apnea event types. Fortunately I was able to exchange machines with my wife during the trial and collect enough SleepyHead data to know how to set up my new AirSense 10 AutoSet when I got it. I do have to give her credit for the P10 mask though. I am about to try my 6th mask, but so far the P10 has worked the best. It is also one of the cheapest masks, so that may have been the real reason for the choice!
In short that is how I have gotten to where I am. Treatment of my mixed central and obstructive apnea has not been easy. It has taken me 9 months to get AHI under 2.0, and get a fairly restful sleep. And, there is still room left for improvement. There is always one more mask and pressure setting to try!