Deemed untreatable

[Todzo]

It would indeed be sad if the OP chooses not to take advantage of all the folks here who want to help. We can help, but cannot offer the OP an 'easy way out' kind of fix. I'm learning more about the DOT this week than in all my research attempts put together. For the OP there is only yes, I'll comply with therapy & take advantage of this wealth of knowledge to help me do so. Or, no I don't really need a CDL, I'll find another line of work.

Hope the OP see's this.

Your statement presumes that CPAP can help everyone which is simply not the case.

Perhaps thier doctor understands that CPAP can only treat critical closing pressure issues, saw that the issues here were not that, and made the proper call.

It absolutely will NOT help anyone if they DON'T USE IT (or use it effectively).
And, that's the situation we have here with the OP.......non-compliance.


Den

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If you look at what he wrote he finds it unusable and the doctor agrees with him.

[Wulfman...]

It would indeed be sad if the OP chooses not to take advantage of all the folks here who want to help. We can help, but cannot offer the OP an 'easy way out' kind of fix. I'm learning more about the DOT this week than in all my research attempts put together. For the OP there is only yes, I'll comply with therapy & take advantage of this wealth of knowledge to help me do so. Or, no I don't really need a CDL, I'll find another line of work.

Hope the OP see's this.

Your statement presumes that CPAP can help everyone which is simply not the case.

Perhaps thier doctor understands that CPAP can only treat critical closing pressure issues, saw that the issues here were not that, and made the proper call.

It absolutely will NOT help anyone if they DON'T USE IT (or use it effectively).
And, that's the situation we have here with the OP.......non-compliance.


Den

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If you look at what he wrote he finds it unusable and the doctor agrees with him.

The "bottom line" is.......he's gonna be S O L.......one way or the other.
He was diagnosed, prescribed the therapy and has found excuses not to use it. And, his doctor appears to be complicit in his non-compliance. He'll lose his CDL for lack of trying.


Den

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[chunkyfrog]

He mentioned Veterans Administration.
Since apnea is considered a disability, isn't there help for vets to train for a different career?
--especially if his mask phobia has roots in military service.

[Wulfman...]

Problem! I am a commercial driver, diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, I am not tired during day, I know I stop breathing at night, but I sleep! When I try to use resumed Quattro- air mask I am exstreamly tired during day! So I don't use it. Now my Veteran's Adm Doctor said I am untreatable and she is going to contact D o t to take away my comm. lic. I am very scared! P S I also stop breathing with mask............ Thank you for all the input, very helpful. I see the cpap technician tomorrow May 2 2014 I will get more information about my machine and what's it doing, and post that info. A lot of the tech response I don't understand from here! but I will learn them as I go along. My attitude has changed since joining this site 3 days ago. Thank you

He's apparently following the posts........he edited his original post yesterday.
I hope he comes back after his meeting (today) and updates us on his situation.
I honestly wish him luck with his therapy and trying to become compliant to keep his CDL.


Den

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[Goofproof]

I don't consider Sleep Apnea to be a disability, unless you don't have a mouth and nose to put the mask over. Most unsucessful people who have Sleep Apnea problems come from a area higher than the nose. That area is much harder to treat.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink, but then again most horses don't die from thirst.

[Todzo]

It is interesting how issues that deal with the usability of CPAP always bring out the shills, trolls, and thier sockpuppets.

[houndlover]

Hmmm... glad gfm chimed in on his original post. It sounds like he stuck around, and even if he didn't get into the discussion here he has been reading and hopefully reading other threads as well.

I can say from personal experience that you can think you gave it 4 months of an honest, good try. But, until you get on a board like this and start finding out how many options in PAP treatment there are...how much help is out here...and 1001 ways of dealing with the issue you are having you do think you have tried and failed. I was there. I will still tell anyone I gave it a very good 6 month try the first time around. I didn't have this board or a doctor or DME that was helpful at all so I was all alone. I hope gfm gets some answers and that he comes back so he can maybe get help with specific issues and maybe be a success story for PAP use.

[chunkyfrog]

And as to the other posts; I am neither a shill nor a troll; and some of my best friends are sock puppets!
--and even the dumbest ones can spell "their".

[Wulfman...]

And as to the other posts; I am neither a shill nor a troll; and some of my best friends are sock puppets!
--and even the dumbest ones can spell "their".

