Sleep Studies and your D/L

Been asked to get a Sleep Study?

Hi I just wanted readers to know that (in ON anyway) if you are diagnosed as "likely sleep deprived" based on results of a Sleep Analysis Test you underwent, you may end up being chained to a CPAP machine for the rest of your driving life!

So-called "sleep deprivation" is a LEGAL driving impairment in Ontario, just like drugs or alcohol- and once there is even SUSPICION you are affected, your being able to keep your D/L can and will be subject to a review by MTO. That review will seek (within a limited amount of time) proof from accredited Healthcare Professionals, that your condition --most-usually "Obstructive Sleep Apnea" or OSA-- is being managed and controlled. The vast majority of OSA sufferers will be put on CPAP therapy- with their machine's data being sent to some monitoring authority who will presumably flag MTO of any anomalies. Sure, there is likely a long list of other heath-related conditions which would trigger similar MTO reviews for D/L retention. But being lumped-in with drivers subject to immediately-impairing events such as seizures and loss of consciousness, just seemed a bit over-the-top for this poster.

Now I'm certainly not telling people to just simply AVOID getting a Sleep Test if their Physician orders it. Lots of peoples' sleep is disrupted (some significantly) by OSA, and they rightfully need to be diagnosed and receive help for it (usually by going on CPAP therapy). The fact that MTO makes that therapy mandatory to their keeping their D/L will, for those folks, be secondary to (what hopefully will be) the upshots and benefits that CPAP brings to their health.

Unfortunately there will sometimes be those Sleep Study patients who --despite being diagnosed with OSA and having to go on CPAP-- won't experience the big improvements we all tend to hear about. But regardless, those people too will be obligated to remain on CPAP therapy to keep their D/L. The process of de-certifying the results of a Sleep Test --or at-least getting a shot at a second opinion-- before MTO lifts one's Licence, is an extremely difficult and arduous task that would be beyond-reach for most. This in itself might open up an entirely new can of worms for discussion (i.e. whether Sleep Tests results truly benefit the interest of patients- or rather, those of a lucrative industry that has little oversight), but we'll try and stay on-topic for-now.

Thus those asked to take something as seemingly-benign as a Sleep Test should consider ALL the consequences before accepting.

do remember that people with sleep apnea are more likely to have coronary artery disease, which can lead to heart attack. And sleep apnea also plays a role in heart failure. Untreated OSA can both lead to heart failure and make heart failure symptoms worse

IF YOU HAVE SLEEP APNEA IT NEEDS TO BE TREATED IT IS A SERIOUS CONDITION.

If you are drive tired and have an accident or kill someone I would not want to be in that drivers shoes.

I have sleep apnea and am on CPAP. I started using CPAP in about 2003 or 2004. In addition to being asthmatic, I was quite obese at the time, and my wife noticed I was occasionally gasping for air at night beyond what was normal. After I lost a bucket of weight, my apnea disappeared and I stopped using the CPAP. Fast forward a few years...some of the weight had crept back on and my 50's hit. I've been back on the CPAP for a few years.

Needless to say, the quality of my sleep is vastly improved, as is my daytime awareness. For a number of reasons, I'm at risk for a few medical things.

As far as I know, MTO has never been aware of the sleep studies I've had nor of the CPAP.

Hi Zatota

Its likely that your OSA wasn't severe enough to obligate your Healthcare Provider to advise MTO about your condition. I recently made just a MENTION of my situation with MTO requiring me to be on CPAP to keep my D/L, and the Doctor seeing me got totally-triggered! Seems that (years ago) Queen's Park chose to put the responsibility of informing MTO about severe OSA cases among drivers, onto the Primary Healthcare Physicians ("PHP's"). This was long BEFORE the Pandemic...MTO wouldn't DREAM of lumping this onto them NOW! The obligation came in the form of making the Doctors vulnerable to a lawsuit if it could be proven that a driver in their care who caused a serious accident, had in-fact been diagnosed as severe OSA but wasn't reported to MTO for "monitoring". Although they grudgingly give-way, many PHP"s have begun protesting this issue by signing off with a totally-true and fact-checked statement that "No Studies have definitively shown a direct correlation between OSA and sleep deprivation". But despite seeing this over and over again, MTO refuses to change its policy. Though I have no full-time PHP, the one I see the most-often at my preferred walk-up began practicing long before the Pandemic. Not sure what MTO does NOW with newer Doctors, as they are SIGNIFICANTLY busier and stressed-out with many other equally-important issues.

Cheers

Left_Turners_R_Toast