What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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Slartybartfast
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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by Slartybartfast » Fri Jan 04, 2013 12:34 pm

It's not like that for everybody. I had no problem staying awake, performing, etc. And I work in an environment where, if you aren't on top of things, you lose credibility. My secretary was the only one who noticed, and she just said one day, "You look like you've just come back from vacation. What did you do?" When I told her, she said, "I was worried about you. You were looking so gray and run down."

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Heavylids
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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by Heavylids » Fri Jan 04, 2013 2:52 pm

Slartybartfast wrote:It's not like that for everybody. I had no problem staying awake, performing, etc. And I work in an environment where, if you aren't on top of things, you lose credibility. My secretary was the only one who noticed, and she just said one day, "You look like you've just come back from vacation. What did you do?" When I told her, she said, "I was worried about you. You were looking so gray and run down."
Same here. If I had an exceptionally bad night (s) I just pushed myself through the next day however I could. Coffee was my friend! I can see where a particularly lazy or unmotivated person would or could use apnea as another excuse to be a poor performer. During the my worst undiagnosed period I managed those who managed a group of 700+ plus employees so I've seen a lot of motivated and unmotivaed individuals and heard some of the craziest excuses for poor performance; apnea included.

I believe like myself, most people on this forum wouldn't use apnea as an excuse for our failures or shortcomings. And I can;t understand why anyone would ask what jobs are best for someone with sleep apnea. What???? It's not a disability there bubba.
borgready wrote:What types of jobs could a person with sleep apnea hold and not get fired due to perfomance issues?
Ummmm...Congressman? bada bing!

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kteague
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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by kteague » Fri Jan 04, 2013 3:13 pm

My inability to perform my job caused lots of problems before I finally reached the point of being just plain unable to even go to work any longer. Near the end there were days I slept sitting at the computer with my hand on the mouse for hours without moving. Only woke up when my phone rang or someone knocked on the door. I typed things that looked like jibberish, unintentionally sent incomplete or incoherent emails, totally forgot conversations... it got real bad. Had I been in some other company less employee centric I would have been fired months before. I had other issues going on besides OSA though. Based on the degree of difference effective CPAP use made, I really think my career would have been salvageable had OSA been my only diagnosis, though I may not have returned to the level of functionality that enabled me to hold the position I had previously gained.

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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by mcpascaln » Fri Jan 04, 2013 3:21 pm

borgready wrote:You get fired or and you can't hold a job. Employers don't like you dozing on the Job. If you run machinery then you could get hurt or hurt some else. If you drive to and from work, an accident will most likely happen. They demonize drunk driving. You don't hear much about reckless driving from dozing off. I would say alot of accidents happen because someone dozes off behind the wheel.
Your post reminds me what I read on this link yesterday. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/ ... story.html

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SleepingUgly
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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by SleepingUgly » Fri Jan 04, 2013 4:37 pm

Heavylids wrote:I can see where a particularly lazy or unmotivated person would or could use apnea as another excuse to be a poor performer.

During the my worst undiagnosed period I managed those who managed a group of 700+ plus employees so I've seen a lot of motivated and unmotivaed individuals and heard some of the craziest excuses for poor performance; apnea included.
The fact that you were able to perform with lots of coffee only speaks to the fact that you obviously didn't have the same EDS as some others have, and didn't suffer the same decrements in cognition that others have, not that you're any more "motivated" than they/we are.
Never put your fate entirely in the hands of someone who cares less about it than you do. --Sleeping Ugly

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SleepingUgly
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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by SleepingUgly » Fri Jan 04, 2013 4:47 pm

Slartybartfast wrote:It's not like that for everybody. I had no problem staying awake, performing, etc.
This is true. Some people with even severe apnea have no EDS, whereas some with even mild apnea have significant difficulty performing. I read an article sometime about some gene or something that predicted whether people suffered cognitive declines with sleep deprivation or not. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Never put your fate entirely in the hands of someone who cares less about it than you do. --Sleeping Ugly

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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by mcpascaln » Fri Jan 04, 2013 5:39 pm

SleepingUgly wrote:The fact that you were able to perform with lots of coffee only speaks to the fact that you obviously didn't have the same EDS as some others have, and didn't suffer the same decrements in cognition that others have, not that you're any more "motivated" than they/we are
Iam thinking about what has said. It may be that there are various levels of Sleep Apnea, from moderate to severe or significant severity.Then from that such levels come variations in the way how one perform a job. That effectively rules out generalization.

