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[News] Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
#11
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
Why was he behind the wheel? Because the general medical community is hopelessly ignorant of sleep apnea and its effects upon patients. They're slow to respond to people suffering from apnea, woefully ignorant of the creeping debilitation that comes upon its victims, and in general very apathetic to the suffering of the patient. Their ignorance is only bested by the general public (i.e. coworkers and bosses).

For months I was degenerating last winter and my new primary care doctor couldn't care less. He was irritated that I was so adamant about getting relief on a time-table less than 6+ weeks when I was already in the throes of exhaustion. It got to the point that I began to suffer from motor functioning unbenknownst to me. I thought my manual transmission was having problems. It was my exhaustion! I could not operate the clutch with enough delicate release so I was continually bucking the car into 1st gear!

I was sure the car had a tranny problem, but my wife could drive it fine. I was perplexed as the issue persisted. After fighting with pcp, insurer, and some go-between known as "care corps" I was able to get a new CPAP machine. Within a week of therapy my transmission magically stopped bucking.

I commuted two hours a day in and out of a major metropolitan area. I had already taken so many days off of work this year, I was at risk of losing my next year's contract. I had to go to keep going to work. All the while I had to spend every waking moment on the phone with doctors and insurers. I thank God for helping me get through it. Without Jesus, I would have cracked completely.
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#12
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
FireInCairo, I think *you* deserve the credit for being strong of spirit and persistant as hell.
That's what gets things done. God & Jesus don't do everything *for* us.
Otherwise we'd all be rich and famous without having to try.

Keep up the good work.

hmm...You might want to look into getting going with SleepyHead software so
you can check on any changes in your sleep patterns.
(Another thing some Dr's dont worry about)

Cheers!

Smile
"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable." - Thomas Foxwell Buxton

Cool
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#13
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
(05-02-2013, 07:22 PM)Shastzi Wrote: FireInCairo, I think *you* deserve the credit for being strong of spirit and persistant as hell.
That's what gets things done. God & Jesus don't do everything *for* us.
Otherwise we'd all be rich and famous without having to try.

I credit Jesus with all of it, because I know He worked a miracle through a demented, apathetic medical system that is only going to get worse.

So, for those who will be confronted in the future with the kind of nonsense I had to go through already, don't hesitate to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus!

But... back to my primary point: Apnea has debilitating effects if left untreated that will actually impair your motor function.

I remember before I was finally diagnosed with a sleep study I would slur my speech. I was afraid people would think I was drinking on the job! Unsure
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#14
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
The only sleep disorder I know of that deals with pills is narcolepsy. Could that be the case?
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#15
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
You know, they bang on about Sleep Apnea drivers over here, but the only sleep Apnea driver that is dangerous in the untreated one or the one that does not use the machine and ignores the symptoms. Insurance companies use it as an excuse to put up peoples premiums.
Nearly all crashes involving a driver with sleep apnea here is before they were getting treatment for it.
Some crashes where a driver was killed we will never know if they suffered form sleep apnea or not.
Over here doctors would turn round and say to a patient "Sleep Apnea never killed anyone" that is if they knew what Sleep Apnea was in the first place.
Most doctors are aware of it these day, but not just so long ago I heard a patient asking to see another doctor because they thought they had Sleep Apnea and was told to go away and loose weight by the doctor they had just seen.
Shocking! You need some energy before you can think of getting the motivation to loose weight.
Doctors over here still look at someone and if they are not over weight they dismiss it as not being Sleep Apnea, only to find after loads of other tests they have to put them for tests for Sleep Apnea in the end.
I am NOT a doctor.  I try to help, but do not take what I say as medical advice.


Every journey, however large or small starts with the first step.

Sleep-well
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#16
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
(03-29-2018, 05:51 AM)Sleep2Snore Wrote: Doctors over here still look at someone and if they are not over weight they dismiss it as not being Sleep Apnea, only to find after loads of other tests they have to put them for tests for Sleep Apnea in the end.

I had the superficial profiling technique applied to me by the technicians at my sleep study. I'm 6'2" and 210 lbs (1.88m, 95kg) and the sleep tech wanted to know why I was having a study as she said that my body type didn't match the typical apnea patient. Ignorance doesn't have a profile either.
Jesse


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#17
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
So true.  So many factors determine whether a person has sleep apnea or not.  Take weight for instance.  I am sure it is a factor, but I lost over 70 pounds.  My pressure increased over 2 points.  Now, that is counter to what doctors and sleep techs will tell you.

The bottom line is do the research and monitor your sleep with tools available to YOU.  And if you feel tired and are dozing off, pull off the road and take a quick nap, or call for somebody to come help.
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#18
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
(03-29-2018, 05:51 AM)Sleep2Snore Wrote: You know, they bang on about Sleep Apnea drivers over here, but the only sleep Apnea driver that is dangerous in the untreated one or the one that does not use the machine and ignores the symptoms.  Insurance companies use it as an excuse to put up peoples premiums.
Nearly all crashes involving a driver with sleep apnea here is before they were getting treatment for it.
Some crashes where a driver was killed we will never know if they suffered form sleep apnea or not.
Over here doctors would turn round and say to a patient "Sleep Apnea never killed anyone" that is if they knew what Sleep Apnea was in the first place.
Most doctors are aware of it these day, but not just so long ago I heard a patient asking to see another doctor because they thought they had Sleep Apnea and was told to go away and loose weight by the doctor they had just seen.
Shocking!  You need some energy before you can think of getting the motivation to loose weight.
Doctors over here still look at someone and if they are not over weight they dismiss it as not being Sleep Apnea, only to find after loads of other tests they have to put them for tests for Sleep Apnea in the end.



Some of the symptoms described during the case in Glasgow where the dumper truck driver ran down and killed some pedestrians sounded very much like those from contributors on this site.

Of course telling people to lose weight is a good cop out for the doctors/NHS as it puts off the inevitable when they actually have to get their backsides into gear and really do something for you.
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#19
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
(03-29-2018, 07:46 AM)Jamizer Wrote: So true.  So many factors determine whether a person has sleep apnea or not.  Take weight for instance.  I am sure it is a factor, but I lost over 70 pounds.  My pressure increased over 2 points.  Now, that is counter to what doctors and sleep techs will tell you.

The bottom line is do the research and monitor your sleep with tools available to YOU.  And if you feel tired and are dozing off, pull off the road and take a quick nap, or call for somebody to come help.

I was around 250lb, and now down to 217lb. Didn't make a difference to me, and in fact, my mask fits worse now, and sometime I have even worse nights. Switching to BIPAP helped only a little and I'm still working to get rid of my LOW O2!

The doctors here in Texas I've seen so far, could care less. Don't even think about going to an Emergency Room, because I tried twice, when I was having low O2 issues, and they couldn't do anything. They said well..your O2 is fine now in the ER. Well OF COURSE it is fine when I'm awake, you idiot doctor! It's when I'm asleep it drops to 70-80%! They refer back to sleep doctor, who just tells me "everything is okay and AHI is within limits".
ResMed AirCurve 10 vAuto
Pressure EPAP min 4.4, IPAP 8.4, IPAP Max 18, PS 4.

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#20
RE: Expectant Father Dies in Crash; Family Blames Sleep Disorder
It's my thought that loosing weight just makes your airway looser and collapse more. At least for awhile. But I'm no doc.
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