Sleep apnea question

If you do have sleep apnea a cpap machine will make all the difference in how you feel.

 

Did you get a physical on your own or one required by a specific trucking company?

 

Sleep apnea is a health problem, just like high blood pressure or any other medical condition that can cause you major problems in the future. High blood pressure can lead to organ failure. Sleep apnea can be the first step before a heart attack.

Your doctor is simply identifying a possible serious health condition and referring you to a sleep specialist to either confirm or rule out the conditon. Your doctor knows you drive an 80,000 truck and he does not want you to be falling asleep while you are driving.

Also, he does not want to be sued by the persons family you kill if you fall asleep while driving......his failure to test you for sleep apnea exposes him to a malpractice liability claim, if that should occur.

There is a standard of care the doc must meet to defend a malpractice claim. If you want to find a doc willing to not meet the medical standard of care, shop around for a doc to see if you can find one.

 

YMMV.....my sleep apnea was properly diagnosed and properly treated with a cpap machine. I have not slept so well for ten years. Everyone I know with a cpap machine continues to use it to get quality sleep.

I am not sure how you arrived at sleep studies being money maker scams. For who? The primary care doc is paid a salary, and does not get a bonus for referrals to a sleep specialist. The sleep lab is run by the sleep doc and is likely owned by the hospital.

 

Oops, i forgot to say i have a cpap .
I told 1st doc about, he still wanted a sleep study. So i told 2nd doc about cpap. All is good.

 

Well down here they are all pretty much connected. Referrals is what i was getting at.

 

I believe the President put thru a measure to stop them from being an FMCSA requirement but the company you are at could still have their own policies which require them for certain red flags.

 

Then it's company policy. Looks like you'll have to comply now, since they downgraded your card to a 3 mos. card.

 

They give you a three month card so you have time to be tested and get on a cpap and show at least a month of compliance , when you get your next physical , assuming you have sleep apnea .
You can do a home test and they will take the cost to rent the machine for the test , from the price of the cpap you buy from them ( convenient ) , and when I asked if anyone passes the test the nice lady said no , also convenient .