Sleep Apnea?

[makbike]

$500 out of pocket? Was it not covered at all? The entire test only cost $500 and then the doctor's fee was $210. Luckily, I have excellent insurance.

Sadly, I was going to incur some very high out of pocket expenses to have the sleep study conducted. I was a new teacher with very little in the way of money and I decided that spending $500 on a test was a bit too much for my checking account.

I was a bit dubious going into this given the internal med doc I was seeing at the time was jumping all over the place as he tried to decide why I was so tired. First, I got "you are a woman therefore you must be depressed," then I got "you are a woman and therefore depressed," needless to say I had little faith in this guy. After meeting with the sleep disorder doc I was even more dubious about the study and felt these two had some kind of buddy system thing going. It concerned me that no one in the sleep doctor's office could tell me how much, even a ball park figure, I should expect to have to pay. It bothered me that when I met with the sleep doc he told me if the sleep study did not give him the numbers he wanted he would order a whole new serious of test to rule out narcolepsy (I literally saw $$$ flashing in his eyes), it bothered me he cut my consult short because he had something else to do. After my short visit I was left wondering what kind of expensive boat he had docked on the river, for I felt I was paying for it. After a lot of questioning I was finally able to get the insurance codes out of the sleep center and talked to my insurance company regarding what I should expect to pay. The out of pocket expensives were far too much for my checking account (I had to meet a deductible first before they kicked in any money). The icing on the cake was when I received a bill for "out patient" services, dated for the day I talked to the sleep doctor. It seem using the elevator to get to the sleep doc's office, located in the hospital's basement, constituted being an out-patient. I fought this one for quite some time but in the end had to pay the bill (they got $5.00 for several months to cover my brief talk with the doctor).

In the end, after much research and finally finding a wonderful endocrinologist I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (runs in my family). Two weeks after starting my thyroid medication I felt like I was getting my life back and well on the road to resuming my life. I glad I listened to that little voice in my head, I'm glad I found my endocrinologist (he is a wonderful man) and I'm glad I walked out on the internal medicine doctor with the parting words "I'm out of here and I won't be back!"

[nebiker]

Ok, this is my first post so we'll see how it goes!

I was diagnosed back in fall of '02! When I had my sleep study done, they didn't do the titration at that point, they made me come back for a second test. I'm pretty sure they stopped that practice (at that lab at least) after my doctor got off the phone with them. I averaged 120+ event / hour, and they weren't sure if I had it???? Anyway, I had never heard my doctor cuss before that and well, let's just say that I heard the whole converstion (he saw the letter and picked up the phone before saying anything to me). Needless to say the second test was free, after HE threatened to sue them if anything happened to me in the mean time from the sleep apnea, since they didn't do the titration that night.

Anyway, I've been on CPAP since then, and HATE going without it. I went tent camping last weekend, and ended up sleeping without it Saturday night, and all I want to do still today is go crawl into bed, and that's with sleeping for 9+ hours last night!

As far as the noise, I travel quite a bit for work, and have never had a complaint from a co-worker. My family complains when they have to sleep without the noise if we're in a hotel or soemthing like that. Last year on vacation my son tried to convice me to go to bed early so the noise would be there so he could sleep better! I think at first it's different, but it really is pretty quiet to others around you.

My best advice is if you have it, treat it! Don't be afraid to look for what works best for you as far as masks, etc go. I would suggest setting up a flex spending account with your employer if you can, that way you won't have to pay income taxes on that money (I've figured out that this year, between Rx's and CPAP, I've saved over $400 by using flex). Try hitting websites, one of my favorites is (just google this) cpapplus. Check with your insurance company though, as they may not let you order on-line. However, if they will, it will save you TONS of $$$$. I've found with mine that I can pay the druable medical people here, or buy on-line. By the time that it goes through insurance at the DME, my 20% is the same cost as what I would have paid to buy on-line!

