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Post by minx on Jan 26, 2018 17:05:26 GMT -5
I must preface by saying that I am extremely lucky to have good insurance (Federal BC/BS), so I know I'm just being pissy.
I need to have a sleep study done. If I am allowed to, I can literally sleep 15hrs/night and take a nap the next day. Clearly something is wrong here.
Went to various doctors who told me it was depression.
Finally talked to the psych, who was more than a little alarmed and said that my meds would not cause that kind of a side effect, so it was something else.
Went to a new doctor who agreed and referred me to have a sleep study scheduled.
This was back in December.
Sleep doctor agreed that something was definitely wrong and agreed that I needed a sleep study. He said that in general you need to go into the lab to have it done, because the at-home test doesn't pick up enough information - it just tests for sleep apnea, and if you move around a lot in your sleep, it disrupts the test (because there aren't as many monitors). Fine. First available slot is in 2 months.
So today, I get a call from the place. Oh, BC/BS won't approve the lab, only the at-home test. Why? Because the lab study is not medically necessary in their view.
From everything I've read, the at-home study is notorious for giving false negatives, and also will only pick up sleep apnea and no other sleep disorder.
Call the jackasses, and they can give me no information, nor can they say that if the at-home test comes back negative that they will then pay for the more comprehensive study. I have a call in to their nurse manager to argue this, especially as I don't want to do this crap at-home test and then have to wait another two months.
BTW, this is the same policy that Rally always touted as being the 'Gold Standard' of insurance. I honestly didn't mind waiting 2 months for the test itself, but it's beyond ridiculous to shell out for an inadequate procedure that your doctor does not recommend, only to shell out again in a few month for the one needed.
Oh and the person in the pre-certification department said that I had to do the at-home test because the doctor didn't say I was harming myself in my sleep. Well, duh! He's not testing for sleepwalking but apnea or narcolepsy. Assholes!
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Post by bobathon on Jan 27, 2018 7:31:54 GMT -5
Typical. I tore my rotator cuff so had to get an xray. Xray doesn't show jack for soft tissue injuries, gettting it is just to prove that the xray can't show anything before allowing an MRI.
Oh wait, I didn't tear my rotator cuff, I RE-tore my rotator cuff - a *known* 6+ yr old soft tissue injury and I still had to get an xray first. Because it's cheaper. But pointless.
I hope they do a proper sleep study for you, sleep can affect so many aspects of your health.
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Post by minx on Jan 27, 2018 14:50:40 GMT -5
I'm on my husband's insurance because all my job offers is United Healthcare, which is a total shitshow.
I've been consoling myself with the thought that I am a very lucky person - I can choose my own doctor, all of my prescriptions to date have been covered, and despite this being a pain in the ass, I'm sure the full sleep study will eventually get covered at some point.
OTOH, none of my doctors accept UHC, their customer service is crap, and the policy wouldn't say (nor would their customer service) if prescriptions written by an out of network doctor would be covered or not.
Plus my husband and I make enough that we can afford to pay an insurance premium, and also take time off to actually see a doctor.
It sucks that this is not the norm for everyone. It truly does.
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Post by bobathon on Jan 27, 2018 15:03:58 GMT -5
Well we can rest proudly that if some terrible illness were to befall us, unlike all those primitive other First World Nations, ours will let you go bankrupt or die.
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Post by k9krap on Feb 15, 2018 19:59:48 GMT -5
Have you gotten the results yet?
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Post by minx on Feb 16, 2018 9:52:18 GMT -5
Feb 26th. I'm assuming that since they haven't called that I didn't screw up the test itself, even if it gives no clear result.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Feb 16, 2018 10:58:31 GMT -5
Sleep Apnea..... life threatening condition...... 2 weeks to get your results back. And then more weeks to get your appointment with the respirator therapist, durable medical equipment folks, etc. But life threatening, just ask a sleep doctor.
