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Hi, I live near Leeds and saw the consultant in sleep clinic today at st James who has diagnosed osa. He wants me to try Cpap because I have severe fibromyalgia and am barely functioning much of the time. The pain is horrendous. He said he’d make an appointment for me to see a nurse but didn’t say how long that would be. A ballpark would be helpful if anyone knows, just so I can make car related decisions. Hardly seems worth going through the mot and taxing a car that I can’t drive! 

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Hi and welcome Helen.  The wait is different at all clinics, but St James is a very good one.  Most people find that once they're on CPAP their fibromyalgia pain does ease due to the healthy sleep and good oxygen levels.  If you're experiencing daytime fatigue and have been advised to stop driving this is only temporary, and once youo're on good therapy you'll be able to drive again.

At this stage it would be helpful to think about whether you're a mouth breather during sleep, as this will help the clinic to decide which type of mask to give you.

DVLA can be a bit tricky at times, but it is the wait before you get a machine and become compliant that is the biggest problem.

The only way round this is to get a prescription from the clinic and buy your own machine, though these are not cheap.

You can get second hand machines from America from Secondwind (google them) but you still have a mask and other bits to get, unless you ask the clinic if they will supply you with them until you get a machine from them.  Then you could keep the bought machine as a backup machine.  They do break down at the most inconvenient moment.

If you were to but one, go for a machine that is data compatable like the ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset or Philips Dreamstation, the formar being considered to be the better.  However, if yo ask the clinic if they will look after your machine, you may have to go with the make they use, i.e. ResMed or Resperonics (Philips).

Go for an Auto machine if you can afford it.  Otherwise you might have a few months to wait for one.

Some clinics are slow, others are not so bad, but if it is going to be a long wait, buy one if you can afford it.

Phone the clinic and ask how long it is likely to be or you get a machine and make your decision based on what they tell you.

Hi,

I informed the dvla by post using the relevant form they sent me. When the form arrived i was warned that i needed to return it within 14 days! As it takes a week for any dvla letter to arrive i was not amused. Even though i had started treatment and my readings greatly improved it still took them 3 months to confirm that i was ok, it took a month from the time they received the consultants letter! I was at the stage of involving my mp when they finally replied, so expect a long delay, mot your car and then sorn it if you have off street parking,

Regards,

Chris

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