Sleep apnea dot certification question.

NO the new exam trumps and invalidates the previous exam.

 

You have hit on a question that no one can get a straight answer on.

How long is a sleep study showing no sleep apnea good for?

The questions for a medical examiner include.... 1) What king of sleep study was it? A cheap home sleep study.... or the more expensive in-lab PSG. 2) Has your medical history and clinical indicators for needing a sleep study changed since the study was done? example have you gained or lost a lot of weight.. developed diabets or high blood pressure. 3) How definative was the "you don't have sleep apnea" results? was it marginal (AHI near 5) or clearly no apneas.

The latest advisory from FMCSA doesn't address this topic.

Sorry but this is one where the individual medical examiner has a wide range of latitude on what they can and will do.

 

PS... FMCSA just issued a new advisory on sleep apnea to medical examiners.

For a discussion written for sleep docs but of use to drivers check

http://www.sleepscholar.com/fmcsa-issues-advisory-on-sleep-apnea/

 

I'm new to this forum and trying to get an understanding of this sleep apnea. I'm come from sales where I'm on the road just was much as drivers. I take my DOT Exam like the company ask for with 48 hours. After the DOT exam the medical examiner disqualified my medical certificate for a possible sleep apnea and I have no prior history of having sleep apnea.

So what I need some help with is: If i don't take the sleep study it seems that I will not get the job, but if that is the case the employer should pay for the sleep study because they are saying if have sleep apnea. If i have no prior record of sleep apnea how could the examiner make this assessment. I have a huge fear if I take a home sleep study they will find something wrong with that. It seems that they are looking for something when there is nothing there.

If these Medical Examiners are going by whatever index that they use. How do you disqualify someone that never had a history and make suggestion saying possibly, but without facts.

 

I have a feeling your doctor works for someone paying HIM or HER.

My doctor is a independent. His life flies or burns depending on the good work he does or fails to do on his own. There is however a affiliation with a major hospital and that's useful for admittance privildges etc but they don't specifically tell HIM how to do a DOT test or hunt for sleep apnea.

When I go to DOT exam by anyone. I say NO across the board. If they want to FIND it whatever the problem is (With exception of vision and Hearing.. those two have a chart from a recent week backing it up..) I dare them to detect the problem. Even today I don't know if I have sleep apnea or not. Apparently not, wife with me over a decade. Not a word about breathing things that scared her. (Nothing like that... BTW she snores too. I track her breathing as well just to check up on it)

I consider the sleep apnea a racket. They apparently found that they can rake in a disgusting amount of money on everything from measuring a neck appointment to all them big old boys in the trucking business who have no neck at all. (Big boys too. whoo.. Im a little one...My family is big but these boys make them look small) Down here in the south they feed em something good I tell you. Not like back home eating a bit of something like a bird at a feeder.

 

Neck size, bmi, bp meds, age, etc, go into their assessment of whether or not they choose to require a sleep apnea test.

It's their judgment and necks that are on the line more and more from a liability standpoint.

 

My BMI usually sits at about 19 or so. It's not much. But if I had a few extra burgers that week it's going to be at 24 in no time at all. (It only takes about 15 pounds to make it 24.

When I was little I had BMI so small I was considered under weight. My deaf school mates in weight lifting helped me with that by teaching me how to eat and I was sorted by 20.

 

Same here. Did my recertification September 19th and received a two year card. No neck measurement.