you have better insurance than most as when I got my cpap it cost me 350. PLUS 175 for mask and tubing NOT covered by insurance as that money goes towards copay. I got a sleep study cuz i was having headaches. Still have the headaches plus I now have chronic heartburn as the cpap made my acid reflux WORSE so now Im so stuffed up with phlegm I can hardly talk at the end of the day. dr says I cant get rid of the machine to get well unless I want to give up my license. BTW. one company doctor has been banned from giving sleep studies in harrisburg pa area as his wife works for the company that gives out the cpap machines....imagine that
ABF | Sleep apnea fraud
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you have better insurance than most as when I got my cpap it cost me 350. PLUS 175 for mask and tubing NOT covered by insurance as that money goes towards copay. I got a sleep study cuz i was having headaches. Still have the headaches plus I now have chronic heartburn as the cpap made my acid reflux WORSE so now Im so stuffed up with phlegm I can hardly talk at the end of the day. dr says I cant get rid of the machine to get well unless I want to give up my license. BTW. one company doctor has been banned from giving sleep studies in harrisburg pa area as his wife works for the company that gives out the cpap machines....imagine that
Where is this a law. I just had my physical done two months ago and the doctor never said anything about this. I am overweight and my bmi is probably outrageous. Everything was all right and I received my 2 year card. There were 3 other drivers that have had there physical's in the last 3 or 4 months also and they were never questioned about it either. They all received their 2 year card also.
I would never dispute that many Drs are being paid to push certain issues BUT my buddy was diagnosed with sleep apnea, he thought the whole thing was BS, he said he felt fine, the sleep study revealed he woke up something like 60 times in 8hrs ( he never knew it) he got that breathing machine and then felt GREAT! He lost a lot of weight and the issue self corrected but its not always a scam. Crappy nights sleep affects people a lot more than most realize.
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Big Daddy, you aren't overweight you are just under height.
bad slavin
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It sure is easy for these people in the medical industry to make you get a sleep apnea test. Have they ever been on a call board ? You guys that work the dock or linehaul drivers know......no call....so you are up all day from 6 in the morning trying to have a family life......get the kids on the bus to school....have breakfast with the wife...cut the grass.....and everything else you can possibly get done to have a normal life.....and then the phone call comes....2hr. work call....12-14hr. day ahead of you ...repeat...repeat...repeat. Then you say to the d.o.t. doctor that " i'm tired in the afternoon sometimes,and BAM! you are off for a sleep apnea test that you cannot pass !! It's a big money maker !! Everyone should try to live our lifestyle......then everyone would be on a cpap machine !!!
At least now when I get to work I have a forklift waiting for me! Sometimes I miss seeing you guys, but not enough to come back. I feel better now that I am sleeping at night and not all day. The work is OK and most everyone is good to work with. You be good, and keep everyone up there straight...
layoffsucks
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I was exhausted all the time and I knew something wasn't right. Got checked annually for diabeeeeeetus cause it runs in the family on both sides and that's always come back negative so I had to go one step further. Girlfriend said I snored really loudly and sometimes it even seemed like I stopped breathing sometimes at night. Ok. So go get sleep study done WITHOUT the prodding of the company vet. I saw the results on paper and was easy enough to read. I stopped breathing 40 times or so during the study. Ok. So they tell me we wanna bring you back in and have you sleep with the mask on. Fine. Slept like a rock and didn't wake up until it was time to get up. So. Like I said best decision I ever made for myself and now I'm like the energizer bunny.
D
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Kind of reminds me of when sewers came through my neighborhood. Had soggy yard, water on the surface all the time. Sewers took a home equity loan to pay off for installation then another bill to pay every three months. But now I got no more soggy yard. Didn't really like having to do it but it was better in the long run.
I hear that !!! Therapist told me "you don't have to wear this when your sleeping just 4 hours a day 21 days a month watching tv on computer whenever"So I asked him then what's the point? He said it was all about compliance
D
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Make your kids wear it when they're bad boys.
Isn't that child abuse!!!
That's just it. It's not a law, it's what the DOT doctor is recommending. But if I don't take it he won't sign my medical card. Can't drive without it.
It's taking forever to jump through all the hoops these so called doctors want me to jump through. Said he wouldn't sign another extension unless I was compliant. I told him don't sign it now & I'll go file for medical disability.
canaryinthemine
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If you have a conflict with an opinion of a company doctor,...you may go to another doctor who is able and qualified to give D.O.T. physicals and pay for that one out of your own pocket. You don't have to have the physical card from the company doctor,....just a valid physical card, in the eyes of the law. 10 years ago,....at the beginning of this sleep apnea trend , I was sent for a sleep study test by the company doctor. I am not overweight,....sleep fine at night. They tried to force mask and oxygen tank on me,.....but the insurance wouldn't pay for it,......deeming it "not medically advisable" at that time. Fought the company tooth'n'nail,......involved the Union attorneys,.....eventually had ABF accept my outside doctor's physical card for two years. By that time , they had gotten rid of the previous doctor..........