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Last edited by mcpascaln on Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jnk
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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by jnk » Sat Jan 05, 2013 9:09 am

Generally speaking, someone diagnosed OSA whose airway has been successfully stabilized with PAP can be said to no longer suffer from obstructive sleep apnea at night, since significant narrowing of the airway has been eliminated by the person's use of PAP therapy.

The problem is that some people with hypersensitive upper airways can have their sleep disturbed by very minor changes in their airway or by PAP therapy itself. Those people will remain sleepy and/or tired, even when their airway has been stabilized to the point that little or no airway trouble is measurable. Some call that UARS. Others reserve the term UARS for people who have never met the definition for OSA. Others have abandoned the term UARS completely. But the problem exists no matter what people do or do not call it.

The other factor that makes the subject of job performance and sleepiness a difficult subject to address broadly is that many people suffer from sleepiness and tiredness for reasons completely unrelated to the airway, even when sleep disturbances tend to show up in measurements of breathing. (Disturbed sleep tends to make some people breathe badly.) So people with remaining sleepiness and tiredness may need to continue investigating their problem and possible solutions to the problem of their not getting refreshing sleep. It may be related to medications, to unrelated health issues, or to sleep-hygiene issues. Not all sleep problems are solved by attempting to improve a person's breathing while asleep.

Many people work their job half asleep and dead tired for any number of reasons, so sleepiness and tiredness alone won't get you disabled status unless attached to a condition that gets you that status (wanted or not). Some might say, as a general rule, that anyone who expects to keep his license to drive a motor vehicle can also be expected to be awake enough to work at a job, since driving a motor vehicle while tired and sleepy is life-threatening to the person and to others on the road, and sitting behind a desk usually isn't.

Disclaimer: The above may contain my personal distorted opinions mixed in with my expressions of my understanding of present understanding of the conditions.

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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by BudSky » Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:16 pm

I have felt sleepy at unexpected times for years, but especially around 2pm. I was diagnosed a year before I actually got serious and started the CPAP.
Recently I actually dozed off a couple of times at work and awoke to my co-workers laughter as I snoozed and snorted. So I got serious, got on the CPAP, and I cannot believe the difference! I make it through the day much better than before and my concentration has improved considerably.
I do highly technical work and find my interest in learning new technical things remarkable after starting the cpap. Didn't happen overnight but over a couple of months.
Staying up to date on current and future technical issues in my field is crucial to remaining employed, especially now that I'm closing in on 60, plus I'm actually enjoying my career of 25+ years again! I also find I now "waste" less time sleeping as the sleep I do get is much more effective than the apnea was of course.

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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by mcpascaln » Sat Jan 06, 2018 9:55 pm

Sheriff Buford wrote:After a long time of total exhaustion, I finally went to my general practitioner complaining of exhaustion. On the first visit, the nurse suspected sleep apnea. I said, "What's that?" She said it was not getting enough sleep. My assumption was that I was getting 8-10 hours of sleep (plenty of sleep), so that wasn't my problem. I went to see my doctor's physician assistant. He explained what sleep apnea was because he also had it. He asked all the typical questions and talked me into a sleep study. I was pulling over into parking lots to take long naps, always sleeping and feeling like a truck ran over me the whole time!

