My good deed for the day

[symmit]

Met up with a friend I'd not seen for a couple of years the other day. His wife was commenting about lack of sleep due to his snoring sounding like a train running through a station.

Apparently he's snored all his life, and his dad has been on CPAP now for a few years. I told him my recent story and suggested he sees his GP. He wasn't convinced (although she thought it was a good idea).

So I loaned him my oximiter last night and just showed him his overnight readout - then showed him my before and after ones. He's now trying to get an appointment with his GP - and I've pointed him at the Intus website in case he gets fobbed off.

I think that'll count as my good deed for the day, I can now go to work and be mean and grumpy all day knowing that I'm still keeping a balanced demeanour.

[James @ Intus]

Nice one. Indeed, if we all put to use what we know about sleep disorders, we could probably help a lot of people like you just did. You see "them" on the train, at the hairdressers waiting, in their cars, on the plane etc. and you just can't help but think their instant nodding-off, snoring, disturbed breathing, neck circumference and general not-so-healthy look could be signs of untreated OSA.

Would they be offended if they were slipped a little card that just reads "Your snoring could why you feel so tired, visit CPAP.co.uk/youvebeencarded to find out more".

But then again, the PCTs don't want an influx of OSA sufferers as they know the NHS can't handle it so if we listen to them, we ought to remain quiet and let people suffer...

[Richard]

Only trying to help

Hi James,

As we know, a feature of serious, untreated OSA is the mindset that is completely negative to any suggestion that medical treatment may be needed: 'can't be bothered' and 'don't want to know', etc. etc.

A guy with OSA will know there is something wrong, but invariably he will not seek treatment because of this negative attitude that is part of the symptoms, and, if he's a driver, he will want to protect his licence anyway.

We need to be very careful indeed in what we say and how we say it: there are a couple of guys living locally who, I am certain, have OSA and I am trying to help them towards getting treatment. One guy must be around 25 stone and goes to bed every night at 9.00pm and sleeps till 7.00am, never takes exercise and drops off to sleep at the drop of a hat during the day-time. The other, again over-weight, feels utterly miserable and lethargic. At least he has seen his GP, but not referred for a diagnosis.

I have loaned each of them my finger-pulse oxymeter for a week and told them what to look out for and emailed them with OSA-related web-sites (such as this one), but both are sticking their heads in the sand.

As part of my campaign 'Sleep Apnoea and the HGV Driver', I have thought about spending some time in transport cafes and trying to engage the drivers in conversation, drawing their attention towards OSA. However, I might get covered in scrambled egg or tomato sauce for my trouble!

It's a problem, you want to help, but you can't.

[symmit]

Hi James,

As we know, a feature of serious, untreated OSA is the mindset that is completely negative to any suggestion that medical treatment may be needed: 'can't be bothered' and 'don't want to know', etc. etc.

A guy with OSA will know there is something wrong, but invariably he will not seek treatment because of this negative attitude that is part of the symptoms, and, if he's a driver, he will want to protect his licence anyway.

I dread to think how long my snoring has been OSA but I've snored all my life, and had short light sleep all my life. The tiredness and morning hypertension are a recent thing though - and yet my GP thought drugs and exercise were the only answer (for the hypertension and the fattwattiness)

We need to be very careful indeed in what we say and how we say it: there are a couple of guys living locally who, I am certain, have OSA and I am trying to help them towards getting treatment. One guy must be around 25 stone and goes to bed every night at 9.00pm and sleeps till 7.00am, never takes exercise and drops off to sleep at the drop of a hat during the day-time. The other, again over-weight, feels utterly miserable and lethargic. At least he has seen his GP, but not referred for a diagnosis.

I have loaned each of them my finger-pulse oxymeter for a week and told them what to look out for and emailed them with OSA-related web-sites (such as this one), but both are sticking their heads in the sand.


As part of my campaign 'Sleep Apnoea and the HGV Driver', I have thought about spending some time in transport cafes and trying to engage the drivers in conversation, drawing their attention towards OSA. However, I might get covered in scrambled egg or tomato sauce for my trouble!

It's a problem, you want to help, but you can't.

I'd be speaking to local transport managers, getting together with a private healthcare provider and organising an awareness event, arranging screening programmes and demonstrating the simplicity of treatment.

The more I get "into" this and the more people I talk about it with the more I realise this is a simple healthcare issue with a simple therapy and control, and relatively inexpensive (in fact over the long term it's a very cheap therapy compared to the consequences and side-effects of OSA) to treat.

I for one would like to do anything I can do to help.

[Richard]

Hi Symmit,

If you find the thread 'Sleep Apnoea and the HGV Driver' and go through the postings, you will see that it is not as easy as it seems. This is something not spoken about.

The transport organisations (the RHA and the FTA) both know of OSA, but they do not consider it to be their problem. The transport employers will not accept it is their problem, either. So it is never discussed.

OSA can be diagnosed easily enough with a home polysomnography test, but few GPs can even recognise OSA in the first place. It can take anything up to 2 or 3 years for a diagnosis of OSA to be confirmed. And at that point the driver will lose his licence anyway.

Raising awareness is part of the issue and getting drivers to admit their problem is another. Have a look through the posts and if you want to help, then please get in touch.

Richard

[symmit]

It's about time GPs got on the ball. I will change mine soon.

My friend saw his last week and got referred straight onto the sleep clinic on the back of the printouts from the oximiter and his snoring - good result!

If the employers had a better understanding of OSA and less fear of losing licenses (seems they fear a healthy workforce more than they do a fatal accident).

I was on a client's site this week, and one of their office workers was drinking Lucozade all afternoon - fighting sleepiness. He's bigger than me - I wonder if he's going to be the next person borrowing an oximiter!

I used to manage a small fleet (reps and engineers) - never knew anything about OSA - I used to encourage staff to visit there well-person clinic at their own GP twice a year and arranged driver training and evaluations, but had I known about OSA the epworth questionnaire would have been in there with the rest of the paperwork. And there'd have been an oximiter in my drawer.

Just searched fleetnews - not much on there either!

http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/2010/8/11/bid-to-cut-sleep-apnoea-risks/37430/


and this badly written piece of journalism

[Richard]

OSA has to take its place with every other ailment and disease that is trying to create an awareness of its seriousness among the medical profession.

GPs are human, and they have no more time in their day than we have. Every patient has the right to just 7 minutes of their GP's time per consultation. In front of your GP, trying to describe how you feel, he looks at you and listens to what you have to say. You can't put a name to the collection of symptoms that are making you feel so ruddy miserable; and, at first visit, neither can your GP.

'You're over-weight' is a fairly common response. 'Lose some weight and come back in 6 months.' he gives you some diet pamphlets and off you go.

But you feel so 'orrible when you get home, you just can't be bothered. You just want to sit on the sofa and sleep. But you're back in the cab on Monday morning, with the cucumber sandwiches, the tubs of yoghurt and a flask of tea without sugar that your loving wife has prepared for you.

Yes, losing weight is an important feature of overcoming OSA, but it's only addressing the symptoms and not the cause.

The driver would save a lot of wasted time if he took a completed copy of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the Berlin Snoring Test to his GP. Doing that he could pretty well guarantee a referral on his first visit to the GP.

The important thing is to condense as much as possible the time between first becoming aware of symptoms and being treated with CPAP and back at behind the wheel.