D
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The only thing I question here is companies requirement to accept the non company doctor's medical card. This is news to me. I have always understood that the company, "may or may not" accept a different doc's certificate. Not doubting what you say, it's just new to me and I would like to hear more about it.
Unfortunately if the FMCSA specifically addresses the issue by name, might as well be law as far as were concerned. Just gotta keep fighting the stupidity. Truckers with untreated sleep apnea ARE a safety concern, but the false sleep study "referrals" for kickbacks are criminal.
https://nrcme.fmcsa.dot.gov/mehandbook/respiratory4_dis_secondary_sleep_ep.aspx
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canaryinthemine
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If a company doctor takes a blood pressure reading that's too high,...and you think that taking a D.O.T. physical, in itself , raises your blood pressure,.....you can go to your own physician,.....in a less stressful environment, and get a better BPI. As long as that doctor is D.O.T. certified,...your medical card is valid with any employer. There are guys working casual for two or more employers,.....unless that company is finicky,and is willing to pay for your physical,...most companies will accept a valid physical card from any certified physician,....and will only require you to go to a "company" doctor if they have definate intentions of adding you to the payroll. Don't forget that we have to self-certify, now.......and there's very stiff penalties for falsifying information relating to your medical card. A Company having a doctor on retainer is merely an easy way for billing and paperwork,....If you have a dispute with the company doctor,...it is perfectly legal to get a second opinion,....and a valid medical certificate,....if you pay for it out of pocket. The supposed reason for ABF getting rid of the doctor who wanted me to go for a sleep apnea test was that the doctor in question was also doing physicals for several large trucking companies in this area,....and he had an inordinately large percentage,....almost 100%,... of every driver he examined,.... of drivers he felt had a potential for sleep apnea. The hospital, in this area, had just opened a million dollar sleep clinic,....and we have a manufacturer of C-PAP machines right here in this area also. Rumor has it he was,......well,....he could afford Mercedes-Benzes,....anyway,......you connect the dots. The companies, in this area, were getting irritated with the disruption of dispatches because of his issuance of so many one-month medical cards. And,.....therein lies the problem. Once again,....too many people with a vested interest in making money,...instead of curing a problem. Once you are diagnosed with sleep apnea,....and it goes on your D.O.T. physical information,...it is NOT subject to HIPPA privacy laws, because you have a COMMERCIAL drivers license. Any future employer would have access to that part of your medical history,..You may be denied employment even if you have a C-PAP machine. The employer has to HIRE you first before the Americans with Disabilities Act ,....ADA goes into effect, and he has to make reasonable accomodation for your "disability".
canaryinthemine
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Way, way back in the Dark Ages,.....the 1980's,...Overdrive Magazine printed an article about a study on sleep habits and diurnal rhythems from the New England Journal of Medicine. Basically,..what it said was that if a human didn't get at least 8 hours of sleep,....at night,...and on a regular schedule,....eventually that human would become dysfunctional, and psychotic. This was reported in conjunction with logbook rules,...and they pointed out that, ....running a legal log, ...you can start a month out by sleeping 8 hours at night,...and by the middle of the month, you would be sleeping during the day,.....and once again, be sleeping at night by the end of the month.......So,....Overdrive got a big "Hah-Hah" chuckle out of that , and closed the article by saying that ....following government logbook hours of service, and screwy company dispatch rules,.....NO truck driver in America has a "normal" sleep pattern,..........So, therefore, we are all psychotic,......So, therefore,......Where's Our Disability Checks?.......(...Big Chuckle.....). Apparently it was a big embarrassment to the NE Journal of Medicine, because they relied heavily on data provided by the Dept. of Labor,.....and didn't realize an entire industry,....Trucking......was NOT covered by the Dept. of Labor,....we were covered by the Bureau of Motor Carriers at that time,.....and they provided NO data about trucking,.....heart attacks, fatal occupational injuries, lost work days,.......psychotic episodes,......to the Dept. of Labor. This is why,....for the longest time,....everyone was under the impression that "farming" as an occupation was more dangerous than trucking,.........We just weren't included in the statistics............
If you failed, then you have sleep apnea, people that actually have it feel like a million bucks after they start CPAP therapy so I doubt there's a trend of people not following through with it.
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