Where do I get HONEST sleep apnea test?

hubby snores like a freight train, but has been told he is fine, I tested at the same time I am fine. I only need 6 hours of sleep and I am good to go. I can sleep through an earthquake without waking up.

 

Tow, Big Ugly, no one here has argued that Sleep Apnea is not real. At least not on this thread.

The problem, is that some companies are requireing drivers to use their own (company paid) doctors. Some of these doctors, like the companies paying them, are just as criminal.

Another issue that many are having is the VERY subjective nature of risk assessment. The BMI test and neck measurements. This is because most of us probably know a driver or other friend that would be considered obese or nearly terminally overweight. But there isn't hardly any fat on them, they are just very strong individuals. Muscle weights more than fat.

 

Some people do snore & have no trace of sleep apnea. It's only one of dozens of symptoms. I'm built like a Mack truck & I have it at age 40. My father has the same build as me at 70 years, not as muscular anymore & aged of course, but he hasn't got sleep apnea. You barely know he is sleeping he is so quiet. My wife is a petite little lady at 5'5" & barely 120 lbs yet she does have sleep apnea. It's a condition that doesn't discriminate based on size or snoring alone. And the point is if you have it you need to accept it & be treated for it.

 

The truth about weight and sleep apnea is reversed..

according to my doctor..new studies are finding that obesity is a result of sleep apnea.. since you are not sleeping properly it throws your system out of whack and often times results in fatigue and weight gain... they are finding an equal number of people who are not overweight have sleep apnea as those who are overweight. He said he has tested people well over 400 lbs and they did not have sleep apnea.

the best indicators are snoring and a pause in breathing while sleeping..

 

You make a good point about the companies & their doctors they use. But to dispel a myth that is gong around too. Sleep apnea can be diagnosed & treated by a respiratory therapist under federal law. It doesn't require a full fledged M.D. by no means. That is probably who most of the clinicians being used by trucking are that are doing these tests & diagnoses. It doesn't make them any less valid.

And as I say this is gong to be regulated by the FMCSA. It's not if but when we all should be asking. If we learn nothing from Obamacare we better learn this fact, that gov't will now tell us how to manage our healthcare & it'll affect all facets of our lives. We either will accept it or as I suggest we'll find a new way to make a living.

 

And the body jerking to wake you enough to start breathing again.

 

This subject has been discussed at length, and yes it is a scam for the most part because these trucking companies are looking at perspective employees and basically saying "Hey! You're fat. Even though not everybody has to, you need to have this discriminatory test done to prove that you don't have a sleep disorder. Oh yeah, and we're not going to pay for it." And us truckers...being the rather ho hum unintelligent beings that we are, go off and spend (in some cases) hundreds or thousands of dollars jumping through hoops to appease them.

I had a friend that worked for Stevens Transport who recently got fired. Why you might ask? When out with her trainer, they got into a big fight. The trainer called safety and told them that she was doing drugs and was a schizophrenic. They pulled her off of the truck and immediately gave her a DOT drug test...which came back clean.

That is where it should have ended...but...

They then required her to take a full panel drug screen on her own dime. That came back negative. Then they made take psychological evaluation on her own dime to prove that she wasn't a schizophrenic. The psychologist said she was fine. Stevens still fired her and ruined her DAC and career because they said she was an unsafe driver all because of what some crappy trainer said.

The moral of the story is that this type of stuff is a very slippery slope. These trucking companies are breaking employment laws regarding medical evaluations and are getting away with it. The main reason being is that the average truck driver is either uninformed as to what their rights are, or know that their rights are being violated, but just shut up and take it because it's easier than fighting it.

If nothing changes, nothing changes.

 

Well not quite. There is nothing in any law state or federal that says a company, not just a trucking company but any company, cannot test their employees for physical or mental fitness for the job. It's not about rights or privacy or 'bending over for da man!' or whatever new gripe. The company has a legal responsibility to determine by whatever means they need to, within the law as it is written, to check an employee or a prospective employee's fitness for the job. Surprise physicals, psych evals, drug tests, & yes the new dreaded sleep apnea testing is all perfectly legal & no it's not a scam to point fingers at fat people.

 

You are correct, however, a company cannot make one person take a test because of his/her weight while not making others take the same test. That is discrimination.


http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/factsheets/disabledrights.htm#Q11

 

Yes but name a company that is using weight as a specific criteria for testing? None that I know of or any that would dare publish that information. One persons opinion on a trucking related forum doesn't count either.

Now you & I are both well aware that we can cite ”this driver I know or that driver who told me such & such'" & it won't matter a hill of beans. That's not actual statistical data & it won't hold up in a court of law. We are simply talking about the reality that all truck drivers are facing now. It may not be deserved in some cases & in others it's probably long overdue. But it is the reality we now have to live with.