Anyway, I think that's it. If you have questions, feel free to ask away, I'm not shy about this, and am a big fan of treating it!

[Tater]

My DH has sleep apnea. He had a sleep study done last year and it was found that he has the 'obstructive' type of the disorder. He does sleep with a CPAP machine each and every night, I make sure of it. He is so much of a different person if he doesn't use it! In the year that he has been on it, his enegry has skyrocketed, he has come off high blood pressure pills, lost sixty-two pounds, and his cholesterol numbers have dropped into the normal range, all because he is finally getting restful, restorative sleep. Yes, the machine makes noise at night, but I haven't found it to be obtrusive. In fact, it is more like white noise and puts me to sleep faster than anything! The care of the machine isn't all that bad. DH will clean the hose, mask and water chamber with white vinegar once a week and hasn't had any problems yet.

Pooks, I wish you well and hope you find what ails you!

[makbike]

My BF obtained his machine/mask last week and is already noticing a difference. His machine is very quiet and I found the noise it emitted to be rather soothing. I did tell him this morning he sounded like a distant tea pot that was ready for his mask was emitting a gentle whistle throughout the night, seems his mask was leaking. My kittens, Twister and Penelope, were quite intrigued by the machine and mask and took turns throughout the night inspecting it from various angles.

[paigette]

My dad has sleep apnea & my mom says the mask is way more soothing than his snoring ever was. When I stay over, my room is next to theirs & I never hear the thing.

My dogs run in fear when they see my dad in that mask. Porter has actually hopped on bed, seen my dad, barked psychotically, & ran UNDER the bed!!

[lauraelmore1033]

Oh, I do love my Cpap machine! I've been using it faithfully for 3-4 years now and I sleep like the dead as soon as I turn it on. It was well worth the hassle of the sleep study and all the hoops to be jumped through for the insurance and all the out of pocket costs. I'm not too keen on housekeeping, but it's also worth the trouble of keeping the darn thing clean. I experienced the aforementioned insomnia, depression and high blood pressure, but also experienced memory loss to the point that I thought I was sliding into dementia! I couldn't function on many disturbing levels and the doctor even laughed (?!) and said I shouldn't even be driving. The Cpap machine turned that all around and I began feeling like a woman closer to my age, not like an 80 year old. My memory problems improved to the point that I was inspired to return to school and complete my degree.

[Thistle]

I agree. I was diagnosed in June this year... after 14 years of shocking sleep. Now that i know about it i wonder why it took so long for someone to think of it!!

The sleep studies arent the greatest thing to go through, but if you have sleep apnea, finding out and hooking yourself up to a CPAP machine is like being re-born

I used to sleep every sat and sun arvo cos i was just so tired i couldnt stay awake. I felt so lazy and worried DH would think i was the laziest person around. I never studied at home, cos i knew i would lie down and sleep in the afternoon cos i was always so tired.

I havent looked back since. It has made a huge difference to my life. I can concentrate and think this has been a big bonus cos i'm studying

I just cant tell you how good it is not have to struggle to keep my eyes open, not to struggle with falling asleep in meetings, and to feel like i have energy

[Offthegrid]

Pooks, did you have the study yet?

[lauraelmore1033]

you know, offthegrid, if you couldn't really sleep during your sleep study, then that would make the results of the test suspect. I had trouble falling asleep during the sleep study because I had decided that not having coffee the day before would make it easier to fall asleep. WRONG! I had withdrawl symptoms--head and body ache that kept me awake. My doctor threw the results away and sent me home with a diagnostic cpap machine which I wore to sleep for the next week or two. Not only did it provide sweet, sweet relief for the problem, but it could measure how many times my breathing was obstructed during the night (something like 80 times a minute!) and provided a comparison of how long I was able to sleep with c-pap against the sleep journal I had been keeping. It was hell, though, when I had to take that machine back and then endure two weeks without it while waiting for the results to be analysed and various appointments to be made