Severe Sleeping Disorder diagnosis

Procomm

Procomm

Club Member
Jul 10, 2007
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Gradually Decomposing in a sarcophagus of general
Well been a way from the forum for a bit now due to personal issues (nothing to do with the club or it’s members) this pandemic has hit me hard with the company I work for suddenly tripling it’s workload helped along by a piece of Software I helped design called Work from home impact manager. So you can guess how busy I became lol, well this pandemic hit at a time where Gem was getting really anxious about my sleeping, as anyone who has camped at cougarfest in the same field/ county as me will attest I have a minor snoring issue, well that has progressed to me actually stopping breathing whilst I sleep which has worried the he’ll out of Gem, I have also found that when I concentrate I stop breathing so I made an appointment to see the vet and was sent to a specialist. The specialist told me I was Fat and needed to lose weight and would need a test so I was booked in for a test then the pandemic hit, several months later lock down eased I get my referral for test. I have now received the results and I have severe sleep apnoea syndrome, the threshold to become severe is 30 unusual sleep patterns in an hour, my result was 78, I have been advised now to stop driving and I have to notify DBLA and my insurance company. I have to fill out a form for the DVLA but because I have HGV and Bus listed on my license I have a separate form so not sure what will happen at the moment or whether I will have to surrender my license it’s all just a waiting game, just thought I would post up and see if anyone has been diagnosed with the same or knows someone who has?
 
Paul, sorry to hear that, but, I also have the same as you and had similar symptoms, you are correct in having to inform DVLA and your insurance etc, and you will be probably stopped from driving HGV's and busses (as I was) but it should only be for a short time, I was still ok to drive my car, so hopefully you will be ok also, You may have to have some sleep monitoring tests done and you will more than likely be put on a breathing machine to help you breath through the night, it's known as a CPAP machine, it feels strange at night when first used, but you should get used to it, I did.

If you need any more info/help feel free to get in touch and I'll do my best to help....(y)
 
Yes I have sleep apnea syndrome and have used a machine to sleep with for several years now, it transformed my life, constant headaches from lack of oxygen in the bloodstream, terrible snoring and frequent periods of intense tiredness, I too stopped breathing about 20 times a night, I had visited the GP for tests which consists of about 10 questions, because I did not drop off at traffic lights, while talking to somebody or reading he said it was unlikely I had it, this was proved very wrong when I was taken into hospital with a severe allergic reaction to a medication I was prescribed for arthritis, during my week long stay in hospital I was monitored for blood oxygen levels and told I definitely had sleep apnea and must attend a sleep clinic, after a few tests I was given a machine to use during sleep and my health increased rapidly if not overnight, excuse the pun, hes I had to inform DVL, and I was issued a new license as I still had a paper one, provided I attend the follow up appointments at the clinic and the doctor is happy with my progress there is no restrictions to driving a car, the machine has a memory card in it which you take along to the appointment, the doctor downloads the information which gives information on duration of sleep, weather the mask is leaking, etc, he can tell from this how your doing and act accordingly, being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes some time after was a double blow but again manageable with drugs and lifestyle changes, lost 3 stone which has certainly helped, understandably your worried but believe me once your using the machine you will feel so much better. (y)
 
Man, we used to good-naturedly joke about this at 'Fest and MFSMs, but the truth is that it's not funny.

I'm glad that you're getting the medical care and attention that you need and deserve, but the fact you can't drive right now is concerning. I know you're in IT so, are you working from home at the moment so that at least you have a constant income and more sleeping time without the commute?
 
Mako said:
Man, we used to good-naturedly joke about this at 'Fest and MFSMs, but the truth is that it's not funny.

I'm glad that you're getting the medical care and attention that you need and deserve, but the fact you can't drive right now is concerning. I know you're in IT so, are you working from home at the moment so that at least you have a constant income and more sleeping time without the commute?
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yes I work from home Chris and had been taking the train to the office before the first lockdown my biggest issue with not being able to drive is that one of my hobbies is Sea fishing which is a tad hard to do this far inland lol
 
Initially my procomm induced sense of humour kicked in with the irony involved lol :devilish:

However..............hahahahahahaha

Right...........soz lol

Deep breath lol

You remember John the truck driver from mine?

Well he was initially (mis)diagnosed with the falling asleep one (can't remember the name) but had to argue the toss with the specialists summat chronic about the (mis)diagnosis......

