% of patients who do sleep studies NOT diagnosed with apnea

[crazyd]

My wife snores badly, she went for her sleep study before I did. Same doctor and clinic. She was not diagnosed, I was. She pushed me because not only did I snore, but I struggled to breath sometimes, Although her snoring is bad, I have never witnessed her struggling to breath (except during illness)

[bwexler]

I have heard that most people who go in for a tire repair, actually have a flat tire.

[SleepyToo2]

Denial kills; and there is nothing like support and education.
"Claustrophobia" seems to be a common excuse when confronted with something they don't want to do.
I wonder how many of these people are only "claustrophobic" around cpap machines.

And how much "claustrophobia" is caused by the starting pressure being set too low?

[SuddenlyWornOut45]

I had two sleep studies that came back "negative" before I finally got diagnosed from a third sleep study. Well, actually the first sleep study did show "mild" OSA in the sleep doctor's words. But they refused to treat it for a combination of insurance reasons.

There have been lots of people who their insurance would give them hell about getting a CPAP.

Eric

I don't know that many people with apnea, but I have never met anyone who had a sleep study who did not get diagnosed with apnea. Comments?? [Lots of my friends think it's a giant health industry scam]

[flyingwithoutwings]

My brother-in-law went for a sleep study and was told he did not have sleep apnea yet my sister says she hears him snore, stop breathing and then suddenly gasp for air. She thinks he just didn't get much sleep at the sleep center.

[SuddenlyWornOut45]

I think its more of the opposite problem....getting your doctor and insurance to diagnose you with OSA and give you the CPAP gear. Its expensive as hell in the USA. You first need a regular sleep study, then it has to be interpreted. If you have OSA, then you get a second titration study where your pressure needs are determined. Finally, you get your CPAP gear and (hopefully) DME followup care in those first few critical months...making sure you have the correct type of mask and such.

I'd be more interested in knowing the percentage of people who had a sleep study done and were lied to that they did not have OSA. Or that they had "mild" OSA that could be treated with non CPAP "lifestyle" changes. I bet its a lot of people.

Eric

[archangle]

There are some pretty clear signs of sleep apnea, even before you get a sleep test. I think it's pretty rare to send someone for a sleep test when then don't actually have apnea.

There's not really a lot of "wiggle room" in the diagnosis. If the test shows it, you really do have apnea, at least in a mild form.

If anything, I think people who do have apnea get misdiagnosed as not having it due to poor sleep in lousy sleep labs with surly technicians, making you sleep on your back, poor sleeping environments, wrong time of night, etc. You should always insist on your doctor providing an Ambien or something in case you can't sleep.

In home tests are a good idea so there is a better chance you'll get to sleep during the test.

[Lambeau]

I have heard that most people who go in for a tire repair, actually have a flat tire.

And I've also heard that some women take their cars into the auto shop for a slipping fan belt, and leave with a bill for an oil change, front end alinement, and replacing a worn out huffnagle adapter.

[bavinck]

I have heard that most people who go in for a tire repair, actually have a flat tire.

And I've also heard that some women take their cars into the auto shop for a slipping fan belt, and leave with a bill for an oil change, front end alinement, and replacing a worn out huffnagle adapter.

Too bad mechanics don't have a hippocratic oath...

[SleepyToo2]

I am sure they have another kind of oath, though!

[BlackSpinner]

I have heard that most people who go in for a tire repair, actually have a flat tire.

And I've also heard that some women take their cars into the auto shop for a slipping fan belt, and leave with a bill for an oil change, front end alinement, and replacing a worn out huffnagle adapter.

Many men I know have had deep discussions on the pros and cons of different huffnagle adapters with their mechanics. One of those guys decided to save me money and changed my oil and destroyed my engine.

[Goofproof]

I have heard that most people who go in for a tire repair, actually have a flat tire.

And I've also heard that some women take their cars into the auto shop for a slipping fan belt, and leave with a bill for an oil change, front end alinement, and replacing a worn out huffnagle adapter.

Too bad mechanics don't have a hippocratic oath...

Some of us mechanics do better than having a hippocratic oath, we are honest!

The only time I ever did anything that wasn't needed to a vehicle, was when the customer that he knew more than me, and dianosed his own problem and told me exactly what he wanted done. I would then do what he wanted, then ask if he wanted his car repaired correctly.

Usually I would try to explain before doing what they wanted, but some people know so much they can't be taught, they have to learn by experience.

There is no need to sell anyone a repair they don't need, if you know what you are doing, you can find way more needed repairs than any of us can afford. Jim

[bavinck]

I have heard that most people who go in for a tire repair, actually have a flat tire.

And I've also heard that some women take their cars into the auto shop for a slipping fan belt, and leave with a bill for an oil change, front end alinement, and replacing a worn out huffnagle adapter.

Too bad mechanics don't have a hippocratic oath...

Some of us mechanics do better than having a hippocratic oath, we are honest!

The only time I ever did anything that wasn't needed to a vehicle, was when the customer that he knew more than me, and dianosed his own problem and told me exactly what he wanted done. I would then do what he wanted, then ask if he wanted his car repaired correctly.

Usually I would try to explain before doing what they wanted, but some people know so much they can't be taught, they have to learn by experience.

There is no need to sell anyone a repair they don't need, if you know what you are doing, you can find way more needed repairs than any of us can afford. Jim

A few bad apples rotten the whole barrel in the eyes of many. Didn't intend to generalize negatively about mechanics, sorry about that. My point was more along the lines that medical professionals are legally obligated to be honest and so we should not suspect sleep docs of padding testing results to sell more cpap. Didn't intend to catch all mechanics in the cross fire, will be more sensitive in the future with my generalizing.

[Goofproof]

If there are any "Gear Heads" here, you may have heard the term "Muffler Bearing" spoken of. So while working at K-Mart, I made the boss one for display! You take a 6 inch piece of 2 inch exhaust pipe and a 2 inch piece of 2 1/4 inch. You place the 2 in pipe on the 6 in pipe, center it and expand the 2 in pipe to 2 1/4 in, on both ends. The center section is free to rotate, making it the bearing. Lesson learned, another hard to locate part found! Jim

[Blaifarm]

I had a home sleep study done in September of this year. It was a pulse oximetry test and I was diagnosed with mild apnea. I've read and been told on a couple of these forums that this was not the correct way to be diagnosed with sleep apnea. The doctor had to guess and assume in order to do so. Would all of you accept this? I didn't and am now scheduled for an in lab study and will accept the diagnoses from that test.

By the way, my pcp had been asking me for a couple of years to have a sleep test done and I finally gave in a stated that I would do so. That is why I agreed to a sleep study.