recently diagnosed sleep apnoea
Question:
Hi people I have been recently diagnosed as having sleep apnoea along with chronic sinusitis and orbital sinusitis. I have been referred to ENT and the sleep disorder clinic – the time scale bing 6 mths for the sleep clinic and 4 mths for the ENT. Can anyone give me advice to ease the problem of the sleep apnoea in the meantime – this is getting desparate as ‘work’ are monitoring my absence level (increasing due to repaet infections) and my productivity levels (dropping fast due to exhaustion) !!! TIA Adrian tssf – West Yorkshire, UK — Technical Support, BlackFlag Associates Tertiary, Society of St. Francis, Church of England. Grandfather & Civil Servant Governor, St Chad’s Aided Primary School
Response:
On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 09:56:18 +0100, Adrian Haigh-Hutchinson – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -<kadu.fl…@zetnet.co.uk> wrote: >Hi people >I have been recently diagnosed as having sleep apnoea along with chronic >sinusitis and orbital sinusitis. >I have been referred to ENT and the sleep disorder clinic – the time >scale bing 6 mths for the sleep clinic and 4 mths for the ENT. >Can anyone give me advice to ease the problem of the sleep apnoea in >the meantime – this is getting desparate as ‘work’ are monitoring my >absence level (increasing due to repaet infections) and my productivity >levels (dropping fast due to exhaustion) !!! >TIA >Adrian tssf – West Yorkshire, UK
You *may* be able to reduce the amount and effect of apnoea events by a) making sure that you don’t sleep on your back and/or b) sleeping propped up or in a reclining chair. One method of avoiding laying on your back is to have a tennis ball sewn into the seat of your shorts/pyjamas. Mileage may vary on this. There is not a great deal beyond this that does not involve medical intervention. Would your GP prescribe some more effective antibiotics to at least help with the sinusitis fo rthe time being? How supportive is your employer? Are they prepared to write to your doctor etc. in support of the necessity of your position? Presumably these are timescales for NHS treatment. Have you looked at alternative locations.? Have you looked at private treatment and do you have medical insurance at all? Going this route would reduce your waiting time to weeks at the most. Given the seriousness of the situation, I would find a way to do that if the NHS can’t be squeezed into action. Without in any way wanting to increase your burden, you mention that you have been diagnosed as having sleep apnoea. Was this from a sleep test carried out by a specialist or is this the strong suspicion of your GP? One thing to be aware of is that in the UK, it is a criminal offence (potentially punishable by a custodial sentence) to continue driving if you have been diagnosed with certain types of sleep disorder and they are not being treated. You are required to inform the DVLA and your insurer. Suffice it to say, if you have been diagnosed and have not done these things then you are in a precarious legal position. Your comment that you are becoming exhausted is a pretty strong clue. Try out the Epworth Test (a questionnaire) and answer the questions honestly or get someone else to score you. You can find this easily on the internet. Anything greater than 10 and you have a problem. If it’s that the GP has referred you, then technically you are in the clear with the DVLA on sleep disorder, but if you are driving when you know that you are sleepy, then this is not a good situation as the driver in the Selby crash discovered – you can still be in trouble. However, it is possible that the driving issue could be turned around. Do you need to be able to drive for work reasons? If so, again coming back to your employer, if this is necessary then being able to go back to the doctors etc. and say that your livelihood depends on earlier treatment may help. Assuming that you do have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, then as you will have read, CPAP therapy is the treatment of choice in most cases. For this to work, you ideally need the sinus problem to be addressed as well. In some cases, CPAP actually improves the situation with sinuses. .andy To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
Response:
The message <k35nf01pudtnh2hk5f5o3j7el3aeu0s…@4ax.com> from Andy Hall <an…@hall.nospam> contains these words: snip… > You *may* be able to reduce the amount and effect of apnoea events by > a) making sure that you don’t sleep on your back and/or > b) sleeping propped up or in a reclining chair.
tried raising my pillow but fell off !! am looking at using combinations of pillows. > One method of avoiding laying on your back is to have a tennis ball > sewn into the seat of your shorts/pyjamas. Mileage may vary on this.
??? > There is not a great deal beyond this that does not involve medical > intervention. Would your GP prescribe some more effective > antibiotics to at least help with the sinusitis fo rthe time being?
Diagnosis of sinusitis/orbital sinusitis was by A&E Eye Clinic – GP only saw me when I was off for over the 7 days self-certification !! > How supportive is your employer? Are they prepared to write to your > doctor etc. in support of the necessity of your position?
