Driving with sleep apnea

Are you of those guys?
You know the ones, we hear them on the CB radio all the time whenever you pass by a truckstop?

Born holding a steering wheel!!!

 

I'm glad this thread is on here. It's good to see I'm not the only one who is going through this whole ordeal. Before I start venting about how all this is a bunch of BS, a money grab, whatever, I do realize SA is a very serious problem. The great Reggie White died from complications from SA. Here's my story. I haven't even started my trucking career yet. I'm 25, 300+ lbs, been a big guy all my life. Two years ago, I started driving school bus as a side job for some extra money. In WI, bus drivers need to be medically certified just as truckers do. I passed my physical then, got my 2 year card, no issues at all.

Then I go for a physical a month ago for Roehl Transport, the company I'm trying to hire on with. Physical is good, but they gave me a 3-month card because I'm "at risk" for SA. What steams me is this: yes I'm obese, yes my neck is 17in exactly, yet I have NO symptoms whatsoever except very light, undisturbing snoring. So I go to a sleep doc, he checks me out, doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. He makes me take a home test just so he has a definite answer. $500 later (I'm uninsured), he tells me over the phone I have 8-9 airflow drops per hour. A normal person has 5 airflow drops per hour. I'm at the extremely low end of the sleep apnea scale. He wanted me to come in to go over the results in more detail and so he could make his official diagnosis. I cancelled, I can't afford to pay the deposit up front, and never made it that far.

I just had my recertification physical for school bus last week, this was with a different medical group. The doc tries pulling the same crap on me! I kept my cool and politely told him MY opinion on this whole situation. I convinced him to give me a 1 year certification, however this is not good for Roehl since I need to be certified through their medical group. I talked to my boss at the bus company, and quite a few of our drivers are getting nailed with this now, some even being pulled from service just for being "at risk", and are now in medical debt only to find they don't have it. He agrees that this is a bunch of crap! I did, however, find out that the medical group that certified me for school bus offers the same home sleep test and consultation...for FREE, with immediate results! ..so much money spent for nothing. So I'm definitely going in for a second opinion.

My problem is, if I do get diagnosed with it, it may be SO mild that treatment may not even help it at all, since I have NO symptoms to begin with. Does anybody think that the DOT doctor will require me to do treatment even if it is not effective? This whole thing has really got me ticked off. They really need to come up with better risk factors so they aren't singling out the wrong people. Like I said before, I know this condition can have serious consequences, and there are a lot more people WAY worse off than I am. I'm just sick of spending money before I can even start making it just because my weight puts me "at risk", even though my daytime abilities are not affected and I have no symptoms. Thank you for listening.

 

i like many here thought the idea of only transportation workers (commercial drivers , pilots,and rail workers ) was crap...now not saying there aren't clinics that are out to make somebody money as their only motivation..........but once i found out i had it getting treated was one of the best things that ever happened to me.......got my first full nights sleep in years and have for 2 years now. it was severe enough for me that i got a pacemaker as insurance that if i didn't use the machine my heart would keep pumping because when i went to sleep while in the hospital for an unrelated reason my heart beat was slowing down as low as 25 beats a minute. which was why i got tested for osa...... a guy down the street from me coincedentially while i was in the hospital (he was not a driver) was diagnosed about a year before and refused treatment , is now sleeping well....6 feet under at 53 years old ....... there are a host of problems such as high blood pressure, congenital heart failure, a compromised immune system,
Moodiness, drowsyness, irritability or depression, strain on the blood vessels causing heart disease and stroke, depleted oxygen levels, weight gain and death ...... look it up

one in 25 middle-aged men and one in 50 middle-aged women have sleep apnea. If you are related to someone with sleep apnea, you are more likely to develop sleep apnea yourself.



so if you think you may have it get tested by a real hospital not just some clinic that popped up in the last couple of weeks ...... it may save your life

 

You'll probably never hear me on the radio at a truckstop...I turn mine down or off when I get to a truckstop (I have a low tolerance for idiots)

I wasn't born holding a steering wheel but I wanted to do this since I was a little tiny kid...My mom told me when I decided to drive trucks that she never once doubted that that's what I would do for a living.

 

the tech who did my test also said if i lose 20 lbs sleep apnea should go away. i am working on that one. if any of you think you have and been accepted b prime the company sleeppointe will help you finance the cost if you are interested

 

Not out of the woods yet!

I'm still married!

 

well i have sleep apnea and did a sleep study thru Kaiser permanente. prior to this i was on pressure 12. I asked the technician what she thought my level was 9, The Doctor Prescribed 6. Then they gave me a rental machine at 6 my sleep suffered. I argued with my Dr and he gave me a prescription for a machine I bought off cpap.com, That Automatically picks your level. It has me at 12.2 last 7 days and 11.5 last 30 days. no periodic breathing and ahi whatever that is. If I even lay down on bed and watch tv i wear my mask.

I am obese about 355 lbs and have type 2. except for last month i have been in gym 2 hours a day and have lost 40 lbs. Kidney stones have curtailed me last month blood in urine. So I have taken it easy on 9/2 They will try blasting the stone. by 11-2 I will start cdl training. Will be going to a ptdi school in west unity ohio.

 

I was just diagnoced with sleep apnea. I am wondering can i get a daycab job and not use that machine. The price is amazingly high. I mean my company wants to charge me 2000 or more for it. I dont have the finances. Can i transfer to a daycab and not get themachine or get a cheaper one? Is there a sight i can check the state regulations for this I am in texas.

 

this is nothing to play games with...using a machine is not a form of punishment.... seriously, you can die from this

even with a day cab if you were diagnosed you would still have to use the machine with a card reader to prove required usage of 4 hours daily minimum. personally i wish i found out i had it 10 years ago. i use my machine every night...

for your health you should use it if diagnosed .......

sleep apnea causes

• Snoring/troubled sleep patterns
• Daytime drowsiness
• Frequent night urination
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Cardiovascular problems

there are many sites such a cpap.com and a few others and you can see the prices of the machines there........all you need is a prescription from the doc that did your sleep study and your good to go for less than half the cost they want to charge you