Illuminati-R-Us

Recently had a sleep survey to check various things, and got the report back today.

The cover letter from my doctors office says they recommend not driving a vehicle or operating any equipment until my sleep apnea is treated. What?

Then in the actual report it says:

Primary reason for visit: sleep apnea with excessive daytime fatigue and sleepiness.

No, I never complained of daytime fatigue or sleepiness. In fact I specifically did NOT complain of such things. It wasn;t until the coments at the end that the sleep center noted that Patient "only came in...to see if he could stop using oxygen therapy."

I recalal the phone interview and then the interviews at the sleep clinic. The tech there REPEATEDLY asked me if I fell alseep during meetings or at movies. I said I did not, unless the movie sucked in whuch case you bet I'll take a nap. They asked if I ever found myself nodding off at traffic lights. Of course not. I told her several times that I did not fall alseep ever without intending to. Unless I give myself permission to take a nap, I am in no danger of falling asleep.

They claimed I said I did not feel refreshed when I wake up. I didn't say that, what I told them was I have never thought of sleeping as "refreshing." To me sleep is just restorative time. I have never in my life felt like leaping out of bed when I first wake up.

And yet, there it is.

Either they are willfully misreporting the facts, or they are simply not paying attention, more eager than anything to find a stereotypical slot in which to put my case and be done with it.

Apparently I do have some sleep apnea, all well and good for the study folks, but I have none of the symptoms they describe.

Oh and they report I sometimes wake up with a dry mouth. Really? WHo doesn't? Sometimes I go to bed thirsty too.


I did report to them I sometimes feel tired. I also reported to them I often only get 4-5 hours bed time, very rarely 8 or more, and during that time I have to arise to urinate 2-3 times due to BPH. I also reported that the phone sits next to me and I get several business calls per day during sleep time. All this was completely ignored. I'd have to say that is a major contributor to any daily fatigue.

They noted it took a little l.ong to fall asleep. Really? IN an unfamiliar bed, covered in wires and sensors, unable to lie in the bed where I wanted, but having to leave space for the sensing equipment lying next to me. Not ready to sleep? I normally go to bed 9-10AM, but they invited me in at - my choice - 7PM or 8PM. Then the tech called to say I could come in SUnday night at 2AM if that helped. I wonder how many of my doctors and staff could easily fall asleep and do so for 8 hours if they had to do so at noon. The reading I normally do at the end of my day was impossible, and she turned off the TV which normally keeps me company. The room as pitch dark and silent, leaving me to sit there in the dark staring at the dimly glowing inra-red lights over the camera. I don;t doubt it took a while.

DOn't operate a vehicle, my ass.

did you say something?

[Hanging his head in shame for his colleagues]

Take an asprin, drink three beers and don't call me in the morning.

So...you have sleep apnea?

Have you tried a CPAP?

Or Breath Rite strips?

That is part of the problem, they see a middle aged, overweight man, and they start lobbying for CPAP machine before they even do any testing.

My problem with this whole mess is they are responding to complaints I never made. I may have sleep apnea to some degree, and I may need to deal with it, but I have no symptoms as a result of it. COnsequently I haven't tried anything. Their report claims I was complaining of sleepiness and other things, which is at best a fabrication.

The technician performed the testing, and some doctor I never saw nor spoke to signed his name to it after I suppose glancing it over and providing his stock response. If he had bothered to speak to me for 12 seconds, he would not be recommending I not operate motor vehicles.

I am not very interested in wearing the damned CPAP. The little plastic canula under my nose is intrusive enough. Every time I try to roll over, I get my arm tied up in the tubing. It catches the covers when I turn them down off me. Go to swat a mosquito, and it sends the thing fluing across the room. The canula, not the misquito. The CPAP has a big old HOSE trailing off, plus you have to have this THING strapped across your face like the creature from Alien. The gale up my nose from the opxygen system is offensive. it is incomfortable, and dries out my nose tissue. They think I sometimes have a dry mouth now? Wait until they blow wind forcibly down my craw all night long.

(To be fair, the air in a cPAP system can be moistured to prevent a dry mouth/nose)

I know, I could get a moiturizer for my O2 as well, but that is one more thing bubbling along. In the hospital the nurse ran out in the hall and came back with one and inserted it in my O2 line after my first complaint. It did help.

I think my nose sslowly adjusted, because the first while, I built up snot cakes in my nasal areas all day long. ANymore it just seems a little irritating, but not so much buildup.

Well, Enzo, whatever happens, I wish you all the best; may you find peaceful sleep soon. After all, falling asleep at traffic lights is no laughing matter.

That is true, I know someone with narcolepsy who indeed dell asleep while driving along and found himself in the weeds.

However in my case it has never happened in my lifetime.

Enzo wrote:That is part of the problem, they see a middle aged, overweight man, and they start lobbying for CPAP machine before they even do any testing.

Ahhh but the role of the patient is to serve the medical profession!. As an aside, I find it oddly reassuring that the same old excuses for modernisation are still applicable, and that the behaviour of the bureaucracy is still predictable (and even has a bizarrely efficient modus operandi).

tubeswell wrote:Ahhh but the role of the patient is to serve the medical profession!

I take exception to that. Vehemently.

Arneb wrote:

tubeswell wrote:Ahhh but the role of the patient is to serve the medical profession!

I take exception to that. Vehemently.

My heart is gladdened by your indignation Arneb. Please forgive my non sequitur. Seems that there are some good doctors in the house after all.

Kidding aside for a moment, I think too many places are more interested in finding a standard category for your complaint than having to actually deal with a situation. My sleep tech was very nice and I think genuinely wanted to help, but i could also hear the wheels turning as she repeatedly asked me questions trying to find a way to get me to say one of the things she had a box to check for. Maybe she had no other options.

They were totally not prepared to handle someone with a sleep schedule not based on 9-5 employment. This surprises me, since mid-Michigan has a large populatiion of factory workers, and the various General Motors plants have three shifts. There are plenty of shift workers in the region, yet it baffled them. Oh, you work nights...Hmm... would you rather come in at 8PM instead of 7PM then?

And that doctor that signed my report without so much as laying eyes on me, well, he never got a chance to talk to me even if he wanted to. Much as I might like to focus on him, I suppose he really is not the fair target.


In business, I measure a company by how it handles the unusual or problems. If something goes exactly as planned, well just about ANY company can shine. But when they have to roll with the punches, then you find out what the organization is made of. I had a relationship with one equipment manufacturer for over 10 years. They made a good, user-friendly product, and most times my interaction with them went great. But in that entire time, absolutely ANYTHING out of the ordinary, they never ONCE got it right. The company was a serious pain in the ass, and I would recommend people try alternatives for that reason.


I tend to think it is the medical organizations that are screwed up, rather than the individuals caring for me. In grand debates about mighty topics thoroughly unrelated to this and inother places, I somethimes chide people for painting a group with too broad a brush. So when I calm down a little, I guess I don;t want to paint the medical community itself too broadly.

Still, I wish someone there would just listen to my complaint.

My wife has a CPAP machine for sleep apnea.

The airflow is heated and moisturized. Not the most comfortable, but presumably prevents her from dieing in her sleep.

On the upside (for me), it stops her from snoring, a sound like a chain saw caught in a barbed wire fence. Which occasionally runs out of gas. (That's the apnea part.)

Old age ain't for sissies, Big Guy. :wink:

Yeah maybe. As tied up as I get in the little clear tube whenever I try to move, having this HOSE strapped to my face would be downright horrible.