I've noticed that misspelling over the years, so I just did a forum search on the misspelled word......"thier". There are 50 pages of posts with it. Amazing! <smacks forehead>


Den

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[robysue]

The thing is: Neither the sleep doc nor the patient has any control over the DOT regulations. And the regs are what they are: If you are in the US and have a CDL and you're diagnosed with OSA, the DOT insists that you treat it with CPAP, and if you are unwilling or unable to do so, then the DOT will see that the CDL is revoked.

Whether the regulations are fair or not is irrelevant. Whether the regs should be changed is irrelevant. Because the fact is those DOT regulations are not going to go away anytime soon---regardless of what folks like Todzo think about those regulations.

So the OP has a choice to make for the immediate future: Figure out a way to use the CPAP (and ideally make it work) OR give up the CDL.

[Todzo]

I willingly gave up driving because I could not guarantee vigilance. Since that time I have learned a lot and have been successful becoming more healthy.

I will consider driving again if I find that I can use my bicycle for six months in a row without incident using it at least four times a week. I will probably then find a service which gives those long term driving simulator “fatigue” tests and see if I can pass.

Although truck driving sounds interesting to me, knowing what I do about my condition I would never ever consider that a career to pursue.

Sleep apnea is caught at many stages of the disease and has many flavors within what is called sleep apnea. But knowing what I do about it I would feel much more comfortable if those with sleep apnea would willingly use vigilance monitoring when they drive truck bus or train.

After the accident you cannot give someone back their life, health, or likely even their property. You can protect them from an accident by the decisions you make now.

I wish Gfm much success in whatever career works out best for him and us.

[naturalisbest]

I don't want to be flying with a pilot in an airline who's been up for 20 hours and living with untreated sleep apnea. Just saying what I feel. Get the truckers treated and make them prove they comply and do the same for pilots. Common sense demands it.

[woodworkerjunkie]

I don't want to be flying with a pilot in an airline who's been up for 20 hours and living with untreated sleep apnea. Just saying what I feel. Get the truckers treated and make them prove they comply and do the same for pilots. Common sense demands it.

Consider this... why would you consider a car, pickup, motorcycle, van or SUV on the highways any safer? If that is the way you feel toward pilots and truck drivers on the highway, then anyone with a drivers license and sleep apnea ought to be monitored! That would include most everyone on this forum, having to comply with regular reporting of compliance in order to retain a drivers license. Common sense would demand it.

[49er]

I don't want to be flying with a pilot in an airline who's been up for 20 hours and living with untreated sleep apnea. Just saying what I feel. Get the truckers treated and make them prove they comply and do the same for pilots. Common sense demands it.

Consider this... why would you consider a car, pickup, motorcycle, van or SUV on the highways any safer? If that is the way you feel toward pilots and truck drivers on the highway, then anyone with a drivers license and sleep apnea ought to be monitored! That would include most everyone on this forum, having to comply with regular reporting of compliance in order to retain a drivers license. Common sense would demand it.

And if we're going to go this route, sleep apnea isn't the only condition that should be monitored since many untreated medical conditions can affect driving, Epilepsy, high blood pressure, diabetes, traumatic brain injury are ones that come to mind. And the meds you take for various conditions can also affect driving. So essentially, anyone who is treated for a medical condition needs to be monitored.

49er

[49er]

The thing is: Neither the sleep doc nor the patient has any control over the DOT regulations. And the regs are what they are: If you are in the US and have a CDL and you're diagnosed with OSA, the DOT insists that you treat it with CPAP, and if you are unwilling or unable to do so, then the DOT will see that the CDL is revoked.

Whether the regulations are fair or not is irrelevant. Whether the regs should be changed is irrelevant. Because the fact is those DOT regulations are not going to go away anytime soon---regardless of what folks like Todzo think about those regulations.

So the OP has a choice to make for the immediate future: Figure out a way to use the CPAP (and ideally make it work) OR give up the CDL.

RobySue,

I realize the regulations aren't going away. But as the situation with ZooCrew's nephew proves, unless the other trucking regulations are reformed that allow truckers more rest and stop forcing them to have to meet impossible production demands, monitoring folks for sleep apnea doesn't make the roads as safe you think.

49er