Sleep apnea - watching me sleep

Here's a website that may help, if you want to keep a company out of it.
www.rpmhst.com
At least this way you can get a 2 yr. card vs. a 1 yr. card.

 

OK, not sure what OP's readings were so I really can't comment on them. But in my state, if you are an existing CPAP user, you have to get a current chip print out from your doctor and submit that in order to pass the DOT physical. You are asked if you have sleep apnea right on the form, and if you know you have it and you lie, then you have lied in order to pass your DOT physical. My son just started a new job and they made him do this again, after just having done it 3 months ago for his previous job.

Over 20 years ago (well before CPAPs were around) I watched a documentary that proved that drivers who were severely sleep deprived were more impaired than drunk drivers. It was very sobering (LOL).

During the 10 years that my son was recovering from the effects of a benign brain tumor, the two things that made the biggest difference were replacement of the hormones he could no longer make himself, and being diagnosed with sleep apnea and getting his CPAP. The increased rate of recovery after getting his CPAP was exponential.

If OP really does have significant sleep apnea and starts using his machine regularly, he is going to be amazed at how much better he feels. His entire life will be changed for the better. Incidentally, the frequent "startling yourself awake because you are not breathing" that happens all night long with sleep apnea causes your body to release cortisol, the "fight or flight" hormone each time. If you have ever noticed all the ads on TV for products that supposedly help fight belly fat due to excess cortisol, that is what they are referring do. I had a cardiologist tell me that it would be hard to nearly impossible for my son to lose weight with untreated sleep apnea. This is before he was even thinking about trucking.

Blessings often arrive in disguise.

 

Monitoring is a form of watching is it not? Can you really deny that the manufacturers are pushing this hard? Can you really deny that sleep apnea screening was not so "critically important" for the majority of trucking?

Some people seem to think I'm anti CPAP or that I do not believe sleep apnea is real. This is untrue. What I am against is this notion that you can look at someone and decide they are at risk. The decision to send someone to a sleep study should come from what that person reports. If that person says they sleep well then what symptoms is a doctor basing his decision?

Overweight drivers are at risk for many other medical conditions yet we do not force them to screen for those. There is no machine that checks how often you take your prescribed medication, or how long you wear your required corrective lenses. You do not have to provide a log that you took your heart medication at home. Why does sleep apnea have this level of intrusion?

 

You do make some good points about monitoring. But according to this wikipedia article, driving under the influence of significant sleep deprivation is more dangerous than DUI alchohol: Sleep-deprived driving - Wikipedia. Evidently this was confirmed on Mythbusters: "Tipsy vs. Tired". Nobody questions that it is reasonable to monitor the drug and alcohol use of truck drivers. Since it is now a known fact that people who suffer from sleep apnea live in a constant state of REM sleep deprivation, and this impairs their ability to operate a truck safely, staying on top of this doesn't seem all that unreasonable. On the other hand, why limit this to 18 wheels? One can envision this whole thing being added to the licensing requirements for 4 wheelers, similar to wearing corrective eye wear and drunk driving checkpoints. It's somewhat of a slippery slope. I sure don't have all the answers.

 

You can say it is monitoring. Just like logging in our log books when you stop and sleep or use the bathroom or eat or fuel. I dont think it's any more monitoring then a log book or ELD.

If a trucking company doctor find someone new has sleep apnea, are they not responsible to make sure the driver is using the CPAP and the driver is still safe to drive since they are letting him to continue to drive

If someone already has sleep apnea they can provide the sleep data that shows he is using the machine and it's fixing the sleep apnea and drive. A cpap machine has 90 days or more of sleep data when it shows a sleep report.

Dr. John they guy that used to be on satellite radio air with Dave Nemo is were all this sleep apnea stuff got started. He had that RV they called the MERV driving around truck stops giving free checkups to driver. The MERV was sponsored by sleep centers of America or something, some sleep apnea group.

Dr. John was,maybe still is one of the doctors that sit on the medical advior to the FMCSA. He and the other doctors keep pushing the sleep apnea thing and 8 years later its not even a law but we have to deal with it.

 

You are not required to log what you are doing at home, or even off duty for that matter. Off duty is just off duty, you can do whatever you want. I do not believe it is about safety at all. Again, drivers are known to have vision that is just bad enough to require glasses yet there is no machine to check for that or literally any other medical condition. Only sleep apnea is monitored. Using your argument would justify everything from in cab cameras to home cameras so they can make sure we slept before coming in. I just don't understand why anyone would defend the monitoring part.

 

Drivers have the option to say no if they think the monitoring of their sleeping from the trucking company is going to far. They could have said no to the sleep testing and no to the cpap and no to the monitoring. Is their not some point the driver is responsible for his choice. I would bet the trucking company does not say we will monitor you sleeping everyday also.

When do drivers draw the line and so no? I'm not doing that for the job. I don't know his story but I bet he could say no and go buy his own cpap and use if for 30 days and then get a job for any trucking company. My guess would be their is more to the story. Like not having the money buy his own cpap

We are never going to get the full story as to why driver don't say no. Just like if someone thinks sleep apnea is a scam. They can say no and find a doctor that does not ask or care or has the same thinking.

 

The OP was saying no, he was asking for recommendations about trucking companies that do not monitor.

 

That's easy answer. I would say and trucking company other then Prime or Schneider because they are the only companies that I know if that help new driver with sleep apnea testing and stuff.

If you have you own cpap and have the proof your using it. You just get your regular D.O.T physical even if it's the company doctor. You show him the sleep report and you get your 1 year card. That's been my experience. They can't even monitor the CPAP usage because the data is going back to the place you got it from. That's only if you have CPAP with wireless data reporting.

On top of that you can put your CPAP in airplane mode and it won't sent any sleep data to anyone. You only need to pass D.O.T physical. So bring your sleep report for that. The doctor can look at the data and sign off on your 1 year card and your good to go ! No trucking company has the right to see that data.


If you get your CPAP from the trucking company and their doctor or sleep testing place. You can see the problem plus if they are giving the sleep test and the CPAP machine because a new driver does not have one. Their sleep doctor or D.O.T will probably want to see the data vs making you park for 30 days to see if your sleep apnea is being fixed. Sounds like they are doing new sleep apnea drivers a favor to me.

 

I feel your pain.Monet grabbed on an "old timer" at my job."Tore 2k outta his pocket,and had to miss some good runs.Then said "Ya,you don't need it.He's a little Pis.ed. now.Idiots,diving in front of you don't have to get tested for it? It's Profiling.Clear and Simple.Oh,hang on on OMG ...it says here you have a 17&1\4 inch neck! THE HE'LL YA SAY...your a a Prime Candidate for our new Hannibal Lecture sleep machine.It's a "Money Grab" No BS.