Anyone had a sleep study done yet?

during a regular dot physical at roehls specified clinic, I was told I have all the
symptoms of sleep apnea. The clinic refered me to a certified sleep specialist.
I notified roehl of the clinics findings and was told if the dr confirms sleep apnea that i will be on dispatch hold untill Im certified on the cpap machine four to six weeks.

I wasnt to happy about this but was told I would be able to claim and get a portion of my pay on thier temporary disibility insurance. hey its better than nothing
Long story short I had two back to back sleep studys, 1st night to determine to what degree I had sleep apnea, they also check for restless leg syndrome.

2nd night was to determine the best mask for me and adjust air pressure to achieve
best possible sleep without your breathing stopping. Couple days later had results and a medical vender near my home brought me a cpap macnine and instructed me on its use.

Slept every night all night with machine on for two weeks ,then took machine and had a visit with sleep specialist dr and he reviewed my data off of my machine and then certified me compliant. then you go back to the origanal clinic where you had your dot phyisical and they review your tests results and the sleep dr's certification
and give you a 6 month medical card, if you stay compliant you then get a one year card. minimum time to sleep on machine and be comnpliant is four hours, but I leave mine on all night and have gotten use to it. hope this helps, and yes I do feel better and dont get sleepy in the middle of the day like I used to.

 

There's plenty of sleep apnea threads down in the Drivers Health forum if you want to read them.

Just be careful of the referral game and try to keep control of who you go to and where you buy a CPAP.

After being forced to rent a CPAP for 13 months so the medical equipment company could milk the insurance companies $2500. No biggie except you have to pay your deductible. I found the very same CPAP online for $700.

Sleep studies clinics and CPAP sales are popping up all around just like puppy mill truck driving schools. I bet they set up and give certain doctors kick backs for referrals and it goes from there.

Just be careful before you sign the dotted line and do your homework before you pay 3X as much like me.

 

When you take your cpap on the road with you, how does the new battery system hold up?

 

Currently I'm in a 2012 prostar with only a bunk heater and no auto start.
The trk has a recall on bunk heater power usage so I use a sears jump start
(Biggest one they have) to supplement main battery power .

Hopefully the recall will fix this issue. They are trying to put me back in
A freightliner with a apu and a inverter witch works the best as for staying compliant with the cpap. Roehl told me I must provide battery back up
Which is fine, it will run my machine one complete night. The problem is
Recharging the back up battery, need 110 ac for a good charge. Tried 12 volt charger
And it won't charge up all the way, tried explaining to roehl why I need back in a
Trk with a apu and inverter.

 

Viking 84 I'm a home time driver slipseat, if I remember correctly it was real close to 3 to 4
Weeks start to finish. All depends how well dr's work together and scheduling appt's.
Yes I did apply for and receive short term disibilty pay for this.
I only had to do dot phyisical at roehl approved clinic. No pre hire tests or recertification tests
Yes still work at roehl and between roehls insurance and my wifes there was no out of pocket
Costs even with the cpap machine. This was exactly 2 years ago. Hope this helps and good luck

 

go to a better doctor for your physical,

 

Viking84 its gonna depend on your cpap machine. Mine has a humidifier added on
So that along with the cpap reving up every time you breath (another cpap feature called pulse) . I use a black and decker inverter from walmart , its a 750 or up to 75 watt surge.

My cpap would always make the inverter alarm go off during the pulse or reving up.
Till learned a little secret, I run two power cords to two separately fused power outlets in the trk for the inverter. This gives the inverter the amps it needs to power the cpap and do it safely. Hope this helps.