Sheriff
Thank you Sheriff Buford for sharing your experience. Four years onward, I have experienced reasonable improvements at workplace. I am about 89 percent alert but do fall into forced and expected sleep momentarily for about five to ten minus a day or so. Sometimes, its not even there at all for a whole week. So it depends on how I spent the previous night. I have came to a gradual realization albeit begrudgingly that early sleep bedtime translates into better productive work. Yes,I have seen that really being true . Unfortunately, I am a late night guy, going to bed time around 11pm-12N daily. Even in college, it was like that or even worse. Really then, old habits dies hard.

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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by mcpascaln » Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:01 pm

borgready wrote:You get fired or and you can't hold a job. Employers don't like you dozing on the Job. If you run machinery then you could get hurt or hurt some else. If you drive to and from work, an accident will most likely happen. They demonize drunk driving. You don't hear much about reckless driving from dozing off. I would say alot of accidents happen because someone dozes off behind the wheel.
This is very true. Did ever one here read about Walmart Truck driver who hit a commedia? News media attributes that to the driver's lack of sleep for 24 hrs. Please, read the link here.

http://gawker.com/walmart-trucker-who-h ... 1723437023

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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by chunkyfrog » Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:13 pm

Tracy Morgan is a comedian, and he was in a limo.
One of his companions was KILLED.
Morgan has made a remarkable recovery since the settlement.

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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by nicholasjh1 » Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:51 am

Sheriff Buford wrote:After a long time of total exhaustion, I finally went to my general practitioner complaining of exhaustion. On the first visit, the nurse suspected sleep apnea. I said, "What's that?" She said it was not getting enough sleep. My assumption was that I was getting 8-10 hours of sleep (plenty of sleep), so that wasn't my problem. I went to see my doctor's physician assistant. He explained what sleep apnea was because he also had it. He asked all the typical questions and talked me into a sleep study. I was pulling over into parking lots to take long naps, always sleeping and feeling like a truck ran over me the whole time!

Sheriff
Lol, Yeah I kind of want to kick practioners in the crotch that say it's not getting enough sleep. That's caused so much misunderstanding for new patients!
Instead of Sleep apnea it should be called "Sleep deprivation, starving of oxygen, being poisoned by high CO2 levels, damaging the body and brain while it's supposed to be healing so that you constantly get worse and can never get healthy Apnea"

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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by nicholasjh1 » Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:58 am

SleepingUgly wrote:
Slartybartfast wrote:It's not like that for everybody. I had no problem staying awake, performing, etc.
This is true. Some people with even severe apnea have no EDS, whereas some with even mild apnea have significant difficulty performing. I read an article sometime about some gene or something that predicted whether people suffered cognitive declines with sleep deprivation or not. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
I think it also depends on the length of Apnea. Initially it didn't effect my performance a lot, and I never fell asleep, unless I had a really late night or was on antibiotics (for some reason) but overtime my performance did become worse and worse. from tests from before I was diagnosed my body had a huge amount of noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and cortisal, apparently it was compensating (for a while at least) with hugely high stress horomones. This guy says it didn't effect his performance, but I'm betting he was a complete dick because of stress hormones compensating for the apnea. point being it probably effected his performance too, but some quirk of genetics allowed him (and me) to compensate in a "non-sleepy" fashion. eventually after 8 or so years of those elevated hormones, I was just becoming lazy as well and it was profoundly effecting my work, so basically this guy is speaking as if his experience has anything to do with someone elses, when it's only slightly related (apnea), and he is a simple simple man that probably makes a horrible manager.
Instead of Sleep apnea it should be called "Sleep deprivation, starving of oxygen, being poisoned by high CO2 levels, damaging the body and brain while it's supposed to be healing so that you constantly get worse and can never get healthy Apnea"

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Re: What Is The Effect of Sleep Apnea On Your Job?

Post by mcpascaln » Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:32 pm

Antonin Scalia, the late former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States died in a hotel with CPAP machine besides him. Can we conclude he had sleep apnea before? Just wondering.

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