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I Was A Sleep Study Bully
I finally got in to see the doctor at the sleep clinic a week or so ago. He seemed very flippant with me and I ended up on the defensive on a few issues.
He looked over the forms they'd had me fill out and bring in and then snorted and scoffed at the symptoms I'd marked off. He made me feel like a hysterical woman who over-blows her medical conditions. It really angered me. :(
Then he tried to simply dismiss me with the overly-simplistic advice of "You need to go home and lose weight"
I am well aware that I'm a large woman, as I told him - I was a fat baby/kid/teen/adult and the side of the family I seem to be carbon copied from are fatties as well.
I'm not saying that I can't control my weight to an extent but at age 42 I have lost and re-gained hundreds of pounds and my body has suffered for all the diets and re-gaining and I really see no point in putting it through that sort of thing anymore.
I told him that my doctor had told me a few months ago to not concern myself with weight loss but instead to focus on being a healthy person, which was something I certainly was not at the time.
A few months ago I started using an exercise bike several times a week, eating like a health nut and even lifting small free weights. I've had no weight loss yet but am certainly a healthier person and was hoping that once I had my sleep issues under control that renewed energy would encourage some weight loss.
I've snored heavily and loudly since I was a child, this is not a new problem, things have simply reached a crisis point and I refused to be dismissed by this doctor!
He seemed unhappy that my doctor would be approaching my health care plan from this angle and finally said he'd allow the sleep study but that if it didn't help he was going to contact my doctor and tell him that I needed an intestinal bypass or lap band.
I informed him that there was no way I would allow the bypass surgery, it's dangerous for one thing and for another thing I no longer have an eating disorder! I don't binge eat, over eat or eat foods that are bad for me. Force starving me into thinness is not an option as far as I'm concerned!
Not to mention the fact that I'd be waiting for thinness to cure my apnea so I'd be waiting a year for relief! Not an acceptable option!
It was all a bit upsetting but I dug my heals in, was strong and determined with this man and in the end got what I wanted.
Now I'm all set and very anxious to go to my May 28th sleep study!
Thank you to all of you for the help and support!
-Elissa- (tushygalore)
He looked over the forms they'd had me fill out and bring in and then snorted and scoffed at the symptoms I'd marked off. He made me feel like a hysterical woman who over-blows her medical conditions. It really angered me. :(
Then he tried to simply dismiss me with the overly-simplistic advice of "You need to go home and lose weight"
I am well aware that I'm a large woman, as I told him - I was a fat baby/kid/teen/adult and the side of the family I seem to be carbon copied from are fatties as well.
I'm not saying that I can't control my weight to an extent but at age 42 I have lost and re-gained hundreds of pounds and my body has suffered for all the diets and re-gaining and I really see no point in putting it through that sort of thing anymore.
I told him that my doctor had told me a few months ago to not concern myself with weight loss but instead to focus on being a healthy person, which was something I certainly was not at the time.
A few months ago I started using an exercise bike several times a week, eating like a health nut and even lifting small free weights. I've had no weight loss yet but am certainly a healthier person and was hoping that once I had my sleep issues under control that renewed energy would encourage some weight loss.
I've snored heavily and loudly since I was a child, this is not a new problem, things have simply reached a crisis point and I refused to be dismissed by this doctor!
He seemed unhappy that my doctor would be approaching my health care plan from this angle and finally said he'd allow the sleep study but that if it didn't help he was going to contact my doctor and tell him that I needed an intestinal bypass or lap band.
I informed him that there was no way I would allow the bypass surgery, it's dangerous for one thing and for another thing I no longer have an eating disorder! I don't binge eat, over eat or eat foods that are bad for me. Force starving me into thinness is not an option as far as I'm concerned!
Not to mention the fact that I'd be waiting for thinness to cure my apnea so I'd be waiting a year for relief! Not an acceptable option!
It was all a bit upsetting but I dug my heals in, was strong and determined with this man and in the end got what I wanted.
Now I'm all set and very anxious to go to my May 28th sleep study!
Thank you to all of you for the help and support!
