My last trip to my sleep doctor

[tetragon]

I don't think I'll ever go back. At least not to him. I had a sleep doctor appointment immediately followed by one with my family doctor, and there was some extra time in the second one (it's amazing what topics can be brought up and dealt with in thirty minutes). My doctor has offered to send me to a different sleep clinic (or an ENT if I choose) after my next DME trip so that I can get the opinion of the RT that I like. As for my current sleep doctor, he has told me that no more followup is needed unless my weight changes significantly, my mood changes, or I have a hard time using my machine.

[jzap]

Funny, I was about to ask a similar question.

My sleep doc doesn't want to look at my data. He said he doesn't have the capability to download the SD card.

Well, he may not be able to download the card, but I certainly can (Thanks, Pugsy). I told him my AHI is running at 14.4 (CA 2.4, OA 3.3, H 8.7). He said I shouldn't be too concerned after only two weeks, because its just a number, and I should just go by how I feel. No follow-up for 6 months unless I "run into a problem".

I think I need to bump my pressure from 8cm. I'm planning to go to 8.5 and see what happens. If I don't get more support at the next follow-up, I may need to go shopping too.

[Xney]

I'd certainly print out the trending data (the ones which show like a months worth of trending data like pressures, AHIs, leaks, etc.) and then the last few nights in detail when visiting!

I can understand not having the software or cards to read the data, but I don't understand not wanting to see it!

[acdodd]

I had a follow up appointment with my sleep doc next week and I canceled it.
I don't see a reason to drive 50 miles and pay him to tell me "everything looks good, keep it up, see you next year".

[tetragon]

So I now have an appointment with a different doctor in a different clinic booked. Even two weeks before the appointment I've noticed differences (beyond merely location) between the two clinics. One big one arrived yesterday in the mail, a 26 page questionnaire that asks some questions that are familiar and others that I have never been asked. So many questions, so many different colours of paper in their neatly-bound book of questions.

[LSAT]

So I now have an appointment with a different doctor in a different clinic booked. Even two weeks before the appointment I've noticed differences (beyond merely location) between the two clinics. One big one arrived yesterday in the mail, a 26 page questionnaire that asks some questions that are familiar and others that I have never been asked. So many questions, so many different colours of paper in their neatly-bound book of questions.

That's great...but, do do really think the doctor is going to take the time to read your 26 pages before he sees you?

[ughwhatname]

The doctor might not, but perhaps he/she has someone who reviews the data and summarizing any pertinent points for him/her. Still a very good sign.

So I now have an appointment with a different doctor in a different clinic booked. Even two weeks before the appointment I've noticed differences (beyond merely location) between the two clinics. One big one arrived yesterday in the mail, a 26 page questionnaire that asks some questions that are familiar and others that I have never been asked. So many questions, so many different colours of paper in their neatly-bound book of questions.

That's great...but, do do really think the doctor is going to take the time to read your 26 pages before he sees you?

[tetragon]

So I now have an appointment with a different doctor in a different clinic booked. Even two weeks before the appointment I've noticed differences (beyond merely location) between the two clinics. One big one arrived yesterday in the mail, a 26 page questionnaire that asks some questions that are familiar and others that I have never been asked. So many questions, so many different colours of paper in their neatly-bound book of questions.

That's great...but, do do really think the doctor is going to take the time to read your 26 pages before he sees you?

I expect that someone will take a quick look over it before the doctor sees me, and will precalculate all the scores of everything with them (which fully accounts for ten pages), handle basic medical history and contact details (five pages), and I expect that for the remaining eleven pages, everything is so familiar to them that a quick glance at the general shape formed by my circled and ticked answers would suggest whether or not a closer look is needed.

What I do expect is an appointment with more substance than "Do you use your machine?" and "Does your mask go over your nose or in your nose?".

[The Choker]

My doctor has offered to send me to a different sleep clinic

Sorry, I don't know your history. Why do you need to see the doctor? Can't you just work on diet, exercise, sleep hygiene and optimizing your CPAP therapy on your own? You have all the tools to do this.

[tetragon]

My doctor has offered to send me to a different sleep clinic

Sorry, I don't know your history. Why do you need to see the doctor? Can't you just work on diet, exercise, sleep hygiene and optimizing your CPAP therapy on your own? You have all the tools to do this.

I want to wake up feeling rested. I vaguely remember that feeling from years ago, but not recently. I have already tried using books with instructions on how to improve insomnia (the only treatment for insomnia my first sleep doctor offered was two book titles and being told to read them), and while they helped a bit, I'm still running into problems. This time the doctor isn't a respirologist, and hopefully has different opinions.

[JohnBFisher]

My doctor certainly does not have time to wade through all the data. However, he does want to see things that I print out to highlight specific issues.

For example, if I have nights that are particularly bad, then I will print an example of them as describe the issue as best as possible. I might even use the detailed waveform data to provide an example. He uses that to sense if a more detailed sleep study might be in order.

Or as another example, I had problems with my settings (not high enough). I showed how I took a scientific approach to slowly test changes in pressure to get the best results with the lowest setting. He looked at it the summary data and listened to how I checked the results and corrected the pressure settings in his records. He felt that a sleep test would not find any different results.

But just wade through the data? That takes a lot more time (hours) than they can allow for any one patient.