LostInLouisville

Sleep Apnea Skeptic

***Update Below ***

I am naturally skeptical of just about everything. I understand that this means being proven wrong on a regular basis, but I can handle it. It’s the scientific way. When my wife Medina worked for a chiropractor, I had a really hard time swallowing a lot of his nonsense. There are lots of resources for people who are skeptical of chiropractic.

When my wife went to a sleep doctor for a sleep test to see if she had sleep apnea and if she needed a sleep machine from the sleep machine company, several skeptical red flags were raised. The claims made by the people promoting this therapy make a lot of the same claims that chiropractors are want to make. (My particular form of therapy will help with whatever problems you have.) Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and some of the sleep apnea-related claims strike me as extraordinary.

So when I turned to the internet to explore my uneducated skepticism about the subject, I expected to find some like-minded people exploring the topic. No luck. I can’t seem to find anyone with anything negative to say about the increasingly popular diagnosis.

I don’t have any evidence that the claims are over-reaching. I only have my skeptical impulse. The sleep doctor my wife visited conducted a standard overnight test and (surprise!) determined that she had sleep apnea. And if she would only step next-door she would find a conveniently located store which sells the sleep apnea-eradicating CPAP machine. I wonder how many people go to the sleep doctor and are told, “No, you don’t need the CPAP.”

Insurance covers this machine, so what could it hurt? Well, after testing her CPAP, my wife found that it caused her to sleep worse, not better. So she returned it. And she has been hassled by the company ever since. She returned the machine within the trial period, and wasn’t supposed to be charged anything. But when the insurance company only paid a portion, they began to hassle my wife for the remainder. All dealings with these people have screamed SCAM.

So maybe it’s just our dealings with this particular company, but I still have a very skeptical view of the whole scene. I am open to being proven wrong, so if anyone out there wants to straighten me out, feel free.

***Update***

I found a very thoughtful response to my post here. I made the following comment on the post, and add it here as clarification:

Hello, I am the author of the post you reference. Thank you for your thoughtful response. I look forward to reading the information at the link you provided.

Looking back on it, I think I allowed our experience with this specific company to raise my skepticism about sleep apnea. It was their behavior that was suspicious, and their claims that were extraordinary. After a little more research, I have found that their claims are out of line with most of the information available. I try not to generalize based on anecdotal evidence, and I think that is what I have done here. In fact, my wife and I have several relatives who have been helped greatly by the CPAP.

With regards to my wife’s situation, I am still skeptical of the diagnosis. In my amateur capacity, I have observed her sleeping. And while she snores lightly, she does not stop breathing. I am therefore skeptical when this particular sleep test indicated that her breathing ceases twice a minute. Additionally, she did not have any of the symptoms I have found listed for sleep apnea, other than snoring, and she does not snore loudly. (I am going by this list: http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_apnea.htm)

I have supported her efforts to sleep better, and was entirely and sincerely open to the possibility of being helped by the CPAP. It was only after dealing with this company that my skepticism was aroused on the subject. The test she took did in fact include both parts, the gathering of data and the re-evaluation of the data with the assistance of the CPAP. They claimed that it made a miraculous difference.

She was of the opinion that she did not sleep well at any point during the test, but was open to the possibility that it did really help. Over the next month, she went through every type of mask available, and was still not helped by the machine. The company was extremely difficult to deal with when she was trying (very hard, and with my support) to make it work for her. She ultimately became so frustrated with the lack of help and results that she returned the entire apparatus.

I know this doesn’t mean it couldn’t have helped. And I know it is still possible that she does have sleep apnea. But I think that she probably does not, and that she had other issues which were causing her to sleep poorly. In the intervening year, she has been able to address those issues, and is sleeping better.

Maybe this is an anomalous experience. I know the evidence here is anecdotal. That’s why I asked to have my experience shown to be wrong. I appreciate your efforts to provide me with good information.

Also, if I had more people reading my blog, I might turn the comments on. As it is, all I get is spam when they are on.

Regards,
Jackson Cooper