hi everyone just joined so not fully aware of how it all works, my wife has been diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnoea a year ago and has been sent from pillar to post with no help at all hospital informed dvla and licence was removed straight away docs are saying they may not even allow her to drive again ????????????? her car is her life and is so sad with out it just come back from hosp and now docs are saying with the new con/lib they will not even fund an operation and we will have to go private? all the info i have read is it not poss that her life may be at risk as a once bubbly mum is now nearly always in tears and i am a nervouse wreck is there any one out that has had the op any feed back would be much appreciated is there any help with transport costs etc etc we feel as if we are fitting the system that is just building brick walls against us

Hi and Welcome to the site ,

What op are you talking about ?????
Why have a op when cpap is the gold standard treatment for osa ???

Theres plenty of posts on this site about operations they never work out and you always end up on cpap.

DVLA - If your compliant with cpap then you will keep your license .

Ask the doctors more questions before you make any hasty decisions.

Regards,

Hi Stevieb,

I don't know what has or has not been done in your wife's case so just follow this through.

Go back to the GP and ask for a sleep study to be done (if not done already).

Once done she should be offered a CPAP machine to supply air under pressure to keep her airways open. If she has not been offered this and has only been to Ear Nose and Throat, ask for a sleep study and ask about CPAP.

It depends where you are and what hospital you have attended as to what advice you were given.

As NM said above, the operation does not work for all and even some of those it does work for it may not be a lasting cure. It does work for a few though, but I would only go down that route as a last resort.

OSA has a few symptoms that go with it but does not affect everyone, or may to a lesser or greater extent:

Daytime tiredness
Forgetfulness
Headaches
High blood pressure
Depression
Increased risk of stroke
Increased risk of heart attack
Confusion

She will loose her licence until she is under treatment (CPAP) and once she complies to the minimum that DVLA require (and no or little tiredness) she should get it back unless there are other reasons why she shouldn't.

The main thing is to get a sleep study done and get her on CPAP/APAP as soon as you can, even if it means that you have to buy the machine in your area. They are quite expensive so get it on the NHS if you can.
CPAP is not easy for all to get used to, but after a period most get used to it and settle down and in fact some find it hard to sleep without the machine after they get used to it.

So go along to your GP and discuss it with him/her if they are up to speed (some still are not as well informed as they should be) and get her a sleep study done and on to CPAP.

Some areas are still difficult to get the correct treatment or have large waiting lists, get your GP on your side to put on some pressure.