Sleep Apnea and CPAP

I got it. Use a CPAP as a part of my daily life

 

I have it and can't get use to the CPAP. As a partial result the DOT disqualified me and I'm home on medical leave. I also have diabetes that I'm having a hard time with. I'm one step away from insulin.

It's a tough situation because diabetes makes you urinate every hour or two. Then you use the CPAP to try and better your sleep and you can't because your diabetes wakes you up to urinate every couple hours. So the CPAP does you no good.

I'm on a strict diet now and I'm getting plenty of exercise since I'm home.
My plan is to drop 50-60lbs and then get the surgery for my sleep apnea. Hopefully then I can turn this around. I already lost close to 15 lbs in 6 weeks.

The numbers are alot higher than those who are getting treated. Many fear their jobs. I thought I would sneak in between physicals and get my CPAP and improve, but it backfired on me.

Type sleep apnea in the forum search feature. There are plenty of threads on the subject.

 

insurance co spy or dot jo

 

I'm a good candidate for the rotor-router man. I had it since my 20's and in good shape. I had my nose broke and it was never set right and my tonsils act like check valve. I talked to two guys that had the surgery and both were a success. They both said they were in alot of pain for two weeks, but it was worth it. My insurance will pay for most of it.

According to the FMSCA medical website, sleep apnea is a precursor to diabete's and hypothyroidism. I was shocked when I read that because I have both of them. So I feel if I can get the sleep apnea under control, then I can start reversing the diabetes hopefully. The hypothyroidism I have to live with.

Alot of people including me are unaware or ignorant to the facts of certain health issues until after the fact. I have learned alot in the past year on the subject and keep learning something new everyday. Talking with people with similar issues helps alot.

Though alot of truckers gain weight and their breathing passages narrow, there are some that gain weight and it doesn't bother them. So you can't say if a person has a certain BMI they have sleep apnea. It's a combination of weight and genetics. My case is genetics and an injury that worsened with weight gain.

As far as the DOT goes, they know nothing until you are honest and check that sleep apnea box on the physical form. Then you better be able to prove your case or you will be sitting. That little compliance card can be your friend or your enemy.

Drivers sleep when they can. But for some the daytime naps are because of sleep apnea. It's funny now the DOT is adding a mandatory break time to the rules. Pretty much says, okay you sleep apnea people, catch up on your sleep. I always worked around it and it was never an issue until lately. With the diabetes, my eyes started playing tricks on me and it has become a problem.

It won't be long and many drivers will be experts on sleep apnea.

 

it would only let me choose 1

i have mild sleep apnea so mild that its baely noticeable i have always slept like a brick not even the loudest noises wake me when i sleep...

a few years back b4 all us drivers had to have it i went to see my sleep lab in tulsa to se why i can sleep for 24 hours and still not feel rested...

part of it is just my natural cycle and they say the other is a mild form of sleep apnea..

myself i put the cpap mask on and sleep wake up a lil rested unlike b4 but still sleep like a bear in hibernation..

when i came to prime.. now lets not make this a prime thing i done this on my own b4 i even started lleasing from prime.. but the only issue i had was my machine was not uploadable so i had to purchase a new machine at that time which has a lil card in it that i can upload to their sleep lab associates... makes it nice and is a lil nicer machine as well...

ne ways thats my bout with a mild form of sleep apnea.. and just fyi... everyone. everyone all has a small form of sleep apnea.. so i wonder if the whole government is gonna require us all to be on it...

hahahah

 

I have been on the CPAP since 2001 or there abouts. I can honestly say that I probably would not be alive today, if I hadn't gone this route. I got so bad, that I could not sit down without dropping off to sleep. But I couldn't sleep for more than a few minutes at a time, without stopping breathing and waking up.

My snoring was so loud, that my wife couldn't get a nights sleep either. Even in a different bedroom, with both doors closed.

I was not driving at the time that I got the CPAP, but went back to it a few months later. It not only wasn't a problem, but it made a complete difference in my performance and in general satisfaction with life. I used it in the truck whenever I would sleep.

I thought I might have a problem in getting used to it, as others here have mentioned. However, I was in such bad shape, that all it did was help me.