Have been referred to the external medical support (BMI) for investigation – they should write to Respiratory consultant who confirm diagnosis of sleep apnoea & sinus problem. > Presumably these are timescales for NHS treatment. > Have you looked at alternative locations.?
Not yet – am checking into my medical insurance docs … > Have you looked at private treatment and do you have medical insurance > at all? Going this route would reduce your waiting time to weeks at > the most. Given the seriousness of the situation, I would find a way > to do that if the NHS can’t be squeezed into action.
Timescales for the sleep clinic won’t change going private as there is only 2 beds in West Yorkshire for the clinic to use for assessment and treatment. > Without in any way wanting to increase your burden, you mention that > you have been diagnosed as having sleep apnoea. Was this from a > sleep test carried out by a specialist or is this the strong suspicion > of your GP? One thing to be aware of is that in the UK, it is a > criminal offence (potentially punishable by a custodial sentence) to > continue driving if you have been diagnosed with certain types of > sleep disorder and they are not being treated. You are required to > inform the DVLA and your insurer. Suffice it to say, if you have > been diagnosed and have not done these things then you are in a > precarious legal position.
[1] Diabetes consultant at annual review at hosptial asked me about any problems – explained about continual tiredness and falling asleep in afternoon (4pm onwards at that time), both at work and on bus home. [2] Don’t drive now as awaiting retest re diabetes 
(( > Your comment that you are becoming exhausted is a pretty strong clue. > Try out the Epworth Test (a questionnaire) and answer the questions > honestly or get someone else to score you. You can find this easily > on the internet. Anything greater than 10 and you have a problem.
Will try this. > If it’s that the GP has referred you, then technically you are in the > clear with the DVLA on sleep disorder, but if you are driving when you > know that you are sleepy, then this is not a good situation as the > driver in the Selby crash discovered – you can still be in trouble. > However, it is possible that the driving issue could be turned around. > Do you need to be able to drive for work reasons? > If so, again coming back to your employer, if this is necessary then > being able to go back to the doctors etc. and say that your livelihood > depends on earlier treatment may help. > Assuming that you do have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, then as you will > have read, CPAP therapy is the treatment of choice in most cases. > For this to work, you ideally need the sinus problem to be addressed > as well. In some cases, CPAP actually improves the situation with > sinuses.
Saw Respiratory consultant on 010704 (referred to him by Diabetes consultant as he could not refer direct to sleep clinic) [1] small jaw and narrow airway – therefore will have problems with any infections re breathing during waking periods as well. [2] chronic sinusitis means that the airways restricted during recurrances of infection – increased problems re sleep apnoea Thanks Andy – I’m chasing an updated appointment for ENT (given 25 October 2004 at the moment). January 2005 for sleep clinic (if I’m really lucky). I’ll look at the info and see how it goes – the depression is rearing it’s head again and *that* will be a major problem. adrian tssf — Technical Support, BlackFlag Associates Tertiary, Society of St. Francis, Church of England. Grandfather & Civil Servant Governor, St Chad’s Aided Primary School
Response:
On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:03:16 +0100, Adrian Haigh-Hutchinson – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -<kadu.fl…@zetnet.co.uk> wrote: >The message <k35nf01pudtnh2hk5f5o3j7el3aeu0s…@4ax.com> >from Andy Hall <an…@hall.nospam> contains these words: >snip… >> You *may* be able to reduce the amount and effect of apnoea events by >> a) making sure that you don’t sleep on your back and/or >> b) sleeping propped up or in a reclining chair. >tried raising my pillow but fell off !! am looking at using combinations >of pillows. >> One method of avoiding laying on your back is to have a tennis ball >> sewn into the seat of your shorts/pyjamas. Mileage may vary on this. >???
If you have a tennis ball under your backside, you won’t lay on your back for long, is the theory. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->> There is not a great deal beyond this that does not involve medical >> intervention. Would your GP prescribe some more effective >> antibiotics to at least help with the sinusitis fo rthe time being? >Diagnosis of sinusitis/orbital sinusitis was by A&E Eye Clinic – GP only >saw me when I was off for over the 7 days self-certification !! >> How supportive is your employer? Are they prepared to write to your >> doctor etc. in support of the necessity of your position? >Have been referred to the external medical support (BMI) for >investigation – they should write to Respiratory consultant who confirm >diagnosis of sleep apnoea & sinus problem. >> Presumably these are timescales for NHS treatment. >> Have you looked at alternative locations.? >Not yet – am checking into my medical insurance docs …
Most will pay for a sleep study but if you require CPAP equipment afterwards you either have to wait for availability through NHS or you can buy one tomorrow (budget about
