Lock me.

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GT1999

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
5,261
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Lock me. I'm taking a vacation from the forums... it's been a great 13 years.
 
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CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
4
0
so the hospital you stayed in (and all all of it's overhead costs), the nurses that were watching over you, the machines they used for you, the doctors who were assigned to you, the technicians that read the results of your tests and the administrative folks who coordinate and handle all of the mandated paperwork for your test you paid a mere $250 for. This should be less or free?

How much was your last video card? (yeah, strawman argument, so what).
 

DCal430

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2011
6,020
9
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They need to test you on the machine to determine exactly what machine and pressure you need. Some people people obstructive sleep apnea develop central sleep apnea from the increased pressure, these people need a BiPap or even ventilator to sleep with.

This is how it works even in countries with universal health care. This is medically sound, and needs to be done to determine what treatment you need.
 

dust

Golden Member
Oct 13, 2008
1,328
2
71
lose weight and stop smoking if you do?

or, you know, blame the health care system ;)

Totally agree with this, in fact that's what I need to do, I'm having the same issue as the op, but I don't think it's something to write home about until I do all that's required of me and still doesn't work.
 

ReggieDunlap

Senior member
Aug 25, 2009
384
32
91
I have been through a sleep study (albeit 8 or so years ago). I was diagnosed the same, moderate to severe, I stopped breathing about 35 times an hour. I did the 2nd test with the C-PAP (facemask type device). I did not have the comfort issues that the OP did, but it was NOT a very comfortable way to sleep in general. Add in the fact, that this is a device you will sleep with EVERY night for the REST OF YOUR LIFE and I can see how many are turned off by it. I was as well. I was only 35/36 years old and the idea of having to attach myself to this box every night for the next 40-45 years wasnt so attractive.

It DID work. The 2nd night results were significantly better, but I opted for the surgical procedure instead. Unfortunately, I've moved to another country so a follow-up of the test after surgery wasnt possible. I think though, if there are alternatives to the device I was originally tested with, I may have gone that route if I had a do over.
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
BEFORE YOU READ - If you don't want to read a rant, or are just going to post "cry more" then scoot along.

-------

My fiancee is a nurse. I know, I blab about it on here all the time.

Well, she says I have sleep apnea.

I was sleeping on a buddy's couch after I was in his town drinking too much one night, when I woke up after I sobered up, he says "Dude, you have sleep apnea and you're choking when you sleep, go see a doctor".

So what do I do? Of course I schedule an appointment with a pulmonologist. Not just ANY pulmonologist, but the one that cared for my $440,000 in medical bills when I almost died about a year and a half ago from pneumonia. He ordered a sleep test at the same hospital where I had that hefty bill, where I got to a hospital and spend the night with a million wires hook up to me and to monitor me. After the test, I go back to the pulmonologist, and he says I have moderate to severe sleep apnea. I wake up on average 25 times per hour he said.

So I had to go back in for another sleep study test (these are $2500 a piece, $250 after insurance), this time wearing a mask. So I got in last night, they hook up all the wires, then put the mask on. At first I feel like I'm in Top Gun or something, no big deal, nothing like when I had a trach in when I was in the ICU for 2 months, but I could never get to sleep the damn thing was so uncomfortable. I might've gotten 1 hour of sleep. Tops. So 3:30AM rolls around, and I had enough. I hit the call button, told him to pull the wires of of me, and I got the hell out of there.

Not wanting to wake up the fiancee at home, I just slept in the car at work until 7AM this morning. I call our company's insurance nursing company (who are stellar, god bless them) and they say there's tons of different types of masks, some that just are inserted into the nostrils that are MUCH more comfortable. She asks me if he offered this to me. I said no. So I make some calls:

Call #1: Company nurse who gave the good advice above
Call #2: Patient relations at the Hospital, basically bitched them out without raising my voice. I know a director at this hospital but didn't mention his name.
Call #3: To my pulmonologist who doesn't open for another hour. I refuse to have another one of these expensive tests, just order me the damn machine. I also refuse to wait another month to see him before I can get a machine that may potentially save my life. And not the Top Gun mask please. You can't even tilt 1 degree without air blowing right into your f-ing eye.

Sleep apnea can lead to congestive heart failure, stroke, IMPOTENCE, daytime fatigue, grabbyness (see this post)... and lots of other crazy stuff.

So there goes $500 down the toilet to our greedy healthcare system. Not to turn this into a P&N thread, but I did not vote for Obama. I severely regret this. Our country's healthcare system, while it saved my life, needs a complete overhaul. People are obviously dependent on healthcare and there are way too many money hungry people running it and it's ruining our society.

End rant.

