Question about upgrading a six-year-old APAP

My husband had amazing and practically immediate results as soon as he got diagnosed and started using an APAP (within three days struck me as practically immediate - his co-workers noticed, I noticed, he noticed - as soon as he adjusted to the machine, he started getting a decent night's rest and everything was better for him.) That was six years ago. Since then we have upgraded to a better pillow nasal thingy and replaced tubing and the mask velcro attachments a couple times, but have not upgraded the machine. And while his machine seems to be working fine, we're wondering if there have been important improvements that would make it worthwhile to consider an upgrade. His has a heated humidifier, which seems to work well for him and the machine is super quiet, so it doesn't bother me at all. I'm also a really good sleeper and had become so conditioned to his snoring before the machine that if he fell asleep on the couch in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday, I'd hear his snoring and get sleepy. I've got no problems with the current set up. Any advice on what we ought to look for if we go for a new machine? Folks who have been successfully using a machine for several years and recently upgraded, maybe because something wore out or broke, even though ours has not - what was better? Does the ability to use the SD cards to track your sleep patterns help much? Are there other improvements that are worth looking into? We don't have any problems we're looking to solve, just want to make sure he's getting the best therapy available. Thanks, S

Without knowing the current machine being discussed, it is hard to guess which features are new tech for 2017. If your hubby requires a specific type of machine, that is an APAP, it is also important to know if the new machine can operate at the pressure(s) necessary for effective therapy. If your hubby is using a "nasal thingy", he likely doesn't have huge pressure considerations as those type of masks typically can't be used in very high pressure situations. I think an important consideration is having a machine that allows self-monitoring of the effectiveness of therapy AND leak rates, etc. Check out the Resmed Airsense 10 AutoSet which offers some very advanced features in this regard.

http://www.resmed.com/us/en/consumer/products/devices/airsense-10-autoset.html

Probably other machines out there which offer features that were uncommon 6 years ago.

My insurance pays for a new one every 5 years. Not sure but I thought the seals start to give out after time. Do you have insurance coverage? I am a little concerned that you say the tubing etc has only been replaced a few times. I get new tubing every 3 months. I also replace my nasal cushion and the filter in the machine every two weeks. Maybe this is more often than necessary but I really am not sure since I am a relatively new user and that is what my insurance tells me to do.

What insurance tells you and what your CPAP/APAP provider tells you may be two different things. First, if your machine is working fine and you are okay with it then you probably don't need to get a new one. Whoever you get your supplies from should be able to test your machine to see if it is functioning correctly. Your nasal pillow and tubing should be changed at least every 3 months. Check with your insurance company to see what they will pay for and hopefully you will be able to find common ground.

I recently got a new machine because my old one was making noise and my insurance would pay. I just upgraded to the current model and like it a lot. It is slightly smaller and can actually send my info to my doctor without taking it or a card in. It also gives me limited information about my sleep such as number of mask leaks and how long I used the machine. Check with your insurance company and provider to see what they suggest then go from there.

Thanks everyone. He tells me he replaces the tubing far more often than I realized. And he uses fairly low pressure, between 10 and 20 (the machine is supposed to adjust for the pressure he needs, though we can set a floor and ceiling.) The machine is a Devilbiss AutoAdjust. Maybe they're just unusual work horses. It's certainly lasted longer than most of the other electronics we have.