Sleep Apnea Diagnosis

As a BMI 19 female, I have to second Robysue's comment that if you have a witnessed apnea, it cannot be ignored. Also my husband complained that he could hear my snoring from the second floor! No one ever asked about the nocturia. Only in retrospect, I realize the anxiety and headaches (etc...) were related to OSA.

I guess I was lucky. My internist's younger brother has sleep apnea. That's why it was easy for her to pick up on my symptoms, as well as prescribing a data capable machine.

msquaredb wrote:This NP actually prescribed me an anti-depressant without asking if I was still depressed (I just accepted because I knew I would get nowhere with her). I should mention I just didn't fill the script. Really shoddy medicine if you ask me.

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For this reason alone, you need to find a new doctor. No one should feel like they will not get anywhere with their doctor because they don't listen.

Well, my Sleep Study was 15 years ago & the requirements now may be different.

The 1 & only Sleep Doctor associated with the Sleep Lab of a large local (Regional) Hospital gave a talk at a Rotary Club meeting.

I also figured I had Sleep Apnea for a while, but his talk on the consequences of untreated Sleep Apnea made me finally take some action.

Since the Hospital Sleep Lab was the only Sleep Lab in my area at the time, I figured that since I would be dealing with that Hospital & that Sleep Doctor anyway, why not go directly to them.

So, I never even mentioned it to my Internist at the time & called the Hospital directly for a Sleep Study appointment.

Apparently no one had ever done that before, so they were a little confused as to how to proceed. I told them if it was a problem, I could get my Internist to refer me to them. They said no, we do NOT need a referral & your insurance does NOT require a referral.

Turns out that if I would have gotten a referral, the 1st open spot was 1 1/2 months away. But since I went directly to the Hospital, they got an approval from my insurance in 1 day & scheduled the Sleep Study for 4 days later.

Turns out I DID in fact have "severe" sleep apnea.

Huh! I would never have thought to call the sleep lab directly. Good advice!
B.

msquaredb wrote:I went for a check up in hopes of getting a referral for a sleep study, but my idea was promptly dismissed. The NP focused on my depression and anxiety as the cause of my fatigue and ignored my splitting morning headaches and snoring despite my protestations!

Do you think I should pursue a second opinion?

Yes. And if you want some interesting reading, check out member Carbonman and read his early posts. The man's a marathon mountain cyclist, and HE had severe apnea.

Doctors can be a pain in the <deleted> -- I had one to tell me to "stop stuffing my face and lose some weight, and it'll all clear up" when I presented with the symptoms of uterine cancer. Losing weight would not have cured cancer. If I had not gotten a second opinion six years ago, I would now be dead.

Please Return To The Doctor....
I am a slender female and told my GP that
I had recorded my self sleeping and it was alarming.
So Kaiser sends you to a group class. They send you
home with a machine that tests for Oxygen levels.
Than they send you home with a cpap machine for
testing. Those 2 tests showed very mild apnea. After
my Insistence to the sleep doctor that I wanted a overnight
test she sent me. Well it showed I have very severe apnea. It even
suprised my sleep doctor how Inaccurate the home study was. So
please insist on a overnight test!!! It is Accurate.
Good luck...