I was thinking today while eating my lunch, "Does everyone have sleep apnea". The thing that raised this question is I started talking to lots of people that went to sleep studies and I can't seem to find a single one that did not end up with a CPAP machine. I would have to imagine that some people that goes to those studies don't actually have it? Also the nights sleep I got while under the study was not ideal. I had tons of wires hanging off me and things that made me very uncomfortable which of-course would affect my quality of sleep. I just wanted to see if anyone here knew anyone that went to a sleep study and escaped without a CPAP machine? I have my CPAP now and I absolutely love it but I got this thing in the back of my head that keeps bugging me wondering if it all is just a bit of a monopoly. I got the insurance statement and it said my first sleep study where they detected my Apnea was $2300 and my 2nd one where they had the CPAP on me and gave me my CPAP was over $5000 so I'm guessing $7300 seems like a lot of 2 nights stay in a little room hooked up to a machine and having someone monitor me along with 2 - 3 other people at the same time (they are making 30k a day? WOW). Maybe they just bill this large to insurance since the insurance will knock it down to some negotiated price, but I just found it all a bit shocking. Reply back if you know someone that got out of a sleep study without having Apnea and a CPAP prescribed. And also if you do know someone let me know if they had insurance or not because I'm thinking everyone with good insurance has Apnea :)

Tons of people do not have sleep apnea.

And that goes for people that have great insurance to people with not so good insurance.

One problem is that you do have labs out there that are somehow affiliated with DME companies, therefore they try to flex the rules to the point of getting a lot of people on CPAP. The AASM is beginning to weed those labs out and will probably have a ton of them completely phased out by July of 2010. With that in mind, bad labs are still going to exist (even bad accredited labs). I spoke to an employee today that inspects sites to become accredited and basically he said that if a lab LOOKS good and has a satisfactory policies and procedures manual, then they will pass regardless of the actual practices. He told me that a lab he is familar with got accepted for accreditation with only 2 provisos.... and he also said that he wouldn't want to see his worst enemy get a study completed there...

Another problem is that people rely on the fact that a lab is accredited and they automatically think that that lab is top notch. That is certainly not the case.... at all. There will always be good labs and poor labs.

To to the OP... sleep apnea is such a widespread problem, so it is not unheard to think that everyone has apnea.

When I saw my pcp last month to get the referral to the clinic's sleep lab, my pcp told me that OSA is one of the most underdiagnosed conditions around. A lot of people have OSA and most of them probably don't even know it. Now that doesn't say that everyone has OSA. I'm sure that there are tons of people out there that DONT have OSA, however I can see why the OP made that comment that it seems as if everyone's getting OSA. I'm wondering if in this day and age where there are so many pollutants and irratants out there that it's irrirating our airways causing swelling which aggrivates the problem. I don't know?? that's just a guess on my part as I have absolutely no medical knowlege whatso ever! other than what I'm reading. I read somewhere where irritants can cause swelling in our airways, narrowing them further. who knows??

karessamom wrote:

When I saw my pcp last month to get the referral to the clinic's sleep lab, my pcp told me that OSA is one of the most underdiagnosed conditions around. A lot of people have OSA and most of them probably don't even know it. Now that doesn't say that everyone has OSA. I'm sure that there are tons of people out there that DONT have OSA, however I can see why the OP made that comment that it seems as if everyone's getting OSA. I'm wondering if in this day and age where there are so many pollutants and irratants out there that it's irrirating our airways causing swelling which aggrivates the problem. I don't know?? that's just a guess on my part as I have absolutely no medical knowlege whatso ever! other than what I'm reading. I read somewhere where irritants can cause swelling in our airways, narrowing them further. who knows??

Yes, but if it swelling of the airway was the major component, then wouldn't it seem appropriate that anti-inflammatory sprays would be effective in treatment?

That kinda thing reminds of people who get the flu (get congestion, etc.) and find themselves having OSA...for a short time period.

I had my sleep study done on July 13 and when I left the lab on July 14 i had my CPAP.   I was told I had 42 events per hour.  This was my second sleep study.  The first was in 2004 or 2005. I was told I didn't have apnea.  I was sure after the second test I would be told I didn't have it again.  Only had 4.91 events per hour on the first test.  Both studies were done in the same lab.  Different doctors though.  I go back to see my doctor on the 27.  If he has any ideas what caused the change i will be sure to post that information.

