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[roker1]

Hi,

I was recently diagnosed with OSA but the local NHS had no machines due to budget cuts. Anyway I have purchased my own machine an auto APAP and sleepweaver mask. I have been trying it for 4 days, the fact that I have a cold has not helped. However, I have been downloading the data and it seems to be working.
Adjusting the mask every night seems to be an art form. Just how tight do the straps need to be?
Does anybody have some general guidelines that are scientific based, ie reproducible.

[dravidio]

You don't say which APAP machine you have had or give any details about the data? I find it odd that the "local NHS" had no machines. Do you mean the Primary Care Trust? I am not an expert on the NHS - others on this forum are.

What advice were you given when you were diagnosed? The sleepweaver mask is only suitable for nose breathers. How tight do the straps need to be - generally tight enough to prevent major leaking but not too tight so they cause severe discomfort. There is no way that can be measured other than by trial and error.

[Richard]

Hi Roker1

Back in 2008, after determined lobbying by the Sleep Apnoea Trust, among others, the National Institute for Health and Clinical excellence approved the use of CPAP-Therapy as the prime treatment for OSA. This meant that every Primary Care Trust in the country could prescribe the therapy.

In practise, however, that is not the case. budget priorities mean other therapies and medications often take precedence.

You might like to have a look at this:

http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/ServiceSearchAdditional.aspx?SearchType=PCT&ServiceType=Trust

Richard