New and throughly frustrated please advise

So I don't know if I have sleep apnea yet but I had a sleep study a bit over two weeks ago, was told 7-10 days for results but after these two weeks I didn't hear a thing from anyone. So I called the sleep center and she told me the sleep doc had faxed my results to my GP a WEEK ago. Now I've long had issues getting test results from my GP, one specific doctor never calls me about them and guess which doctor I saw for the referral. I thought I'd be working with the sleep center the entire time or I'd have never gone to this doctor, it was stupid I know.

So I called my GP today and the receptionists like always told me she'd leave a message for the doctor and of course I heard nothing today. What options do I have to deal with this? I feel so defeated, I just want to know if I have it or if I have to retake the study.. had a very hard time sleeping.. or what but now I have to deal with this incompetent doctor. I'm not very good at being confrontational is the problem. My husband said we should just go get the test results ourselves but what good would that do me? Sorry for seeming down about things, I'm just so tired and don't really have the energy for it. I'm sure some of you know what that's like.

Go get the results yourself...you will want a copy of the results of the sleep study anyway if you end up having OSA.
It will be easy enough to see if you have OSA or not on the results. See Roybsue's blog that I will link to at the end of this post. It will help a lot.

If you are uncertain about what it says...come back here and share with use what it says and we can help.
It's pretty much cut easy to decipher.
If you do have OSA then you need to contact your insurance company and find out what cpap equipment suppliers they work with in your area.
Also if you do have OSA you will want to read this.
https://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/what- ... me-part-i/

And forum member Robysue has an excellent blog explaining what all the stuff on the sleep study report means.
http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blog ... -test.html

You must get the results from your MD - no one else is legally allowed to give them to you, but if his staff is not bugging him enough, show up and sit until you get some attention! Seriously, it's not right that you should be waiting - unless possibly they want you to make an appt (vs a phone call) to go over things? Not only will the doctor be paid then, but you can also find answers to some of your questions (though once you have a few, we'll be happy to help interpreting all).

Whenever the wires get crossed at my doctor's office, I simply SHOW UP.
I am as sweet as the dickens, stating that the voice mail did not work,
or the pharmacy is caught in some kind of cluster,
and that I don't mind waiting to get the mess straightened out.
When they see me walk in WITHOUT an appointment, action ensues.

Julie wrote:You must get the results from your MD - no one else is legally allowed to give them to you, but if his staff is not bugging him enough, show up and sit until you get some attention! Seriously, it's not right that you should be waiting - unless possibly they want you to make an appt (vs a phone call) to go over things? Not only will the doctor be paid then, but you can also find answers to some of your questions (though once you have a few, we'll be happy to help interpreting all).

I wouldn't have had a problem making another apt to go in but was never told this, I was told I'd be called when they got the results. Added to the long history of trouble with this doctor, I once had an MRI and a month went by and nothing. I called, same thing 'I'll leave a message' and no return phone call. Called again and then had the receptionist tell me the results were normal, not one doctor ever spoke to me about the results. I WILL be looking for a new practice but this is just one example of the issues I've dealt with this doctor.

My vet treats me better, I wish I could see my vet.. he's awesome LOL.

Will the results state is if I do have apnea or if I need to do a re-test... like I said, I barely slept during my study and I don't know if they got any good information. How will I know and how can the insurance give me a machine if I only have my paper work but no confirmed diagnosis? This was all information I was hoping to hear back, not having to decipher the test myself.

There's usually a line in any sleep report that says
IMPRESSION: xxxxxxxx
and that line will confirm the diagnosis or not.

If you do have OSA...then depending on insurance you may need to have another sleep study using a mask and machine to determine pressure need to hold your airway open.
Or sometimes they just dispense a machine and give you a range of pressures and adjust the pressure after a period of time using the range of pressure.
You would need to find out which way your insurance prefers to do things. Often they do the machine at a range of pressures because it is simply less costly than doing another sleep study.