CatJ wrote:

I had my sleep study done on July 13 and when I left the lab on July 14 i had my CPAP.   I was told I had 42 events per hour.  This was my second sleep study.  The first was in 2004 or 2005. I was told I didn't have apnea.  I was sure after the second test I would be told I didn't have it again.  Only had 4.91 events per hour on the first test.  Both studies were done in the same lab.  Different doctors though.  I go back to see my doctor on the 27.  If he has any ideas what caused the change i will be sure to post that information.

Awesome, thank you. It just seems like the sleep study rooms are configured in such a way as to cause you Apnea in the first place. I had wires all over the place and things jammed up my nostrails. I had to sleep on my back which I normally sleep on my wide and when I moved the wires would wake me up. I'm thinking the results for most sleep studies are actually inaccurate based on the discomfort the test produces. Hard to say though, but I can say with confidence that I do get better sleep with the CPAP then without it so I can't argue with the results.

I would think that people who have sleep studies also are being referred because they at least have symptoms of sleep apnea or some other sleep disorder.  So there's a lot more likelihood of a positive finding than if you just randomly pulled people off the street for sleep studies!  

Barnacules wrote:

CatJ wrote:

I had my sleep study done on July 13 and when I left the lab on July 14 i had my CPAP.   I was told I had 42 events per hour.  This was my second sleep study.  The first was in 2004 or 2005. I was told I didn't have apnea.  I was sure after the second test I would be told I didn't have it again.  Only had 4.91 events per hour on the first test.  Both studies were done in the same lab.  Different doctors though.  I go back to see my doctor on the 27.  If he has any ideas what caused the change i will be sure to post that information.

Awesome, thank you. It just seems like the sleep study rooms are configured in such a way as to cause you Apnea in the first place. I had wires all over the place and things jammed up my nostrails. I had to sleep on my back which I normally sleep on my wide and when I moved the wires would wake me up. I'm thinking the results for most sleep studies are actually inaccurate based on the discomfort the test produces. Hard to say though, but I can say with confidence that I do get better sleep with the CPAP then without it so I can't argue with the results.

I had my visit with the doctor today so i did ask if there was any way to tell what caused the change.  In my case the change was caused by weight gain.  When i took the test in 2005 i was 190 pounds.  This year when i had the test done i was 209 pounds.  I know most people only have the test that discovers sleep apnea so they may not be able to look back at potential causes.  My allergist is the one that sent me for the sleep study based on answers to a long list of questions i had to answer and whatever he saw when he looked down my throat.

I deal with truck drivers with OSA.. We have issues because getting diagnosed with OSA means we are out of work until we are under current and effective treatment.

Everyone who has insurance who is tested for OSA does not have OSA.. That most people who are referred to a sleep lab test positive for OSA says the doctors screening for OSA are doing a good job and only sending the patients who REALLY look like they have OSA to the lab.

To illustrate. the program I work with has screened over 19,000 truck drivers for OSA since 2005.  All of them have good insurance as employees of the company.

85% of them screened as "low risk" for OSA.  Of the remainder who were given a PSG 15% of those came back negative for OSA... Just last nite.. 6 drivers were in the lab for PSG... 3 has OSA.. 3 did not.  All would have gotten free treatment as the insurance plan for my trucking company covers OSA testing and treatment as preventative care..no out of pocket costs to the driver.

Now to say some unsrupulous sleep labs exist would be naive... but the real numbers do not support your thesis that everyone that has good insurance has OSA.

The cost your insurance was billed is another topic all together.. there are MAJOR "adjustments" made in medical billing. What was originally billed is not what is actually paid by the insurance.


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Just a truck driver with sleep apnea

I had a friend who conducted a study a few years ago and was not diagnosed. That led me to put off my doing the study but I finally gave in and was diagnosed with severe apnea. The CPAP makes a big difference for me and so I'm glad that I did it. But I understand your concern. It seems as though this is a booming field for a lot of people involved. That may not be such a bad thing. I'm meeting more and more people who swear by their CPAP machines. I'm just jealous of my wife who seems to sleep a few hours per night and bounces around all day as though her energy stores were boundless.