no results

roper1966 · Post by **roper1966** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:25 pm

I've been reading about how the rest of y'alls tests have went and I'm a little confused by mine. I went to the sleep lab at Kaiser on a thurs. afternoon and went thru a 1 hr long orientation with 12-15 other people. At the end they sent each of us home with a portable testing machine to wear that night and returned it the next morning. They told me when I returned the machine that my Dr. would have the results in about 2-3 weeks. About a week later I got a letter in the mail saying that I have an appointment @ the sleep lab again to go home with a CPAP machine for testing. I haven't heard anything from my Dr. nor have I received any test results saying that I do or don't have sleep apnea. Is this normal?????

mattman · Post by **mattman** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:47 pm

Hiya Roper -

What you've described isn't all that unusual. In fact, it's how a lot of people WISH things would go (Though I disagree).

The fact that you've been prescribed a CPAP machine confirms that you do in fact have Sleep Apnea.

When you go in to get setup with your CPAP I would suggest asking for a printed copy of your sleep study. There is certainly some interesting information to be found there.

mattman

cinderella · Post by **cinderella** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 2:06 pm

I am a Kaiser patient too- here is my recent experience: I went to Kaiser Sleep Clinic with a group of others and got the sleep machine also. About 2-3 weeks later I got a letter from my doctor saying I had moderate sleep apnea but listed no specific results. I was to call the sleep disorder dept at Kaiser and set up an appointment for another group presentation. At this meeting they showed a film about sleep apnea and talked about different treatments. At the end we told them if we wanted to proceed ahead or not. If you agreed to treatment then Apria called you to set up an appointment to get a testing cpap machine. I met in a group situation at Apria where a respiratory therapist gave each of us a testing machine and mask and told us how to use it. The test machine had a data card in it and after using the cpap for a week we had a follow-up meeting with the RT who printed out the results from the card and then gave us our permanent cpap machine calibrated to the appropriate pressure based on the results from the data card. I looked at my results and the RT explained them to me but honestly I had no idea what they meant.I have only been using the cpap for a few weeks and am still adjusting. The mask part is a lot of trial and error and this board has been a great source of info and support. Good Luck!

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 2:23 pm

It is kaiser's way to go cheap. They send you home with a Pat-100 like test costing less than $500 vs $3000 a piece for a full PSG. Yours may have only been a monitoring Pulse Oximeter on your finger. Next they will probably send you home with a autopap to determine your pressure, then swap out that machine for a plain jane cheapo cpap.

out of those 15 people that took the class with you, it would have cost them $45k for lab PSG's for those 15 patients. At $500 a piece for what you got it only costs them $7,500 for all 15.

But was it really better for you? Did your test have a 12-channel EEG attached to your head scalp with mic sensor under your chin? sensors on your legs to measure movement? Respiratory effort straps on your chest to measure respiratory effort?

Did they lower your premiums? I doubt it. What they miss in them home studies is all the other events that may interrupt your sleep that cannot be seen by those home stuides such such as spontaneous arousals, central or mixed apnea, leg movements to determine if you have RLS or PLMD disorders. There is a lot missing from the test you got. The gold standard diagnostic test remains the overnight lab Polysomnography (PSG).

curtcurt46 · Post by **curtcurt46** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 2:52 pm

I don't believe any real board certified doctor would accept the Kaiser method. It's hit and miss. I am sorry you are stuck in this situation. If you don't respond well to cpap treatment (hint..hint) then I would insist on a PSG that looks at all aspects of sleep problems. You could have mixed apnea, RLS, PLMD, REM sleep disorder, all of which the Kaiser method won't detect.
Good Luck!!