Anyway......again, he's using the machine etc and has kept his class 1, but now has full control over it, so if you get 5 ping him a message on messenger.

Hope you get it all settled anyhoo, knew you'd end up writing programs for summat or other tho, hope you're keeping it sane lol

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Procomm said:
one of my hobbies is Sea fishing which is a tad hard to do this far inland lol
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Dude thats like being an avid swimmist in the sahara :devilish: :LOL:
 
TopCat1127 said:
Initially my procomm induced sense of humour kicked in with the irony involved lol :devilish:

However..............hahahahahahaha

Right...........soz lol

Deep breath lol

You remember John the truck driver from mine?

Well he was initially (mis)diagnosed with the falling asleep one (can't remember the name) but had to argue the toss with the specialists summat chronic about the (mis)diagnosis......

Anyway......again, he's using the machine etc and has kept his class 1, but now has full control over it, so if you get 5 ping him a message on messenger.

Hope you get it all settled anyhoo, knew you'd end up writing programs for summat or other tho, hope you're keeping it sane lol

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Dude thats like being an avid swimmist in the sahara :devilish: :LOL:
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dude my sense of humour is what gets me through things lol Narcolepsy is what John was diagnosed with, i am not technically allowed to write code especially as it’s a US company that I work for but I am able to point developers in the right direction :LOL:
 
Wow, sorry to hear of this Procomm. I'm not the most observant around here but I have noticed your absence. Sounds like your on the road to recovery. Judging by the other comments the condition is definitely treatable and normality can be resumed.

Reading the above also makes me realize how firkin lucky I am.

Sea fishing ? I live within a mile or so of the coast. I still aint tempted to get out there with a fishing rod.:eek:
 
Guys, the guidelines are a little bit confusing, I have been diagnosed with Severe Obstructive sleep Aponea but have not yet started any treatment, I am just filling out the form for the DVLA, now do I stop driving until the DVLA tell me I can or do I keep driving till the DVLA tell me to stop?

my paperwork advises me to stop driving until control of my sleepiness is resolved but that is a tad ambiguous
 
Paul, I would try to get to see your GP and ask them what their thoughts were and to ask them to see if they can speed up your test's etc, then go from there, as from my experience, car driving was still allowed, but HGV and PSV were not, until some control of the issue could be proved, ie, CPAP machine to monitor and record info.
 
With me basically I stopped driving when diagnosed and informed the DVLA, luckily I was seen very quickly and given a machine to use when sleeping, the follow up examination was less than a month later and the doctor signed me as fit to drive, DVLA made contact with my specialist.
 
I second the notion of getting your GP's advice if you really need to drive at the moment, but I have a feeling that they're going to say something along the lines of, "Driving tired is as bad as driving drunk. Only you can say exactly what your fatigue levels are, but I'd advise not driving until such time as you're under treatment."

If your license hasn't been suspended yet it's still your call, but you may find that you're doing so uninsured.

And of course once you send that form with that diagnosis into the DVLA, they're going to put the brakes on you sharpish, so it's risk/reward for an extra fortnight of driving at best.

My experience of this isn't personal, but it is first-hand (although from 21 years ago). Whatever happens, it's a treatable condition and I wish you and G all the best!
 
Thanks guys, I have refrained from driving for the past 3 weeks but I have not yet sent the form off, will be in the post tomorrow, had a call from the specialist centre today they have had a cancellation so I now have an appointment tomorrow but no-one to take me and unfortunately it’s a 40 minute drive each way but at least I will have a CPAP machine tomorrow ��
 
Its takes a bit of getting used to, I sleep on my belly so the mask tends to dig in my face a bit but I awake feeling far better than without it, there are full masks and mouth nose ones, I have both an alternate them.
 
Procomm said:
What do you use to clean the mask and tube? Also are those £25 cleaners on eBay worth getting?
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I use antibacterial wipes on the mask and the hose once detached can be washed through with some warm water and disinfectant, not tried those cleaners on Ebay, seen the steam ones but there very expensive.
 
Well I am no longer friends with my postman, today he brought me a letter from the DVLA saying my license is revoked as of today �� as a result Gem has now put me on a sea food diet, I can see it just not allowed to eat it, time to lose some timber and hopefully get on top of this sleep disorder, will have to have a think about what to do with my cars, I think they may have to go short term
 
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