Had my first appointment today :)

[ElleCee]

I saw the doctor at East Grinstead today and he was very nice.
He said that the oxymetry test that I had done in East Surrey does not give a reading of the aponeas just the dips in oxygen so the report I had was not definitive. He did say that my readings were high so putting me on cpap was the right thing to do.
He went on to say that a setting of 18+ was probably too high and to lower it to 10.
I am going back for my first ever proper sleep study on the night of the 3rd March so the results should be interesting.
I gave him the Sweepweaver promotion pack from Intus and he was suitably impressed so I suggested he call James to find out more about it and to talk about the hospitals new supply of Resmed machines. Do you think I could ask for commission? LOL
He also gave me some filters that I can cut to size because the one I have been using for a year is really grim. TF, do you still want it to check the size?
I feel quite positive after having been there today
Lorraine

[Berneta]

Follow Up

Hi Lorraine, sounds like you are comfortable with the new Dr--that means a lot. I'm glad to get the update, and hope you will give us a follow up in March on your sleep study. I am glad he reduced your pressure to 10--since you have been wondering if you still need it, or not. I think if you needed the 18+ you would know it. Mine is set at just 8---but goes up to 20 if I need it. If the blast doesn't wake me instantly-- an alarm does. I've only had that happen a couple times---woke feeling short of breath and with hair blowing in the wind. Mine is almost always at 8 if I happen to wake. I am sure you will find the lower pressure more comfy. It sounds like you are doing good---so good luck on the sleep study. x Berneta

[Tigers Fan]

18+ ?????????

Jeesh, Lorraine

Have you really been running at 18+ ? Please remind me - is that the max setting on your APAP or the constant setting on your CPAP?

We talked about reducing your pressure ages ago, after you lost weight. How can it still be at 18 ??? I'm reeling in surprise here!!

Thanks for remembering the filter - but no thanks - James sorted me out ages ago. And again at Xmas!

How yeuky is a year old filter? On a scale of 0 to 10 will do, thanks!

Great to know you are in good hands at last.

TF

[ElleCee]

Hiya,
Thanks Berneta, thanks for the comments

TF,
My machine is a cpap and it does go up to a maximum of 20
Originally I reduced the pressure to 10 but it made no difference to the number of times I wake up and then the nurse at the hospital said that if it wasn't stopping the apnoeas at 10 or 16 to up it to 18 so I did.
The filter isn't yucky just grey, I do give it a blow occasionally to get rid of the loose dust. I was never sure what else to do with it as they can't be washed.
I have to have 2 of the Fischer and Paykel (?) filters side by side but at least they are clean!

Lorraine

[Sparticus]

Loraine, if your preasures are varying so much why dont you ask for an apap at least then you wont have to keep changing your preasure as the machine will do it for you

[ElleCee]

Hi Sparticus,
I did ask for one but they don't use them at all, so absolutely no chance of getting one unless I buy it myself and unfortunately at the present time I haven't got the money. They don't even use them in the hospital to calculate what pressure you might need the cpap on. Neither do they have machines with EPR or the equivalent.
Basic I know but at leat they do do a proper sleep test unlike the previous hospital I was under.

If I win the pools.... but that is not going to happen either cos I don't do them! Not even any rich old aunts to leave me any money

Happy days
Lorraine

[ElleCee]

I had my first sleep study on Thursday night. No one warned me how horrible it would be!
The machine strapped to my chest was so uncomfortable and my boobs are now a lovely mauve colour
They put the machine on whilst standing up but when I layed down it dug in so much, no position was comfortable. The wire connectors on the side of the machine were designed for men. I tried stuffing my (clean) knickers between the machine and my boobs just to lessen the pain but it was pretty futile. The band under my arms was digging in all night.
When I was asked on a score of 1-5 how I had slept there was no hesitation in saying 1.
The sleep centre is on a busy road and my room was at the front and there was no double glazing so the traffic noise was horrendous.
I barely managed to get through the day at work yesterday.

They promised breakfast in the moring but that was a lie.

Oh and the best bit of all !!!!
I get my results.... wait for it..... in 3 months!!

I was excited at having the test but now feel it was all such a big let down.
No wonder the health service is in such a bad way, all I really need is the findings of my test, I dont need equipment, just a phone call would suffice.

Happy days!
Lorraine

[jackyk]

awwww how awful. i too had the embletta test but collected the machine from hospital with a lesson on how to connect it , wherre to put wires etc. they dont adapt much for women do they lol.
hopefully it will give you some answers. it might have been a better study than you thought. fingers crossed for you

[Tigers Fan]

Poor you!

Hi Lorraine

What a let down! and wounded, too. That's even worse than Southampton - and three months to wait is nonsense ('only' two here!).

Only thing for it is to put hubby out to (more) work and have an Intus done-in-a-day-or-two sleep study.

What is the NHS mind-set that says three months is a reasonable wait for test results??? And for newbies, the NHS must know they are leaving people to drive lawfully for those three months, let alone suffer ill health and lose jobs. Oh yeah! - not their problem.

TF

[Berneta]

Sleep study

Lorraine you poor thing! I can't imagine what you must have gone through with that band over your breasts! Here in the states they put an elastic (Not too tight) band around the chest on women--but below the breasts and over the pj's. They say that is the ideal place to measure breathing in the chest and diaphram action on women. I don't see how you could have had an accurate test with all that noise and discomfort. Sometimes I wonder where those people get their training or how they expect people to sleep-- it seems they know very little about what they are doing. Hope you recover quickly. Soooo sorry you had to go through that. xx Berneta

[martin]

matching colours

Hi Lorraine, sorry you had a lousy time... re the colour changes to personal portions of your anatomy. I remember you were so proud of the pink sleepweaver , are you trying to get other bits to match?

[ElleCee]

Hi Y'all,
Thanks so much for the replies.
I had to take my pj's top off for them to fir the machine, though thinking about it, it would have been no different if it had gone ovre them, guess they are just sadistic!

I am going to ring the consultant in 2 weeks time to see if they can at least tell me if I should still be using the cpap and at what pressure.
I used it last night for a couple of hours but gave up so that I could at least get some sleep. I have gone backwards not forwards over the last few days.

Martin,
I am not sure if mauve and pink go well together, I certainly wouldn't accessorise my lovely pink car with mauve fluffy dice or steering wheel cover!

Thaks again for the support.
I am now going to try and catch up with all the posts, it may take a while..

Lorraine xx

[Tigers Fan]

Stretch mauve into purple into cerise and a whole new world of erotic pinks opens before you.

[Sparticus]

The Dark Ages?????

Are you people living in the modern world??? What machine and what Boobs? I dont understand this at all not to be to insensative but how the hell did your boobs get it???

At our sleep lab, there is no machine. Your shown to your room for the night which has no windows is totally sound-proofed and very comfortable, then your hooked up to about 40-60 electrodes that come out of the wall and wired from head to your toes, then after calibrating its lights out and off to sleep but about this time you want the loo so its time to shout for the bottle or bed pan lol

Or do they just bring you a bucket in England..??

[jackyk]

embletta ? this is what i used lol, felt like an idiot all wired up and was uncomfortable too