Sleep Apnea in the news again...

[jjposey]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_ ... /bay_spill

[geoDoug]

This was in my backyard, so I was on the edge of my couch when I first heard about it.

OSA being the cause is not a big surprise to me at all. In fact, when I first heard about the spill, I wondered in the back of my mind if it may have something to do with OSA. Then when details started to emerge about the captain's fitness, I became sure of it. Now this article is published.

It's going to take a long time for The Bay to recover from this. *sigh*

Doug.

[SleepGuy]

Now if this guy had just been on CPAP instead of prescription drugs to "treat" his OSA.... It's a shame all the way around.

[RedThunder94]

yeah, no kidding.

[goose]

I'm with you Doug. It's pretty close to my backyard as well.....

I'm curious how he kept his captains license with those drugs on the record....or perhaps he "neglected to report" his OSA and/or treatment to the powers that be. Was he using xPAP at all or just "stay awake" drugs??? Hell, speed (meth) seems to have less adverse indications than provigil ....

"...Provigil "may impair your judgment, thinking, or motor skills [just what you want in a ships pilot ]. You should not drive a car or operate hazardous machinery until you know how this medication affects you." Also, it can interact with harmful effect with other drugs, including certain anti-anxiety medication..."

What else was the dude taking???

Ship Captains, chauffeurs, airline pilots, train engineers.......How many suffer from OSA without diagnosis??

During my last visit to the sleep doc she mentioned Provigil as a chemical way to be less tired during the day -- I declined. Having been raised in the SF area in the 60's, and being a "full participant", I now have a real aversion to chemicals And realistically -- I'm not that tired during the day anymore......

cheers
goose

[RedThunder94]

........
Ship Captains, chauffeurs, airline pilots, train engineers.......How many suffer from OSA without diagnosis??
......

and now they probably wont go for a diagnosis since their licenses may be revoked if they do. real nice.

[geoDoug]

and now they probably wont go for a diagnosis since their licenses may be revoked if they do. real nice.

This is an issue in the epilepsy community--which I'm a part of--as well. Laws vary by state, but basically what it comes down to is this: if you've lost consciousness since your last driver's license renewal, you've gotta get a Doctor's note. (Yes, i realize that's INSANELY abridged. You get the idea, though.) In California, by law doctors have to report a person having a seizure. While it is a good thing generally, it also unfortunately encourages some people not getting the care they need, since seeking help=doctor reporting condition to state=getting your driver's license yanked.

Then there's the aspect that you literally are breaking the law if you choose not to report a lapse of consciousness when you get your driver's license renewed. (You have to sign a statement saying that everything is OK.)

Basically, if a person is OK with not getting treatment and lying to authorities to keep their permit, then so be it. It's between them and their conscience. Lets just hope they don't kill anybody on the road.

Doug.

[GrizzlyBear]

Crikey, I hope they don't suspend a teacher's registration for falling asleep - I rarely do it in class (only when I'm watching the same movie for the 97th time!!!!) - I usually only do it in interminable staff meetings. Perhaps now I'm under cpap treatment I might not fall asleep at all - my colleagues won't know me (I have one colleague who keeps drawing pictures of me snoozing through yet another damnable meeting).

Regards,

GrizzlyBear

[geoDoug]

Crikey, I hope they don't suspend a teacher's registration for falling asleep

Was that sarcasm? You didn't include a /sarcasm tag, so I can't tell. Simple difference: a teacher falling asleep doesn't kill people.

Doug.

[GrizzlyBear]

Sorry, Doug.

I didn't mean to sound sarcastic - I was actually having a go at myself (self-deprecatory humour). Now I think about it, I guess it's not really a topic for humour - neither the fellow who appears to have at least in part caused the problem, nor of course the outcome of his alleged failures. Typical, perhaps of me, leap in and regret. Sorry, again, I really wasn't having a go at you.

Regards,

GrizzlyBear

[roster]

What the heck is going on with the medical profession treating sleep apnea with Provigil and not prescribing cpap?

I have two friends who have family members being treated with Provigil for sleep apnea and not receiving cpap treatment. One of the patients is female, 68 years old, and the other is male in his late twenties.

This sounds like a prescription to keep you wide awake so you can enjoy a horrible early death from the effects of untreated sleep apnea. Or, is there something here I am missing???

[geoDoug]

Sorry, Doug.

I didn't mean to sound sarcastic - I was actually having a go at myself (self-deprecatory humour). Now I think about it, I guess it's not really a topic for humour - neither the fellow who appears to have at least in part caused the problem, nor of course the outcome of his alleged failures. Typical, perhaps of me, leap in and regret. Sorry, again, I really wasn't having a go at you.

While issues surrounding disabilities is a sensitive subject to me, there's no apology necessary. I didn't take it personally at all. I was just clarifying. IMO, humor is almost always a good thing--even in this case. Heck, I have a tendency to play sarcastic-peanut-gallery-guy when it's needed.

It was purely a matter of lack of indication (smily face?) that it was humor. It's that lack-of-body-language-and-tone-of-voice thing in the written word.

Doug.

[geoDoug]

This sounds like a prescription to keep you wide awake so you can enjoy a horrible early death from the effects of untreated sleep apnea. Or, is there something here I am missing???

I don't think you're missing anything. That's exactly how I read it. He was on a drug to keep him going during the day, which we all know isn't actually addressing the problem.

Doug.

[j.a.taylor]

During my last visit to the sleep doc she mentioned Provigil as a chemical way to be less tired during the day -- I declined. Having been raised in the SF area in the 60's, and being a "full participant", I now have a real aversion to chemicals And realistically -- I'm not that tired during the day anymore......

cheers
goose

So goose, here goes, somebody has to say it . . .

Can't let that one slide . . .

Do you even remember the '60's?

Did you rip your way through them, or was it more like Rip van Winkle?

[vesselpessel]

What's worse is that nowhere in the article about the Cotco Busan pilot in the SF Chron was it mentioned that sleep apnea can be successfully treated with CPAP. The article implied that simply taking a pill was all that was needed to treat OSA.