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Post by minx on Feb 16, 2018 14:25:16 GMT -5
If you have a severe case, it can be life threatening. Mr. Minx would literally stop breathing in his sleep. Was very scary.
And the mother of one of the little Minx's friends died from it. Sleep study showed she had severe apnea, but she didn't want to be bothered with a CPAP. Doctor told her that she had a big chance of falling asleep and never waking up, which is exactly what happened. She took a nap while her daughter was at school. Daughter came home, saw the bedroom door shut, and assumed mom was napping. Dad came home an hour later, told daughter to go wake up mom so they could go get dinner. She was only 45.
But let's face it John. Brother was diagnosed with lung cancer. He has money and damned good insurance. Still took a week to get in to see an oncologist, and then numerous tests had to be run to see how severe things were, so another wait. Luckily it seems they caught it early. Two rounds of immunotherapy (at God only knows what cost - insurance still hasn't paid yet), and surgery this week. Now we wait another two weeks for biopsy results.
Tell me again how we're the greatest nation in the world when it comes to health care....
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Post by k9krap on Feb 16, 2018 15:49:58 GMT -5
Plus, the long-term effects it has on your heart. That’s what killed my dad.
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Post by minx on Feb 16, 2018 16:33:59 GMT -5
I think that as technology has advanced, we've learned more about sleep disorders. Still not convinced that with all the progress, that the only way to treat apnea is to strap a big honking mask on your face every night though.
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Post by bobathon on Feb 16, 2018 18:31:55 GMT -5
It is a sexxxy solution though. If you have an elephant fetish.
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Post by minx on Feb 17, 2018 8:42:41 GMT -5
Oh yeah, when my husband straps that snout machine on, it makes me sooo hot.  |
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Feb 17, 2018 10:44:59 GMT -5
I'm still not aware of a single case where OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) was ruled as cause of death. That's not to say it hasn't been, just that I've never seen it. From all the reading I've done over the years, larger studies have concluded that OSA "contributes" to things like heart disease, etc. or word it as "complications due to OSA".
Another thing, and perhaps this is where deaths can possibly occur, is in CSA (Central Sleep Apnea) which is a nasty problem where your central nervous system doesn't wake you up when you stop breathing. Those with CSA use a different machine than CPAP, I can't remember what it's called but I think it also uses bottled oxygen.
There are certainly a lot of life threatening illnesses and conditions that do not need immediate attention, because death isn't imminent (always spell that wrong!, thanks spellchechre!) but the sleep medicine industry advertises it as if it is. In my case, the OSA was causing my cortisol levels to go through the atmosphere and I would wake up with panic attacks. And yet, it took a month after the sleep study to get the results and a machine. Then it took months to find a mask that fit. Then it took more months to get used to it. I think it's been 3 years and I still haven't found a full face mask that works. I have a nasal mask but I still open my mouth at times while I sleep and that defeats the whole purpose. So they said to wear a chin strap. I did that. My mouth stayed closed but air still leaked from my lips (think "motorboat"). They said try a full face. I've tried several and they all leak and bonus, my jaw still drops and I've woken up with the full face mask inside my mouth. They said wear a chin strap. The chin strap presses against my cheeks and pushes away the full face mask, making it leak even worse. There's one FF on the market that goes under the chin, which I tried and it leaked like a sieve. That's when they had no more suggestions other than the surgery, which is only successful in about half the people who get it. It's a very painful recovery as well. There's a new device that is surgically implanted and uses a TENS-like system to keep your shit from going limp while you sleep. It's only for people up to like, 200 pounds, have no other health problems, yada yada yada..... I finally told my RT that the whole thing is a joke. Billions of dollars for an industry and this is the best they can come up with, to wear a mask with a hose, get air pumped through a mini compressor that makes as much noise as a big compressor, wear a chin strap, tape your mouth closed, and somehow it's the sleep apnea that can kill you?
So yeah, OSA CAN kill you. Because it's so frustrating you'll wanna kill yourself.
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