Quote:
Originally Posted by moonstar
hi pamster----i was diagnosed with sleep apnea and it took a few months to get the reports back...then went in for the 2nd test with the cpap machine on april 1... they said that i stopped breathing 20x's in an hour (every 3 min) and with the cpap it was corrected...i have been waiting since then to hear from the drs as to when i get the machine..it may be weeks for them but it feels as if it has been months for me..i have been suffering with the sleep attacks or insomnia now since dec..i am so happy to hear that it works for you---gives me hope--it is just taking so long to get started that i am getting worse..falling down constantly, pain increasing daily and depression is killing me..i called the dr office and they said it may be a few more weeks.. i have to get back to work so i can pay my mortgage and pay back the loans i had to take out to survive the past months of hell--- without sleep..i have problems walking never mind driving a car and working all night..
did it take them long to get you set up with the cpap? or as usual is it just me??? seems my luck has gone bye-bye since i was injured in 1994... but hearing your good news gives me hope that maybe my life might get even a little better...thanks for sharing your news and experience--moonstar
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Moonstar,
This sounds like some bureaucratic problem to me.
I had to go for a second sleep test due the lateness in the first test that I actually stopped breathing, in the fourth hour, but it was a ridiculous amount of disturbances, once every minute average after it started, with a peak period of 3 times a minute, or one breath approximately every 20 seconds, which also aroused me out of any form of sleep state. There has to be a certain degree of arousal, as measured by brain activity, each time before it's considered an "incident." They got me back in for testing within a week because they didn't have the chance to test me long enough after the interruptions started. I had my cpap respirator within about another week after that. So from first test to having a CPAP at home took less than two weeks, and they apologized for making me come back for a second test. The name of the testing company is SomniCare, which has a home office in Des Moines, IA. I live in eastern Kansas, so it could have something to do with distribution, but I doubt it.
Even though this was not the final solution for me, I can't blame my insurance carrier or SomniCare. They did a great job. And it has helped, even though the obstruction has enlarged. I think we have it shrinking again due to Synthroid. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis about 7 weeks ago.
If your primary physician prescribes the treatment, then you should be able to get the equipment somehow. It sounds as if you are going to need to demand an explanation from someone as to why this is taking so long. Yours may be considered a "borderline" case, perhaps treatable in some other manner according to some MBA genius at the insurance company, and your doc and the insurance people are fighting about it. This kind of thing should be way out of the ordinary.
Good luck,
DJ