So I have to ask a question for you guys, do you know anyone who has sleep apnea real bad?
I know 2 people who had it and have had their lives completely changed by getting a CPAP machine.
The one I had to room with at the national sales meeting for the company I used to work for, I would not sleep because I thought I was going to have to call 911 because he would stop breathing, he would also usually have a big red mark on his forehead from falling asleep at his desk and hitting it on his keyboard.
The second person was another former co-worker who on the way to work one day got on the highway, only needed to go 5 miles on the highway to get to the exit for work, but when he got off on the exit for work, his car would not go anywhere. He had his car towed to my garage and when I pulled the transmission, the clutch was shreaded in the bellhousing, he was half sleeping and had his foot riding the clutch. He would fall asleep at work standing up, with a screwgun in his hand.
2 lives totally changed by them getting help and a CPAP machine.
The only person who can tell you if you are sleeping well is the person who sleeps next to you every night, or the techs who do a sleep study.
If we men were more open to asking for help instead of saying we can figure out things on our own, there would not be a need for new regulations.
Another example: the doctor who have me my last DOT physical said he was working an ER & a guy came in for something or other, and the guy weighed about 400-500 lbs. When you're that big, you get admitted.
Well, they found out this guy had sleep apnea so they put him on a CPAP machine. His sleep had previously been dramatically disturbed. The doctor said when your sleep is so dramatically disturbed, your body goes haywire trying to compensate for lack of sleep. All your blood chemistry is off, your organs are going nuts, etc. Weight gain was this guy's side effect.
So he starts on the CPAP while in the hospital, and all of a sudden, he's getting the first decent sleep he's had in years, and his body started reacting immediately. He had been retaining massive amounts of fluid. Well now he starts peeing. And he doesn't stop. They had to change his urine bag constantly. He peed out 40lbs of retained fluid weight in short order, left the hospital feeling great and 40lbs lighter.
Here's the kicker: two days ago, I went into a vitamin store, and I'm talking with the clerk and we get to talking about sleep apnea. Turns out, THIS WAS THE GUY the doctor told that story about. I was thinking it was a tall tale, but I actually met the guy.
Now, on to CPAP for drivers, in general: while some individuals need it, this is clearly a scam by the medical-sleep industry, as is nearly everything now in the time of crony capitalism.
