Will sleep apnea testing become the new normal? New ways to ruin a livelihood.......

You've hit the nail right on the head of the sleep apnea (problem)

 

You can believe that somebody, somewhere is making $$ on this scam:smt023. Years ago my brother, who is the medical business, told me this was coming. Companies built these machines,and needed a way to market them. Doc's get a commision, machines are sold,everybody is happy except the driver. That's trucking.

 

That's about it in a nutshell... Sadly, many buy it hook, line, and sinker. And defend it with a rigor like no other... That is not to say, that some people don't have sleep disorders... but again, far... far fewer than they currently say have them.

Hey, I've got an idea! Let's keep kids in the house with video games, and never REALLY let them play for hours outside. Then, when they have all this penned up energy... let's take them to a doctor and diagnose them with some ailment, we could call it ADHD... then, let's drug our children and get them 'special' help in schools.

Oh yeah, scratch that... it's already been done!

 

I see a lot of misconceptions here, one being that overweight people are the ones chiefly at risk. I am not nor have ever been overweight but have had chronic sleeping problems my entire life due to an unusually small airway. As I grew older and gravity started having its way with flesh and muscle it became impossible for me to sleep in any position other than on my belly.

And even then, I was still waking up several times per night gasping for air because my breathing was stopping for increasingly longer periods of time. In hindsight, I think this may have contributed to the heart attack I had eleven years ago. I would check my blood pressure upon waking and it would be sky high, irrational when coming off of a supposed period of rest.

I finally sought help on my own a few years ago. My company had cleared me a few years earlier based on BMI and neck size which is totally bogus. Even us slender guys can have health problems. I am now on a BIPAP machine, which is for us folks worse off than than CPAP users. It assists both ways, intake and exhale. I can now sleep on my back if I prefer and no longer feel like I have a hangover from oxygen deprivation when I wake up. And my BP numbers are down where they should be when I wake up. I sleep straight through every night and wake up feeling great.

And nobody scammed me into anything, although I think some trucking companies are a little paranoid on the subject and overreacting in some cases.

It cost me $500 for the testing and the machine, which is mine to keep. Had I passed the sleep testing, the company would have picked up the tab. The insurance pays for all of my supplies. I send in the data card quarterly to verify my use of the machine. I have no reason to cheat anyway since I absolutely love the results.

Our trucks are equipped with company provided APUs and inverters, so there is no problem using the machine on the road.


In reference to the ill informed naysayers posting on here:
Just because an individual doesn't have a particular problem doesn't license them to act like it doesn't exist. That would be like me saying companies that manufacture wheel chairs are just out to rip people off.

 

A good reason these dimwits at FMCSA that come up with this crap deserve to be dragged out into the street and strung up. Unfortunatly, these idiotic regulations that they come up with to micromanage drivers will keep happening because the entire trucking industry, from the bigwigs at ATA, down to the drivers, is too gutless to take the severest action possible against this useless, imcompetent joke of an agency.

 

So drivers with untreated sleep apnea is a good thing?

 

Yes some people need help,but this is another money scam to make a few rich.

 

See, this is the issue I have with the Sleep Apnea money-maker. My friend got caught by it going to a company-sponsored doctor for his physical while I went to an outside doctor. Immediately, he wanted to have him tested. Turns out, the company (starts with C.R.) had setup a sleep study 'clinic' in a hotel testing two drivers a night for CPAP. Then, when you failed (which the nurse said 2/3rds failed), you got fitted for a CPAP and had a "Sleep Apnea Supervisor" you report to with your weekly upload. Meanwhile, the doctor (at a company called Sleepointe, which is conveniently setup at TripPak scanners to upload the data, imagine that), never actually met my friend. Also, refused to answer any of his phone calls. But, by reading his printout from sleeping, diagnosed him. Thing is, his next night with a CPAP his AHI never went down, yet they still diagnosed him and are now conveniently taking $26/wk for the next three or so years for the study and the CPAP machine.

Does he feel better? Does he feel more rested? Nope. Not in the slightest. Actually has more discomfort sleeping with the mask than ever sleeping before. He doesn't have the money for an independent study, and finding a doctor who will overrule another doctor with something as vague as sleep apnea diagnosis, would be tough. I mean, if the next doctor said he didn't have it, and signed off, and then my friend kills a family of four in a sedan because he fell asleep behind the wheel, guess which doctor gets crucified?

Basically, he'll have it for life. Or, as long as he drives a truck. Which, he doesn't think will be long, now.

And that whole sordid affair brings up another point... WHY are you required to upload your data to prove you're using the machine? I wear glasses, I don't have to submit regular approval that I'm using them, or submit to a daily eye test to ensure they're working properly. Neither does someone with a hearing aid. Or, someone with high BP that takes medication need to submit to a weekly BP check to prove that the pills are being taken and working on a weekly basis by monitoring blood pressure daily.

It comes off as a scam. An easily exploiting nouveau medical research that hasn't really stood the test of time. People with trouble sleeping will seek help if it's interfering with their livlihood. I don't recall great calamity of people falling asleep before the mass diagnosis and 'fear' of sleep apnea came onto the scene the last five years. Sleep is an indebted practice. You cannot bankroll sleep. Sleeping for 15 hours today doesn't mean you can go two days without sleeping and be fully functional. It has a maximum threshold. Lack of sleep, or in this case, quality sleep, will slowly drain the bankroll of sleep to the point you wold just conk out and never awake as your body desperately tries to accumulate enough rest to function.

The problem with trucking and rest is companies who work you like a dog want everything out of you they can, and the stipulated '10 hour rest break' isn't seen as a minimum but a nuisance to carriers who want you rolling the moment that magical number is elapsed. Never mind the question that drivers falling asleep behind the wheel or having accidents due to fatigued minds aren't because of unnatural sleep patterns brought on by a 5PM pick up and a 4AM delivery two days later. Or a driver who simply does other things during their break to limit the amount of time they can actually sleep.

 

Aman Brother.

 

of course i think it will be abused, and companies will lean towards too much more than too little to avoid litigation

but a friend of mine, who initially hated it, loved that he went thru it, and now he discovered something he never knew before

i cant say, i dont have it, he is the only person i know that has been tested positive for it and he loves it

will they make a big deal out of it? we are in a capitalistic society, if money can be made, somebody's gotta get screwed, but it may help a lot of drivers