Calm down. I dont know why they had you come back for a second sleep study. Once you were diagnosed with sleep apnea you should had been fitted for a cpap if you desired. There are different styles and sizes and only you can determine which one works best for you. And you cant sleep with them through a full night out of the gate. It is just a weird feeling having air forced down your airway. It took me a solid 10 days before I could get through an entire night. Now I fall asleep within a few minutes of putting it on.

Above all Obamacare would have done nothing in this situation.
 

Born2bwire

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 2005
9,840
6
71
For the level of care that you got, it sounds like $500 was pretty decent. You spent two nights under observation at a hospital.
 

DCal430

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2011
6,020
9
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This was my experience:

1. I went to the sleep lab at 10:00pm, was connected to the wires and went to sleep at 10:30.

2. At 11:00 the tech walks in wakes me up and tells me she needs to connect me to oxygen tank as my Oxygen levels are lowering too much.

3. At 1:00 the tech walks in wakes me up and said I said so many events that I can tested for a PAP machine tonight, and the oxygen was removed. I was given 3 different mask to select from.

4. At 3:00 the tech walks in wakes me up and tells me to change position, since they need to test on my side and back.

5: At 6:00 the tech walks in wakes me up and says the test is done.

6. Two week later I go and get my machine. I had over 100 events an hour, in the first 30 minutes my O2 levels dropped to almost 70%.

It was very simple, I don't have any trouble sleeping with the mask and machines.
 

erikistired

Diamond Member
Sep 27, 2000
9,739
0
0
you're an idiot.

/thread

i paid a grand after insurance for my sleep apnea test, and will probably pay the same for the followup. my mask is uncomfortable, but since i breath through my mouth at times and have severe sleep apnea (my machine blows like a damn hair dryer) i don't have many choices. if you do, feel lucky instead of complaining. i don't stop breathing now during the night, i actually sleep, and my wife isn't constantly waking up afraid i'm not going to.

also, you can drop as many names as you want, it doesn't make you special. and if you think social healthcare is the answer to your issues...move to canada. have fun waiting half a year to even see a specialist.

It was very simple, I don't have any trouble sleeping with the mask and machines.

can i ask what mask you're using? i woke up this morning looking like a slashing victim because i have to wear my mask so tight. been looking for something else, but internet reviews tend to be sketchy.
 
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Baked

Lifer
Dec 28, 2004
36,052
17
81
cool-starry-bra.jpg


Recently, I was forced to watched Grey's Anatomy with my lady friend and it's an episode on this really fat guy with a fucking skinny wife. I'm thinking, there's something horribly wrong with both of these people.
 
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Gunslinger08

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
13,234
2
81
Can anyone describe the sleep study process in detail to me? I've snored heavily since I was a little kid, I'm pretty much constantly tired, and my wife thinks that I stop breathing at night (I don't ever wake up). Also, how do I get a referral for a sleep study? I don't have a PCP.
 

Insomniator

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
6,294
171
106
lol you paid 2k for 440k of medical bills and then 500 dollars for 2 overnight tests and your are complaining?

CRY MORE
 

SandEagle

Lifer
Aug 4, 2007
16,809
13
0
you're an idiot.

/thread

i paid a grand after insurance for my sleep apnea test, and will probably pay the same for the followup. my mask is uncomfortable, but since i breath through my mouth at times and have severe sleep apnea (my machine blows like a damn hair dryer) i don't have many choices. if you do, feel lucky instead of complaining. i don't stop breathing now during the night, i actually sleep, and my wife isn't constantly waking up afraid i'm not going to.

also, you can drop as many names as you want, it doesn't make you special. and if you think social healthcare is the answer to your issues...move to canada. have fun waiting half a year to even see a specialist.



can i ask what mask you're using? i woke up this morning looking like a slashing victim because i have to wear my mask so tight. been looking for something else, but internet reviews tend to be sketchy.

i've noticed that you're quite the negative nancy around here, erik. get some rest.
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
6
81
I have been through a sleep study (albeit 8 or so years ago). I was diagnosed the same, moderate to severe, I stopped breathing about 35 times an hour. I did the 2nd test with the C-PAP (facemask type device). I did not have the comfort issues that the OP did, but it was NOT a very comfortable way to sleep in general. Add in the fact, that this is a device you will sleep with EVERY night for the REST OF YOUR LIFE and I can see how many are turned off by it. I was as well. I was only 35/36 years old and the idea of having to attach myself to this box every night for the next 40-45 years wasnt so attractive.

It DID work. The 2nd night results were significantly better, but I opted for the surgical procedure instead. Unfortunately, I've moved to another country so a follow-up of the test after surgery wasnt possible. I think though, if there are alternatives to the device I was originally tested with, I may have gone that route if I had a do over.

What was the surgical procedure that you went through?
 
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