Did you have the same?

[jamesbh]

Had a letter from my GP on friday but got in too late to ring. Basically said could i ring at my convinience as Gp has a message he would like to pass on. Not urgent.

Rang them today and they want to do a Liver Function Test Bit scared to be honnest, not sure why they suddenly came out with this. Anyone else had a blood test? Ive been on stardust for one night last week. Was jsut expecting the consultant at the hospital clinic to call me in for results. Instead the respironics team rang up again today and said there was a break in the data for the apnea pad on my finger so having to do it again! This time im having a clip on my ear.

Has anyone else had the blood test?

[leswaller]

Dont know why the blood test for apnea as there is no direct connection, it could be that your GP is just covering a wide range of options for your symptoms

[Tigers Fan]

LFT

I'm not aware that a blood test would tell your GP anything about your OSA but he may well have spotted symptoms that gave him cause for concern.

Are you diabetic? On painkillers? How much do you drink? Use any opiates? Is there a yellow tinge to the whites of your eyes?

An LFT will tell your GP about your liver condition and how well it is functioning.

What is stardust?

Tigers Fan

[jamesbh]

Stardust is a gadget which is delivered to your house, then you sleep with it for one night and gets collected and the data is the used to help diagnose sleep apnea.

The doctors receptionist got it wrong, wasnt a liver test, was a thyroid test.

Couldnt do it, i would say i have a phobea of needles but cant even be in the same room as a needle unless i know 100% its not for me. Took me over 3 months to prepare for my operation It sucks, alot. Havent had tetnus booster or vaccines for holidays. Im that bad at needles, i would prefer to become seriously ill so i wouldnt know a needle was used that go have a jab

Im not happy with respironcs either, the first stardust they sent me was already switched on and ran out of memory, second one, the finger sensor stopped working, and just sent the third one back. Hopefully its done its job this time.

[James @ Intus]

Thyroid makes much more sense as it's directly related with fatigue levels. It's probably worth having that test!

The thyroid function can also be tested via urine but this type of test tends to be favoured by private labs, not the needle-happy NHS. More unconventional even is checking thyroid function by temperature measurements in the morning. Discuss these needle-alternatives with your GP. I'd try and avoid getting seriously ill first as you don't want to have the thyroid taken out! Maybe your needle-phobia can be helped with certain programs too such as NLP.

[Sleep2Snore]

How about getting your needle phobia treated with Acupuncture?

Just kiddin'

[wytco0]

Phobia

Fear is something that's natural and understandable, it is possible to overcome most fears but it can be hard.

I would strongly recommend that you try and get some advice both on alternatives to needles and also to overcoming your fear of needles.

One thing that I have found is that modern needles are very very much less painful that the ones they used to use when I was a kid (in the 60s) and most of the time your really do not feel anything, certainly the type used for jabs but even the ones for taking blood. For larger needles they can numb the area so you should still feel little or no pain.

One thought, if you were unconscious and someone stuck a need in you for your benefit, I think you would be happy, you would not feel anything, so its not the affect of the needle that bothers you its something specific to being injected (or having a needle sample).

If you get the test done you can stop worrying both about the test itself and also about the needle, they will both be over an done with and you will have made progress in dealing with your fear.

Good luck.