Your insurance company can also tell you whatever you need to do about getting equipment and who to get the equipment from...
and what they might need from the doctor in terms of documentation.

Get your report first....you are going to want it anyway for your records.

Pugsy wrote:There's usually a line in any sleep report that says
IMPRESSION: xxxxxxxx
and that line will confirm the diagnosis or not.

If you do have OSA...then depending on insurance you may need to have another sleep study using a mask and machine to determine pressure need to hold your airway open.
Or sometimes they just dispense a machine and give you a range of pressures and adjust the pressure after a period of time using the range of pressure.
You would need to find out which way your insurance prefers to do things. Often they do the machine at a range of pressures because it is simply less costly than doing another sleep study.

Your insurance company can also tell you whatever you need to do about getting equipment and who to get the equipment from...
and what they might need from the doctor in terms of documentation.

Get your report first....you are going to want it anyway for your records.

Ok thank you so much! I was worried I was just going to have to wait on this doctor, I am disappointed though because I was hoping to get a more in depth look at my sleep through a doctor's impression in a face to face talk but I will go pick up my results tomorrow. So nervous, if I don't have it then it's back to square one. But I have so many symptoms minus the snoring and waking up gasping.. extreme daytime sleepiness, my mental state and memory breaking down, hair falling out, slight personality changes, etc etc. Honestly don't care if I have to wear a mask the rest of my life if I can get some relief.

Where are you living? Things are done differently in different countries. I'm Australian and my sleep study results can be had directly from the sleep clinic. The rationale is simple and enshrined in law here. "I paid for it and as the consumer I'm entitled to the full results from the provider who produced them." If I get an xray at a Radiology Clinic they give me the Xrays before I walk out.

It's also important to remember that the organisation who did your sleep study also did the analysis that they provided to your GP knows a hell of a lot more about the interpretation of those results than he/she would. So go directly to them! If you are in Australia (are you?) then they have to give you those full results. How it works in the US or the UK I'm not sure but it's worth going directly to them. Chunky Frog has the best approach.

Finally, I agree, your GP is useless. Talk to your friends and find one who cares and is also prepared to listen.

Oh... interesting about your hair falling out... makes me wonder when you last had a serious thyroid test...?? Many symptoms of apnea and hyper- or hypothyroidism overlap, including weight, sleep problems, etc, though one does not rule out having the other.

I'm in the US, California and sadly it doesn't seem to work that way here. I called the sleep center direct and they told me to talk to my GP about the results and you're right, I paid a thousand dollars for this and it's ridiculous, I just feel like my GP does not take my health seriously.

And I do have hashimoto's(thyroid disease) and am currently on medication for it but my hair didn't start falling out bad until recently, I read that it can be related to stress from sleep deprivation. So wondered if it is related since it started about the time my exhaustion and other issues started. It 'could' be my thyroid but I am also overweight and I figured since sleep apnea is nothing to mess around with, better safe than sorry to get tested.

While stress can go along with apnea, your hair problem is not otherwise related, not a symptom of apnea and most likely the Hashimoto's, as the exhaustion also might be. The weight thing could be the Hashimoto's (very likely) but apnea could have had some effect as well... apnea may cause weight gain, but the opposite is now known to not be true (old wives' tale). So you could have apnea as well as being hypothyroid, but not necessarily. Are you sure your thyroid meds are adequate?

I have read several articles stating otherwise about the hairloss, that the apnea can cause a certain type of hairloss... now of course it was the internet and who knows if it's entirely accurate but my thyroid levels are within the normal range atm, I was diagnosed over two years ago. And the exhaustion has gotten worse and worse, no amount of sleep makes me feel rested anymore. If it is my thyroid then I guess I'm screwed because I'm taking meds and not getting better.

Ok, the hair loss could be a matter of aggravation by lack of sufficient oxygen if you have apnea - many people have found that hair loss lessens once on Cpap, even though it's not actually a direct respiratory or neurological connection... there are also other 'side effects' (good ones) of Cpap because of that, such as men finding ED problems resolving to an extent!