Sleep apnea - watching me sleep

Most companies I have experience with does not pay for it at all. If you are lucky it comes up after you are hired and got insurance going. Mostly not though.
I believe I am closer to the truth on if companies pay or not just by the number of people that come here and ask for ways around it/ complain they have to pay for it to get a job.

 

CPAP manufacturers are targeting the trucking industry. A huge consumer base in a heavily over regulated industry. Medical community just goes along for the ride IMO

 

Do people even understand how or what sleep apnea is? It when you stop breathing for 10 seconds and it can happen 30+ times per hour. That's 300 seconds or 5 minutes of not breathing every hour your sleeping. Go to sleep and put a pillow over you face so you can't breathe for 5 minutes and let's see if you wake up or how you feel. If you sleep 7 hours that 35 minutes of not breathing

I challenge anyone to hold their breath for 35 minutes and let's see how you feel

They are not watching you like every breath you take. They just get a report every morning if you used the cpap and if it's working for you. Normal or no sleep apnea is 1-4 Events or AHI per hour. So if the CPAP is fixing you sleep apnea you Events per hour or AHI will be 1-4 that's normal for everyone. Plus you need to use it 4 hours or more. That's all they are checking

Did you know when you stop breathing and your sleeping you brain knows this. Otherwise you would die. So your brain never goes into REM sleep. You brain is up all night trying to keep you alive and breathing. So even though you don't open you eyes you not getting a good night rest. It's like you brain is up all night running a marathon to keep you alive. So you wake up in the morning not feeling so rested.

 

Because many companies do not pay for them. Secondly, this sleep apnea crap is so lucrative that I can all but guarantee drivers are being diagnosed without actually having it. Sleep apnea could one day qualify as a pre-existing condition and with health care laws always in flux, that could really hurt someone down the road.

The point is, if a driver answers no to the questionnaire then it should end the process. How does just looking at someone justify a sleep study, often at the drivers expense? Do they also send him in for an EKG or MRI? Also, as has already been said, these sleep studies are ridiculous. It would take weeks to determine someone's sleep habits. Weeks in that drivers bed, sleeping the way he normally sleeps.

 

We all know what sleep apnea is. Was that really what we were discussing?

 

What if he didn't have sleep apnea and was just tired because of a late night load time, a broken A/C, a loud reefer truck next to him or just because he couldn't sleep? I mean, I don't get the point. That same argument can be used to justify anything. We need a 14 hour rule because what if the guy drifts into your family? 14!? Why not a 12 hour limit then? You see how this goes?

Fatigued driving happens and will continue to. Sleep apnea wasn't all the rage until recently and somehow most truckers managed not to kill a family every shift.

 

The company im at now....pays for it....and the company i have applied for pays for it....guess every one that #####es about it works at a mega otr company

 

Do you believe you have sleep apnea?

 

If people understand sleep apnea then why do people put all this crazy stuff out like They Are Watching Me Sleep ?? We all know people will push themselves beyond a safe limit.

Do drivers think drum brakes or disc brakes are more safe? Every one should understand disc brakes are far superior to drum brakes. Yet trucks today are still sold with drum brakes

The OP thinks it's a violation of privacy they are watching him sleep. If someone has a sleeping problems and waited untill the trucking company doctor found the problem. I'm sure people can understand they want to make sure you using the machine. They could just send you home and say come back when you have 30 days of compliance sleep data. Then you can go home not work and not worry about THEM WATCHING YOU SLEEP.

 

A few thoughts.

Hipaa does not cover us, we are exempt by law as are other regulated transportation jobs.

Sleep apnea has been pushed by .... the insurance companies more than any other group.

The examiners will have more issues in the future, they will end up getting more strict on this issue.

Just use it.

I tell people to get the company out of the loop, take control of it and have your doc or a sleep specialists deal with a treatment plan, buy a older machine and use that, it won't record a lot of stuff and you can make the arguement that you have to use it, not a company machine.

There has been a thought that if the company provides the machine, it is yours when you leave.

Just use it.

It is important, not all know what it is about nor how it effects people, not everyone is you.