Hello all, first post from me

[honkus]

Well, I will start off by saying what a great resource this forum is, I have read many parts of it over the last couple of weeks and thought it was time I introduced myself.

I am male, aged 42 with a BMI of 29.7 which puts me in the overweight category (but it's all muscle, honest ). For a long time now I have occasionally woken up fighting for breath with my heart racing. I visited a doctor 20 years ago with this and was told it was probably stress and not to worry about it.

Over time I have got used to these bouts of waking up and tended not to worry about them, they often occur if I fall asleep on the sofa watching television but rarely when i am tucked up in bed. routine tests about 10 years ago revealed I had high blood pressure but a cause was never discovered and I never received medication for this, it is still on the high side.

My snoring started around my 40th birthday, almost like that had switched it on according to my wife and I have since been snoring every night, before then I would only snore if i had been drinking alcohol.

About a couple of weeks ago these wakings fighting for breath increased again and my wife said that It was happening several times in the night in addition to the ones I was aware of, so it was then that I revisited a (different) doctor and also discovered this forum.

The doctor agreed that it sounded like possible sleep apnea and referred me on to the Hospital at Milton keynes, I am currently waiting for my initial consultation on 4 July.

I do not normally wake up feeling tired but have been doing so more regularly recently, reading on here how long everything takes I decided to buy a finger pulse oximeter so that depending on results I could either pester the hospital / doctor for an earlier appointment or at least take some results with me when I see the specailist.

The oximeter arrived yesterday and the results for last night showed that in 5 hours sleep, (which was all I managed) I had 50 SpO2 events lasting a total of 39.6 minutes, of these events 2 were in the range 99-95%, 46 in the range 94-90% and 2 in the range 89-85%.

whilst the 2 events below 90% seem worrying my own (inexpert) diagnosis is that i can probably afford to wait till my appointment with the specailist in just over 3 weeks, should i be worried about events in the 99-95% range? I realise there is not much to go on here and I can add the full report and chart later if anyone would like to see it and be kind enough to advise.

Thanks for bearing with me, it was quite a useful exercise to summarise everything in one place.

and oops, just spotted that this should of been posted in the introductions thread, apologies and please move if you wish

[Tigers Fan]

Hi Honkus

Nah! you're still alive and 4th July is not far away! You'll survive till then as far as OSA is concerned.

You can raise your survival expecations further by 1. looking out for Americans hiding in bushes when you go to the hospital and 2. not driving till you are on CPAP - or operating machinery.

I like your pro-active approach! You have pretty much confirmed for yourself you have OSA - saw-tooth chart from the oximeter - but, of course, you need a medic to re-discover this for you.

The larger de-sats are not good for you but not fatal, either - as you have proved. The greatest danger to you and others is falling asleep in dangerous circumstances - driving being the most common.

TF

[honkus]

Hi Tiger's fan,

I'm not certain i have confirmed for myself that i have OSA which was why i was asking the question about wether event's in the 94-90% SpO2 range were significant? I certainly have a sawtooth graph but don't know if the spO2 level drops low enough for a medic to confirm OSA.

I have been coming round to the conclusion that if diagnosed then i would probably want to either hire or buy an APAP machine in order to start getting treatment ASAP. so whilst I have no doubt's I can survive till 4 July (as long as I keep away from the bushes and don't fall asleep at the wheel, was wondering if I have already gathered enough evidence to be prescribed CPAP treatment if I were to take the chart to my doctor. i will be doing some more test's over the next few nights.

Interestingly my doctor said I was fine to keep driving but I like to keep my journey's short and only drive when I feel very alert, if diagnosed I would stop immediately

[Fredxx]

As TF said, 3 weeks is not a bad time to wait really, especially given you have been going with this for a couple of years already.

With the delights of the NHS (I am assuming that is who you are going through), it would surprise me if they were to accept your own oximeter results as sufficient evidence to say it is OSA, although I am sure they will take it into account when they move into the diagnosis.

Just as useful is to get hold of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale questionaire and Berlin questionaire, and take the information from these with you. These will give a lot more information about how it is affecting you, which is more important than actual number of times you stop breathing, although from your figures of 48 or 50 in 5 hours sleep, that is only an AHI of 10, which is in the "Mild" categry

[Richard]

Hi Honkus,

Like Fred says, these are what you need:

Epworth Sleepiness Scale & Berlin Snoring Questionnaire

http://www.sleep-tests.co.uk/index.php

DVLA - Handing over your driving-licence

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/MedicalRulesForDrivers/DG_4022414

If you're diagnosed with OSA you must surrender your driving-licence to the DVLA, then make sure you keep in close touch with them and the clinic that diagnosed you to ensure there are no questions unanswered and you get your licence back as soon as you are responding to treatment.

Richard

[Fredxx]

Technically, you do not need to surrender your licence, but you are required to inform the DVLA and they may then require you to surrender it.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...lA-Z/DG_189498

You only need to do this after you are formally diagnosed with OSA. If you receive treatment (e.g. a CPAP machine) and are compliant (all this means is you are using it 4 hours per night) then you will either not be asked to surrender your licence or if you have already, will get it back.

the "Tiredness can kill" leaflet on there gives some information to work on your conscience if your licence isn't surrendered or if you happen to spend a few weeks filling in the form...

[Tigers Fan]

And if you buy your machine, you can be on treatment before the letter telling DVLA that you suffer OSA reaches them.

BUT you need a prescription to buy a machine. Intus can help you with this - take their home sleep study and become a hosehead two days later.

TF

[Berneta]

Americans hiding in bushes?

Hi TF--why would American's be hiding in bushes over there? Is there something going on over there that I don't know about that would put American's in Bushes? I haven't a clue what you are talking about. xx Berneta