One year in

[gvader]

Well, I had my "one-year on the hose" clinic appointment today.

It's been a mixed year, on the plus side:

• - From diagnosis to treatment only took 6 weeks.
• - I got some nice new equipment from the NHS.
• - I settled in easily and have been able to slap a full face mask to my head and go for 8 hours from the start.
• - I'm nowhere near as sleepy as I was.
• - I no longer snore so my wife is happy

On the minus side:

• - I'm still tired.
• - I've yet to see the huge burst of energy that other people report.
• - I am still adjusting the pressure of my machine up and down depending on how tired I feel or how sore my lungs get.
• - The ResMed machine doesn't record any statistics so I don't know how I am actually doing.

The clinic appintment showed my O2 sats to be 96% and my ESS at 2 so something must be working but my attempt to get an APAP out of them so that I don't have to keep adjusting things failed miserably as they say that they do not issue APAP. WHile they will give them out for a 2 week period so that things can be checked then I will just have to soldier on with the CPAP.

I did finally get a humidifier though so will now have the joys of playing around with rain-out!

[leswaller]

Just out of curiosity, where is your sleep clinic? I am getting near my own 1year MOT and was seriously considering trying to get an APAP out of them when I go, and if we both go to a clinic in the same PCT area I may be wasting my time, but on the other hand if I am successful I will have set a precedent for you

[James @ Intus]

Nice progress there GV. Shame about the APAP but who knows, maybe we'll do a give-away at some stage

Anyone "successfully" on CPAP but still tired should look at a few other areas including:

- Diabetes (Type II mostly)
- Thyroid function (can be done with temperature checks)
- Diet in general (are you actually getting enough energy intake?)
- Other sleeping disorders, restless legs etc. Are there any arousals left?

[gvader]

leswaller

The clinic was at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford and they advised that they only give APAPs out for 14 days maximum. Hope that you have better luck than me

James

Yes I am lucky enough to have OSA and type 2 diabetes, the probems with both has also thrown depression in to the mix.

I did try to wheedle an APAP out of the NHS by pointing out that OSA, diabetes and depression all cause symptoms of tiredness and that without a machine that records statistics and events then pointing the finger at the cause is much more difficult but my please fell on deaf ears.

Looks like I may just have to buy an APAP myself in the near future, you wouldn't happen to know anyone who sells them would you?

[James @ Intus]

No idea I'll keep an eye out.

[leswaller]

Thats bad news I also go to the Churchill. I think we will have to gang up on them.
James - It sounds as if I will be in tbe market for an APAP as well, there must be a source of seconf hand ones somewhere

[James @ Intus]

Until some two years ago, the NHS pretty much only had CPAPs. The APAPs they do have are not, or rarely, handed out so they just haven't entered the market yet (bit like the Top Gear special in Vietnam, where no second hand cars exist at decent prices). Private APAP sales have not been going on too long and probably in too low volume for them to trickle through into aftermarket as well. I don't remember being offered any.

So that kind of leaves you with paying full buck or...

In a couple of weeks (one month max) there will be an APAP coming from Apex, in the same casing. Tiny yet well-stocked in features. It'll probably be the most affordable APAP around. Of course it won't have the "expensive" features like exhalation relief, adaptive pressure monitoring etc. So it depends what you want in terms of functionality, data management etc.

If you think you can drum up some qualified candidates for sleep studies, we can always consider doing some deals of course. Since the two of you are in the same area-ish, maybe you can do a talk at the local town hall about sleep apnoea and refer them to us for sleep studies. We'll be more than happy to then cut you a deal! You'll help the people unknowingly suffering, you'll help us with referrals and we'll help you. Win win win.

On that topic, in the next few months we'll have nice system to organise referrals, based on a lot of customers/patients happily referring friends, colleagues and famliy to us already.

[leswaller]

Good idea James, however from my perspective (being in the NHS) ethically unacceptable as it would be seen as touting for business on behalf of a private health care provider. Its a hanging offence!

[James @ Intus]

As a lot of people searching about osa and diabetes find this thread mention both of them, we have worked together with Diabetes.co.uk to codevelop some informational pages on Type 2 Diabetes and how it relates to Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. Lots of info and references there.