British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

Whilst your asking the questions ask - How long will it take to be issued with a cpap machine if diagnosed ????

Hope the test goes well for you .

Regards,

Thanks NM37, i'll write that one down too. i'm writing all my questions down as i'll probably forget otherwise, my memory has got so bad!

Had my sleep test last night. I had to do it without my snoremender in, so i feel absolutely shattered this morning rather than just tired!!!

I asked about the process and timeframes for getting results, they said they should be looking at the results today and these will be passed on to the specialist who will send out an invite back within about 7 days they said, which is good news. They also said that I may get any treatment (if needed) within 3 weeks. They said that they usually do 4 weeks of sleep tests then 4 weeks of CPAP testing on a rotating basis, so it all depends at which point in that cycle you have your tests as to when you get your follow up appointment.

These 7 days are going to drag!

Another thing that I noticed is that I had massive red lines on my face where the tube had been, these lines took ages to fade away, does this happen with CPAP masks too and is there any solution? I can imagine this being really embarassing at work in the mornings!

With my 'illegal' cpap I had some type of skin reaction to the first cheapo mask so had a red triangle around my nose for a week!!!

I shelled out on a respironics blue gel mask and things are fine now....well, a slight imprint on my face every morning but it soon goes. Luckily I start work early and wear a surgical mask for the first few hours every day that covers it up!!!

The straps might mess with your hairstyle though. I'm usually a number 2 all over these days but I was a bit overgrown last week and ended up with a bizarre strap based hairdo in the mornings.....

It's amazing how it seems that one's brain cells are in one's skin! When you get your regular mask, you'll be able to fit it to your needs and your skin may show some red lines at first but they'll go away once your skin gets used to having something new on it! (I'm not talking about an allergic reaction which is something different and requires investigation.)

Rubbing the area with a moisturising cream can help the blood flow return, thus 'erasing' the mark, but for gents this may be a new procedure along with the CPAP machine!!

If you wash your hair daily in the shower, perhaps a morning shower rather than an evening one might help the overnight shape of your hair! But it's all trial and error and what suits you!

HOWEVER, it CAN take your skin some time to cope with a mask, especially on the 'sweet' spots (bridge of the nose for a start!). There are ways of helping this adaptation, but let us know IF and when you feel you need them. They don't affect everyone.

No wonder people get angry with the NHS, I still haven't received a letter which they said I would receive within 7 days so I called the department direct. They said that the data hasn't even been looked at yet!!! I repeated the time frames I was given previously and was then told "Oh no, that's not true, you've been misinformed". The two nurses that I saw last time were a bit odd, one was staring at a screen, whilst the other one kept on apologising for dropping things and getting tied up in the stretchy bands, the Laurel and Hardy of the nursing world, i thought nothing of it as it could have just been an off day but this has really got me peeved

I wish I'd noted their names because I'd really got my hopes up to find out my results and what course of action can be taken, this has felt like being punched in the stomach and slapped round the face. I've now got to wait at least 2 weeks...

I waited 8 weeks so 2weeks wait is a walk in the park.

You will find they have sent the results off to some foreign place to be looked at somewhere like deep Peru .But they will come back and you will get your result ,just be patient .

Hopefully then you may become a official member of the hoseheads club ,

Take Care,

I wouldn't have been annoyed if they had just told me the truth in the first place. At work we call this 'managing expectations', it's not a hard skill and it avoids people getting frustrated unnecessarily.

I should have expected it really, a pessimist is never disappointed.

No its called The NHS gotta get used to it matey boy !!!!!

Headthrob, I seem to get the impression in your first post that you may have got a little overweight, may I ask how overweight you were when you saw the doc?
Its just that my doc won't refer me as I am almost 1 stone overweight, (as far as BMI goes) and have to lose it before I can get referred to the sleep trial thing.

Hi Debbie, when I first saw my doctor my BMI was 29.1, it has slightly risen since then. This puts me in the overweight category but not in the obese category. He said that he would refer me but that I should try as well to lose a little weight. My GP weighed me again the other week and asked how the weight loss was going so I explained to him the dilemma of being too tired to exercise and he understood.

I also have been seeing him for other symptoms over the past few years and these can be associated with having OSA too, so maybe it was the combination of all these symtpoms that led him to refer me even though i was overweight?

I just tried chasing up information again with the hospital. She said the data has been downloaded, and she said it looks like I'm going to get an invite back to trial for the CPAP. She couldn't give me any timescales though, she did say the specialist will be looking at the data on Monday so that's when an invite will be sent out.

I hope they don't think I'm being a nuisance by chasing up so often, I'm just so keen to feel refreshed and reinvigorated again

Excellent news mate

Don't you dare even go there!! You are a refreshing change from the person who just doesn't turn up for an appointment and doesn't reply to any attempts to contact them!

With OSA it's really important to be pro-active in your health situation. You're in it for the long haul ... and we all hope that we're going to be on this earth until we wear out! I think you've done very well and just hope that the service they offer comes up to the mark!