3 ms·

I think the situation has improved there in the last couple years. I had a friend who I suspected of having sleep apnea. She called her doctor and asked for a

I think the situation has improved there in the last couple years. I had a friend who I suspected of having sleep apnea. She called her doctor and asked for a sleep study. They gave her a device to wear while sleeping and the diagnosis of sleep apnea came the next day. Getting insurance to approve the CPAP, though... that is still an open problem. Weeks later, no treatment for diagnosed disease.

avgDev 5y ago
I'm not sure what your friends financial situation is but maybe try to collect some money for her and buy one? I googled that the average cost is just under $1k for a CPAP machine. If it could change her life then maybe should could even pay it back one day.
- cupofpython 5y ago
  I second this. Absolutely pay out of pocket if insurance drags their feet. I spent $5k on a mouthpiece for my treatment and would do it again. It is far from an ideal solution, but in the 3 months it takes insurance to get their shit together - your friend could have the energy to work a side job to pay off whatever it costs and just be generally happier overall
  - jrockway 5y ago
    OK good advice, did not know that was an option.
    - cupofpython 5y ago
      note out of pocket doesnt mean independently - definitely still have a professional approve the purchase decision in case something about the configuration needs to be tailored specifically for your friend in my case, i needed to see an orthodontist every 2 weeks to have the mouth piece adjusted. I am not sure how CPAP works to say if it is safe to "plug and play out of the box" so-to-speak
cupofpython 5y ago
>I had a friend who I suspected of having sleep apnea. She called her doctor and asked for a sleep study It doesnt sound like the situation has improved. Without a friend like you, would she have received treatment? I think the community has gotten better at addressing the undiagnosed sleep apnea epidemic. When I needed help, there were some discussions about it on forums that I could find with the right search terms. Now, it's become much more common knowledge on the internet that people can spot it in others. which is fantastic. The Doctors still seem to suck at it. For starters, fatigue is possibly the single most common symptom of disease - and is not something proactively asked about by doctors (in my experience). Every doctor at every check in should be asking "How tired have you been?". The fact that you can notice apnea in your friend before trained professionals even suspect to ask about it is the problem. And the bigger problem is that even if we address this for apnea, how are we to know how many other issues are going around waiting for the patients to bring it up themselves? I certainly no longer trust that proactive diagnostic due diligence is being done on anything other than blood test result levels. Doctors rely on patient complaints to govern their behavior. full stop. Check-ins and physicals are way more superficial than most patients understand, imo. Still very helpful, but not nearly enough
- jrockway 5y ago
  Yeah, you're right that doctors kind of missed this. Sometimes I wonder how many questions they ask (depression is what she was being treated for with little success) and how much is volunteered. I happen to enjoy reading NTSB accident reports in my spare time, and they're always sleep apnea, so it was at the top of mind when I heard things like "headache every morning" and "I randomly fall asleep on my couch". I didn't go to medical school so I'm not sure if those are anxiety/depression symptoms, but a sleep study sounded like it wouldn't hurt. You're absolutely right that doctors should at least be asking these questions ("how tired are you", there is even a scale with more specific questions).

avgDev 5y ago

I'm not sure what your friends financial situation is but maybe try to collect some money for her and buy one? I googled that the average cost is just under $1k for a CPAP machine. If it could change her life then maybe should could even pay it back one day.

cupofpython 5y ago
I second this. Absolutely pay out of pocket if insurance drags their feet. I spent $5k on a mouthpiece for my treatment and would do it again. It is far from an ideal solution, but in the 3 months it takes insurance to get their shit together - your friend could have the energy to work a side job to pay off whatever it costs and just be generally happier overall
- jrockway 5y ago
  OK good advice, did not know that was an option.
  - cupofpython 5y ago
    note out of pocket doesnt mean independently - definitely still have a professional approve the purchase decision in case something about the configuration needs to be tailored specifically for your friend in my case, i needed to see an orthodontist every 2 weeks to have the mouth piece adjusted. I am not sure how CPAP works to say if it is safe to "plug and play out of the box" so-to-speak

cupofpython 5y ago

>I had a friend who I suspected of having sleep apnea. She called her doctor and asked for a sleep study It doesnt sound like the situation has improved. Without a friend like you, would she have received treatment? I think the community has gotten better at addressing the undiagnosed sleep apnea epidemic. When I needed help, there were some discussions about it on forums that I could find with the right search terms. Now, it's become much more common knowledge on the internet that people can spot it in others. which is fantastic. The Doctors still seem to suck at it. For starters, fatigue is possibly the single most common symptom of disease - and is not something proactively asked about by doctors (in my experience). Every doctor at every check in should be asking "How tired have you been?". The fact that you can notice apnea in your friend before trained professionals even suspect to ask about it is the problem. And the bigger problem is that even if we address this for apnea, how are we to know how many other issues are going around waiting for the patients to bring it up themselves? I certainly no longer trust that proactive diagnostic due diligence is being done on anything other than blood test result levels. Doctors rely on patient complaints to govern their behavior. full stop. Check-ins and physicals are way more superficial than most patients understand, imo. Still very helpful, but not nearly enough

jrockway 5y ago
Yeah, you're right that doctors kind of missed this. Sometimes I wonder how many questions they ask (depression is what she was being treated for with little success) and how much is volunteered. I happen to enjoy reading NTSB accident reports in my spare time, and they're always sleep apnea, so it was at the top of mind when I heard things like "headache every morning" and "I randomly fall asleep on my couch". I didn't go to medical school so I'm not sure if those are anxiety/depression symptoms, but a sleep study sounded like it wouldn't hurt. You're absolutely right that doctors should at least be asking these questions ("how tired are you", there is even a scale with more specific questions).