Sleep Apnea...Proceeding after diagnosis

Well I have an interesting train of thought I was told you have to use your Cpap machine at least 4hrs a night to be in compliance with my company and dot. So 4hrs IMO is really bs if you really care about a person's health. I really don't know if these company really have the diver's well being at heart

 

Are you sure you'll get issued a medical with sleep apnea? The FMCSA is trying to show as many drivers the door as possible now.

 

I have been using a cpap 4 years and is a non issue when i take my dot exam. I just give the doctor the printout from my machine and he puts it in the folder and writes compliant on report ..

 

The people I really feel bad for is the guys trying to get into the industry. They get their physical done so they can go to school and get hit with this sleep study test. I wonder how many people don't enter the industry because they couldn't afford the upfront costs of a study. I'm not really seeing a big enough push back on this from the industry.

 

Some starter companies will cover the cost of the test, and finance the equipment through payroll deduction.

It seems to me that if a company requires a test that is not required by law, the company should pay for it.

 

I thought the same thing, but I quickly found out it is all in the definition of "use". You assume it means having the machine strapped on, turned on and you in the bed. It turns out what they mean is four hours of "compliant" sleep per night. Like I had said in my earlier reply, my machine is one of the newer models, so it starts at a low pressure and increases the pressure if I am still having apneas. So it's only registering usage when it's strapped on, turned on, you are in the bed AND the machine is accomplishing it's goals. If you knock the mask out of kilter and it leaks too much, or if you are still having apneas and it's having to auto-adjust, then that time isn't counted toward the total. For example, last night I went to bed about 11PM and got up this morning at 5AM - so six hours in bed sleeping. But my machine shows I got 5 hours and 2 minutes of "compliant" sleep - that's over the 4 hour requirement, so it's all good. Hope that helps.

 

Losing a lot of time...