The sleep apnea scam

There is no DOT rule on Sleep Apnea. Doctors that work with these facilities are making some big bucks for something not proven and still being studied. Companies are giving no leeway and once a doctor says you have it, physical has to be done every year as well as a sleep study. So expect to pay 1200 every single year in order to get your physical passed. It is exactly why people are leaving this industry by the hundreds every day and companies are struggling to keep drivers more so than before.

 

While there is no rule or regulation..it is being addressed by the FMCSA....http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/sleep-apnea/tools/fact-sheet.aspx

so...when they are "looking into it"....especially the mega carriers will be trying to get a "good report" by "adhering to the potential rule"...even though there isn't one presently!

 

Sounds like a scam to me.

I have known four guys in my life that would drop off to sleep if they sat for more than a couple of minutes. All of them have small pencil necks and only one had a BMI over 30, and that had come about with in the previous few years although he had the sleeping problem for twenty years.

I have had a neck larger than 17 inches and my BMI is pretty high and I can't go to sleep without relaxing for a couple hours, even if I have been up for over twenty hours straight.

 

A1c of 6 is normal. I don't know what that doc is thinking? Anything above 7 and you are type 2 diabetic. Only with uncontrolled readings higher than that when treated with pills than they consider insulin. If it's the VA the lab work shows on the paperwork the scale range.

Sleep studies are crooked. So is the whole medical system with buddy referrals and overpricing. My sleep study ended up costing me twice what they told me. I paid $2000 for my Cpap and you can buy the same new one off the internet for $700. They also forced me to rent to own for 13 months. Why 13 months, why not 12? Why not buy out right since I'll need it the rest of my life? The only thing I could figure out is they wanted to get me for two yearly deductibles as it was set up with BCBS. The doctor said the insurance company required it. The insurance company said the doctor required it. One of them if not both were lying.

What you are going through is a company thing. DOT has not yet started enforcing sleep studies. There are too many truckers that have sleep apnea. An estimated one third have it. That's a heck a lot of drivers to start testing and rejecting.

I read in my researching that sleep apnea if left untreated leads to diabetes and hypothyroidism. I have all three. If you haven't already, have your thyroid checked. On your VA blood work it will be labeled "TSH". There are different thoughts on levels but it should be less than 4, more like 1.0. Any numbers higher and you need Levothyroxin. If you are seeing an Endocronologist they should already be aware of your numbers.

I go to a small contracted out VA clinic which refers you to a VA hospital 150 miles away. The nurse practitioner I had was a quack. She had numerous complaints and quit three weeks ago without notice. The VA had no choice but to temporarily shut down the clinic. I'm left in limbo right now until they figure something out. I had a nuclear stress test Friday and have no one to read the results. I'm going to call the cardiologist directly and I hope he can help me. Some patients are running out of their prescriptions and no one to refill them.

I guess what I'm getting at, going to a doctor is stressful by itself. They need to start treating people for post traumatic doctor syndrome!

 

I had a sleep study done in may of last year.. I passed it but I'm wondering if they'll try and flag me again in February.

 

Im with Condo on this one. I have a large neck and a high BMI with type 2 diabetes, this doesnt mean I have sleep apnea. Have them check your a1c level. It should be a simple poke of your finger and about 2 drops of blood taken. They get a reading of your blood sugar for the past 3 months and then determine diabetes. 6 and under, should be good as gold. 7 and over, you probably have it. Mine was a 12 and I dont take insulin. Mine is now taken care of by pills and mainly diet. Eat healthy and keep the weight down and drink lots of water and you will solve a lot of health issues.

 

Go apply at a different company.
I've been on CPAP for 14 years.
I see my Pulmonologist once a year with a download from my machine in hand.
He gives me a letter to take to my DOT Medical.
I receive a one year card.
I don't understand why you guys even waste your time with those mickey mouse big box carriers anyways.

 

Cause most mom and pop operations don't want to train.

 

From my unserstanding, if you have it, you have to show prrof of compliance every year. If you don't, here is where it gets really aggravating. You can have the test done, but it has to be 90 days or less prior to your physical. If older than 90 days, you have to be tested. So in a nutshell, if you get tested and it is said that you don't have it and are given a two year card, expect to pay for another test in two years.

Part of the problem I had with Link is I had to pay for this test, even if my doctor was totally against it. It would cost me $740 since that is my deductible. Why dod I have to have a test that I am told is required by the doctor because the doctor said it is required by the DOT? If it is required for me to work for the company as part of the approval process, than the company should pay the deductible. They don't andthey won't. Most drivers I have talked to at some of these companies that once they are told they have it, companies will black ball them for you are now a liability to drive that truck. Get into an accident and it comes out. Flip of that coin, if you are not treated for it and the DOT says you could have it based on BMI, the company still gets fried.

So I did what a lot of other drivers are doing. I just said forget it and left the industry to go back to what I enjoy doing anyway. I turned my back on the industry the same way it turned its back on me. I walked away with the negative feelings of the company and will continue to have these negative feelings. The undustry has changed and the people are leaving it faster than they can get people in it. It is sad, but trucking ruins lives anymore. Some are lucky, but most will not be...