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I have used ResMed and Respironics (or Phillips Respironics as they now are) for a many years. Quality is not really a concern because, as jnk suggested, in order to live up to medical equipment standards they all do what they are supposed to do just fine. Most of them have a lifespan of 5 to 10 years or more, depending on how they are set and how well they are looked after. The retail price on them can be very high (in Australia at least, but is probably much less in the US), but one can be purchased for much less at a site like http://www.secondwindcpap.com/ which WiredGeroge mentioned above.
The real problem is that which machine to get depends on what settings it needs to have. Not every model of BiPAP has the same range of functionality, so if you get the wrong one it won't do what you need it to do. Unfortunately the exact details are quite technical and you really need a technician with a good deal of knowledge (and preferably some experience too) to tell exactly which machine will fit your husbands needs. Not being familiar with you particular case or the US medical system I'm not sure what you are supposed to do about that. Sorry I couldn't be of more assistance.
If it helps, I have seen a stack of studies over the years which show the effect that adherence to PAP therapy has on longer term medical outcomes. All of the health risks from OSA drop away to the same level as the rest of the population or, in some cases, even better.
According to all of the medical literature, even if someone did drop dead on the first night in twenty years they didn't use CPAP, stopping treatment was not the problem. If one little dip in their oxygen was going to kill them then they would have dropped dead the next time they laughed, walked up some stairs or held their breath for a few seconds. The physical damage that OSA does is the effect of the stress it places on your body every night accumulating over the long term and causing a major problem. I absolutely encourage everyone to use their CPAP (or other treatment) all night and every night, but don;t goo into a panic if there's a power outage.
About the only thing I could suggest to ExuberantApricotFrog8131 is to try propping yourself up a bit when you sleep. Perhaps sleep on a slope or leaning against your pack or something. Being propped up can reduce obstruction in some cases.
Well, silicone rubber, but yes. Your point is very valid. You can't help someone unless there's a good buck in it for you. That'd be stupid.
Just because someone else's DreamStaion uses all of its water does not mean your will. The DreamStation has sensors to monitor the temperature and humidity (and who knows what else) and adjust itself accordingly. This can cause your machine to use much more or less water than an identical machine on the same setting in a different place.
I know the predecessor to the DreamStation, the Respironics 60 series, had 2 settings for its humidifier - classic and system one. I cannot remember if the DreamStation is the same in this respect. If it is, the system one setting will work better than the classic (which begs the question why did they include a worse option?). Check you settings. If you look in the menu you will probably be able to see the humidifier setting and check that it is in system one mode.
Another option is that your humidifier is faulty. You could see if you can get it swapped for a new one. It just clips off and the new one clips one - really easy.
Do you have a heated tube? It will increase the efficiency of your humidifier. If not, try getting one.
The original post says that the air flow isn't a problem, so the pressure is probably not the cause.
Out of curiosity, do you know what your AHI was before CPAP?
Any new machine will be small and quiet. All of them will deliver suitable pressure. The differences are in the small things. I mainly deal with Fisher & Paykel, ResMed and Respironics because together they make up about 98% of the global market.
The Respironics Dream Station has the simplest humidifier design I've seen, and has nice, simple controls.
The ResMed AirSense range has a pretty simple humidifier but the menu-based interface can be a bit complicated for some people.
The Fisher & Paykel Icon series is the cheapest and smallest option if you use a humidifier, but the humidifier itself can be fiddly to use and can't be opened for cleaning. I also greatly dislike the icon-based menu. Fisher & Paykel have just released a new machine called the SleepStyle. I have yet to get my hands on one but it looks to be smaller than the Icon (so therefore the new smallest option available if you use a humidifier). It also appears to have simplified the controls (no more bothering with the silly icon-based menu) and the humidifier design has been updated, but I cannot attest to how good it is. Just google Fisher & Paykel SleepStyle to get some more info. It looks like it might be very good but I can't be sure until I've actually had a play with one.
As I said they are all very similar in most ways , so the best one for you comes down to the small differences. By the way, have you cleaned the filter of your current machine? A dirty filter can be the cause of some noise.
I've tried to be general here, but if you have some more specific questions feel free to ask.
I very much agree with you. As I keep saying, every patient is an individual and will have their needs best meet by different treatments applied in different ways. It very much behoves doctors to be familiar with all options and to present them all objectively so that the patient can make an informed decision. I think that oral devices have an important place in treating OSA and are not given sufficient attention from doctors.
In fairness to Fisher & Paykel, Sense Awake usually works fine, it just goes wrong for some people. As with all the funky CPAP comfort technologies, they can be useful but they need to be applied with appropriate care and oversight. Any of them can go wrong sometimes.
