Sleep Apnea and the health card

How mild is your apnea? Do you really need a machine? Can you rent one? Renting may be a cheaper option than buying. I have no idea what the routine check ups would entail as my husband got his machine and hasn't seen the sleep specialist since.

 

You paid too much! My study in Florida was about $100. Find a clinic not a freakin rip off hospital. The doc writes out a script for the machine. They program the air pressure.You can buy a used refurbished guarrenteed machine online cheap. A couple of hundred bucks. You just need a script. Aso research different masks & check out NOMASK

 

I'd also tell that company doctor, and that company to uh, go somewhere and do something very personal to themselves. There are other places to work.

I've been on CPAP since 2003. Every time I've had the DOT physical I've told them about it, and have never had anyone give me a problem over it.

 

Stevens, how did the Co. Doctor evaluate/determine you needed to go for the test???? I went for my first DOT with a new company and this quack said because my neck was over 17 inches, I had apnea. So the quack gave me a 30 day card, and sent me to a facility of the same name of his hospital for a sleep study. I knew it was a racket when I asked the technicians at the study how much these 2 nights were going to cost, I got the " we are not supposed to talk about it." Went through the whole riggemero, got the CPAP, the whole deal. Couldnt use the CPAP, kept pulling it off in my sleep. SO, went to my family Doc a year later and told him about this and got the "WTF" from him. He evaluated me, and sent me to another place for some prelim tests, SUPRISE - not needed!. I am bi-phasic, not apnea. I sleep in short cycles, and is managed simply by more sleep ( 8 hrs, and maybe a nap) Immediately turned this over to my ins., and told them to go get the quack who started this. Now, Im not OTR yet - and I worry about company docs like you have, but if he sent you for a sleep study and the testing location is somehow affiliated with the doc, something may be fishy.
I have a sister who is a sleep study tech, who tells me apnea is being mis-diagnosed more and more due to the vested interests alot of health care providers have in your having apenea. If you indeed have apnea, the CPAP will make you feel better.
As far as restrictions, the Company DOc should give you a 1 year med card. You should not have to repeat the sleep study, but you will have to take the disk out of the CPAP to you apnea doc once yearly so they can confirm you are using the machine.
As with anything, I am sure this info will not cover every aspect of your situation, but I hope it helps

 

Once you are diagnosed with sleep apnea you need to remain "under current and effective treatment" to keep your DOT medical card. What EXACTLY that means is a medical opinion of the doctor administering the DOT physical. The problem is how much experience the doctor giving your the DOT physical has with sleep apnea.

The DOT DR is worried about their liability in the case where you later have an accident where it is alleged you might have been sleepy due to sleep apnea or its treatment. Often doctors dealing with drivers will require more treatment or more tests than a doctor treating a non-driver patient. (the WTF from the above post).

Many CPAP machines now have compliance monitoring chips that sense when and how long the CPAP is being used. If you use one of these machines often the sleep doctor and DOT doctor will accept the download of the memory card as proof of "current and effective treatment".

Other times the DOT DR may require additional tests to confirm "current and effective treatment". One test that is often required is a Management of Wakefullness Test (MWT). This involves a long period of having to sit in a quiet room and not falling asleep. Airline pilots doing transatlantic flights have to take this test as part of their "flight physicals".

Normally you do NOT have to have a full night time sleep study every year to get your DOT card. But.. people are different and doctors treat people.

Good Luck with sleep apnea.. Getting tested was the best thing I did 6 years ago.