-Elissa- (tushygalore)
Views: 40
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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you're the bully?! sounds like this doctor is the true bully. i cannot believe what a hard time he gave you. and this is a doctor working at a sleep clinic!? imagine what an uphill battle it is to get in for a sleep study with your run of the mill primary care physician who knows nothing about sleep. this sleep doctor's conduct is incomprehensible to me. you come in as a patient who is overweight, snores "loudly and heavily" and who feels she should have more energy during the day. It's a no-brainer to order the test. good for you for standing firm and not allowing this nut job to intimidate you. about weight loss and sleep apnea, i think jnk described it well in a post he just made in another thread:
"Losing weight sometimes lessens a person's pressure needs, but my understanding is that it rarely ever "cures" the apnea. That is not the point, though. The point is that the sleep apnea was likely a major factor in the weight gain and in making weight loss highly difficult to accomplish. Once the apnea is being treated, hopefully the patient will then be able to lose weight, which will improve quality of life and lessen disease risk, whether it affects the sleep apnea diagnosis directly or not.
Some have lost weight and found that it actually increased their pressure needs. But, again, that is not the point. Their losing weight was still the right thing for them to do for all the health benefits that weight loss should bring, if done in a healthy way.
You can't lose weight when you are not sleeping, when you are paicking all through the night to breathe, and when you have no energy to be active, and when your body is making you crave short-term fixes for giving you enough energy to get through the day. To the extent that PAP therapy solves those problems, we need to increase our activity and eat healthier in order to make the lifestyle changes that successful PAP therapy allows us to make.
In my mind, that is the way to approach the question of apnea and weight."
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this also seems like an inappropriate scare tactic and intimidation tactic used by your doctor:
"finally said he'd allow the sleep study but that if it didn't help he was going to contact my doctor and tell him that I needed an intestinal bypass or lap band."
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Permalink Reply by Daniel on
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What an awful doctor! Reminds me of my wife's story of the psychological scars a bad doctor can leave on you. She was overweight as an adolescent and her primary care physician called her "a human garbage can." It took many years of therapy for her to get over his comments, and even more to lose the weight. You'd think a physician would be more sensitive!
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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on
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That is crazy! A sleep doctor fighting a sleep study! I wonder if he knows that a sleep study is a requirement for beriatric surgery. Insurance will not pay for the surgery without it. Noncompliance with xPAP therapy is another way to get turned down for surgery compensation. I just had to explain this the other night. Good for you Tushy! Studies have shown that PAP therapy will help with weight loss. Keep fighting the good fight!
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Permalink Reply by sleepycarol on
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Stand firm on this!!!
Unlike you I was thin during childhood, teen years, and up till the time I hit my 30's. Then the weight came on. I have 5 kids and I blamed them for being heavy, of course that truly wasn't the case -- but it made it easier to cope with. My mother's side of the family were all large and I truly believe for the most part I have inherited their genes.
My family doctor has told me that I am healthier fat due to the fact I don't smoke, drink alcohol, do drugs, etc. She has not focused on my weight until recently when I was diagnosed with diabetes, but it is being managed with diet.
No way do I want surgery as there are way too many risk involved.
Be firm and stand your ground with this -- it is your body and your health.
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Permalink Reply by Judy on
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I'd have been sorely tempted to kick that sheister in the shins for that comment about lap or intestinal bypass surgery! I'm so sorry that you had to endure that insufferable SOB and his stupidity and crudeness. You won't be able to trust this sheister at all.
Be sure to get a copy of not just his dictated results of your sleep evaluation (1-2 pages) but also a copy of the full scored data summary report w/condensed graphs (5+ pages). I have a feeling you are not going to be able to put a whole lot of faith in this sheister's dictation and you will want and need that full scored data summary report w/condensed graphs to double check his interpretation.
And if you have to go back to this sleep lab and this sorry excuse for a sleep doctor again for the titration study be sure to get not only copies of the above two reports for the titration study as well but you will want the equipment order (script) as well. You don't want to rely on him to provide it to a local DME supplier. But more about that later. After this sleep evaluation we'll discuss your next steps to take to protect yourself from this pompous a$$ and get the equipment you want and need.
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