Live data from Hacker News

How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

aphyr.com

231–240 of 273 posts

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#231

Alternatively, try a low histamine diet. Many people who have been told they need surgery to correct "deviated septum" or need cpap have found their problems go away. Edit: to downvoters - why the closed mind?

> Edit: to downvoters - why the closed mind? Unsolicited medical advice is not appropriate. It suggests that the people suffering from the condition in question have put literally zero effort into solving their problem, when in reality they likely have already heard about and tried every "trick" or "alternative treatment" you're going to suggest. Other common scenarios: * Telling a chronic pain sufferer to "just try…

Let's not conflate "medical advice" with the suggestion on HN that you might want to look into a dietary change. That seems like a form of catastrophization.

If you can fix a problem by changing your diet, is it really a medical problem? Just because it relates to your health or body doesn't mean it's medical.

I know people who have made this diet change and it has changed their lives. They don't snore anymore. They don't need cpap.

If you're curious, look into it. If you're not, you're not.

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#232

Alternatively, try a low histamine diet. Many people who have been told they need surgery to correct "deviated septum" or need cpap have found their problems go away. Edit: to downvoters - why the closed mind?

> Edit: to downvoters - why the closed mind? Unsolicited medical advice is not appropriate. It suggests that the people suffering from the condition in question have put literally zero effort into solving their problem, when in reality they likely have already heard about and tried every "trick" or "alternative treatment" you're going to suggest. Other common scenarios: * Telling a chronic pain sufferer to "just try…

Precisely. My deviated septum had a 90% occlusion to the right nostril.

No diet is fixing that cartilage.

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#233
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have terrible news about systems built on private health insurance (USA): it will still take 666 days to see a specialist, and you will need a referral from your PCP who may also decide they want to see you in person first. This may be its own scheduling nightmare. Then you may find out that your preferred specialist is out of network for your private insurance. The waits are a generally a supply and demand issue m…

I've never had to wait more than a month to see a specialist in the US

Car accident, holding steering wheel, airbag goes off and hyperextends my wrist way back. Thankfully, no tears. But ER does their thing, and I follow up with PCP the next morning, both recommending, and PCP referring me to PT "to start immediately", because I have barely any grip strength in what was my dominant hand.

I couldn't find a PT within 30 miles that could see me within "12-14 weeks".

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've dealt with this many times as a South Asian person and it is very possible they still do actually want money. Most people will not ask in a straightforward manner for money and when you offer to pay them, they act all offended. This is a stupid game that I have no idea how it started where they will pretend to not want the money but will still very obviously want it. This has stumped me, being mildly autistic, f…

It's their culture of saving face. The solution is extremely simple. You tell the person "I was told I had to pay this to release my package but I don't know who or where I pay" while waving the cash around cluelessly. The person will 100% then offer to take it and "handle it from there" under the stupid guise of plausibility.

This. I bribed my way out of many traffic tickets in Southeast Asia by suggesting that because I’m so busy, I’ll pay the cop directly and then he can pay the ticket on my behalf. Worked every time except once, where the guy was a real stickler

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#235
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is worth pointing out that (at least according to the corporate training I have to take every year) this is considered illegal by the US government for a US citizen to do even not on US soil; if the Feds get wind of it and feel like making a point they could throw you in jail, even with an intermediary "fixer".

There were some massive bribery scandals in the late 70s where pretty much entire governments were coopted by US corporates that these laws arose in response to.

Where we get the term "Banana Republic!" for such dispicibles as the DOLE family - who, we only know the white-washed name by their offspring Bob Dole charading as a nice ol' grampa type but a good ol' corporate boy.

--

One of the major scandals associated with the Dole family is the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. Sanford Ballard Dole used his government influence and self-appointed position in Hawaii to push the US toward taking over the islands in the late 1890s. The Dole fruit company in Hawaii rose out of the bloodless Hawaiian coup staged by the Dole and the US government in 1893. Another scandal involved the Dole Food Company, where a jury found that Dole should pay $2.5 million in punitive damages to five workers who claimed they were made sterile by use of a pesticide on Nicaraguan banana plantations in the 1970s.

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's their culture of saving face. The solution is extremely simple. You tell the person "I was told I had to pay this to release my package but I don't know who or where I pay" while waving the cash around cluelessly. The person will 100% then offer to take it and "handle it from there" under the stupid guise of plausibility.

Asian culture never ceases to confuse me. Nothing is ever straightforward. I tried giving a gift to some, as thanks for letting me sleep on their couch. They told me no no no. I asked my friends about it, they told me it's about face. Omg, I get that honor is a big thing, but it makes normal interactions way more complicated.

Well, maybe start by not thinking that there's a singular "Asian culture".

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#237
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes they wouldn't accept it.

You aren’t telling us how it was offered. Openly in front of multiple people, discretely, etc.

Discretely, then my wife tried, then my mom's wife tried and then my wife's cousin who is an immigration cop tried.

I've lived here for 12 years, I know how it works.

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#238
post #39

Yeah try importing a CPAP from the states into Vietnam if you want a real adventure. A $650 cpap machine costs well over $2K here. So I thought I'd import one. Apparently you need a prescription in the states? Ok, get a "prescription" from an online service that basically just asks you if you snore over a video call. Amazing. Buy machine and have it sent to a freight forwarding service. They fuck up the paperwork. It…

I guess random bureaucracy is ok when the treatment in question isn’t urgent.

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#239
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I learned recently that you want a fixer that knows and bribes people where it's customary and expected. Going through lengthy processes deaf to the trigger phrases will make your life, which could be incredibly easy, unbearably hard in many countries.

It is worth pointing out that (at least according to the corporate training I have to take every year) this is considered illegal by the US government for a US citizen to do even not on US soil; if the Feds get wind of it and feel like making a point they could throw you in jail, even with an intermediary "fixer".

You didn't pay close enough attention in class. The US FCPA [0] explicitly allows "grease payments" (which is what we are talking about here) so long as they're not illegal in the country in question.

Grease payments are paid for the purpose of expediting a task that a low-level official is required to do anyway as part of their job, e.g. release a package from customs hell.

The FCPA prohibits bribes which are payments intended to influence high-level decision-makers to make a decision in your favor when they are not otherwise required to do so.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Corrupt_Practices_Ac...

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this. The sleep apnea world is kind of a weird racket; in order to buy $150 worth of electronics, you need to pay a doctor $5000 to interpret the results of a sleep test. Insurance companies require this because they don't want to waste money on electronics if there is no disease that needs to be treated. But of course, the testing costs them more than the devices. (And the devices aren't $150, because t…

> And the devices aren't $150, because they aren't marketed directly to consumers, they're marketed towards insurance companies Apropos of anything else, the newest CPAP machines are relatively sophisticated. They may not be worth the $1,100 they sell for, but definitely more than $150. $500, maybe. > The sleep apnea world is kind of a weird racket; in order to buy $150 worth of electronics, you need to pay a doctor…

That sounds about right. I love your doctor though.
Post reply on HN