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I'm a little confused and wondered if anyone can offer any advice......

At the moment I am SUSPECTED of being a sleep apnoea sufferer, my wife tells me that I snore very loudly every night and it's so bad she has to wear ear plugs. I feel drained every day even though I may have slept for 8 hours or more.

Last week I attended North Manchester General Hospital where they gave me equipment to conduct a sleep test at home. The equipment consisted of a monitor that I had to wear on my wrist and part of it attached to one of my fingers. They also gave me a tape recorder to record my snoring during the night. The next morning I listened to the tape and I don't know what the noises were but it certainly didn't sound like snoring.

Although my wife is certain that I snore every night without fail, is it possible that I've had a rare good night while doing the sleep test and would the monitor still show signs of sleep apnoea even though I didn't snore?

Do the symptoms of sleep apnoea occur every night? 

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Javed, snoring isn't the only symptom of sleep apnea and some people that have it don't snore, other symptoms but again everyone is different are daytime sleepiness, exhuastion, foggy memory, some under sleep, some over sleep. It's the same as the profile that people have of people with SA, they think it's normally middle aged, overweight men but just as many women have it. It can be hereditary but can also be the luck of the draw. There are 3 types of SA, Obstuctive, where our throats or tongues collaspe over our airway, Central where our brains tells us not to bother breathing and Mixed or Complex which is a mixture of both. Personally I am not in favour of sleep tests at home, they are a cheap method but if you want proper results they need to be in a hospital and fully monitored. My sister had a home sleep study and although it picked up SA it missed another sleep disorder she may have and now has to go for a proper sleep study. With all of this it is expensive but how much money do you put on a good life, hope it helps a bit.

In answer to your question, yes a monitor would detect sleep apnoea without you snoring. Snoring does not necessarily indicate or deny someone suffering with sleep apnoea.

With the symptoms you describe you sound to be a probable sufferer so do see the tests through and let us know how you get on.

Did your home study not have a nasal/oral cannula attached to monitor your breathing Javed?  Most home sleep tests include these, as not everyone has 02 desats with sleep apnoea.  Perhaps they'd hope the tape recorder would capture that.

Like Terry points out, there are pros and cons for the home tests vs lab tests, but here in the UK we aren't always fortunate to have the choice.  Home tests are good because they assess your condition whilst laid in your own bed, but other sleep conditions can be missed.  In an ideal world we'd have one night in a lab and one night at home.

Let us know when you get the results Javed.

Javed, if you are suffering the effects of obstructive sleep apnea such as waking and oxygen deprivation the monitor will show that, quite clearly.

The daytime tiredness despite hours in bed helps steer the diagnosis, lets hope it is something simple like obstructive sleep apnea as treatment is quick and effective.

Thanks for the replies guys. Kath, there was nothing to monitor my breathing during the home test. However, I have received a letter from the hospital today which states that the home sleep test confirmed I am suffering from MILD sleep apnoea and treatment options will be discussed with me at my follow up appointment next week.

Good to hear it was picked up Javed and that you've got an appointment next week.  Let us know how it goes, and good luck!

Good luck, if they offer cpap as an option do gove it a try, inconvenient though it may be it has proven very effective for many of us with the apnoea and thr snoring.

Hi Kath,

I attended my follow up appointment yesterday where it was confirmed I'm suffering from OSA. I didn't take in all the jargon but she said the home sleep test showed I was averaging 15 apnoeas per hour and the night I did the test was probably the best night's sleep I'd had in 2 years lol. I am being given a CPAP machine but I have to wait for another appointment to get it. I don't really understand why this couldn't have been sorted while I was there but hopefully it won't be too long. I have been advised to inform the DVLA but I don't really want to do this until I have started treatment so as to try and reduce the length of time I'm off the road because I rely heavily on using my car, although driving is not essential for my job.

Kath Hope said:

Good to hear it was picked up Javed and that you've got an appointment next week.  Let us know how it goes, and good luck!

Hi Javed & The other posting members.

I too have recently been diagnosed with OSA & was told my machine would arrive in a couple of weeks. However.. it arrived yesterday (6 days later than my follow up appointment) so hopefully you wont have too long to wait Javed. I was given my mask at my follow up appointment & had a few days worth of playing around with it & getting used to it. I had my first nights sleep with it on last night, I had to be up for work this morning at 4.30am, so don't really feel I did it justice & I look forward to a better test tonight, knowing I don't have to be up for work. On the note of the DVLA, Kath advised me NOT to inform the DVLA just yet & Im guessing she meant by waiting to see some results from the machine & if it helps me & Im hoping it shows some improvement, as like you Javed, I rely on my car to commute to work & back.

Anyway Javed, good luck with it all & hope you get on ok with your machine once it arrives.

all the best

Thanks Rob, I too hope you get positive results using your CPAP. This is so weird but I've just found out today that my brother-in-law has also been diagnosed with OSA this week but at a different sleep clinic. He has been told that he won't get his CPAP until 15th May!

The only thing that worries me about not informing the DVLA yet is if I am involved in an accident, whether my fault or not, if my Insurance Company feel the need to ask for my medical records and discover I have just been diagnosed then they could refuse to support my claim. Anyway, I guess I'll have to cross that bridge if it happens but I rarely drive long distances and therefore don't have any sleepiness problems whilst driving.

That's a good service Rob, and hoping tonight is better for you.  Javed, Rob is correct in that I suggest not informing DVLA yet (but obviously cease from driving) as once you're on successful treatment you can then advise them and your clinic will be willing to certify to the DVLA direct that you are ok to drive.  That way, you won't get your licence taken from you and have to wait for it to come back, which sometimes happens.

Let us know how tonight goes Rob, and hope your appointment comes through soon Javed.

You and I were posting at the same time Javed it seems Re the DVLA, if you're continuing to drive now, you must inform DVLA straight away, as if you had an accident and it was discovered you had received a diagnosis and hadn't informed them, then you would be in BIG trouble!!  I didn't inform them until I was on successful therapy, but I made sure I didn't drive either so it wasn't a problem.

Small world eh, finding out your brother-in-law has been diagnosed too?  That's because OSA is actually common, but most people aren't diagnosed yet.  If you check out the post I wrote the other day, you'll see I pointed out we're the lucky ones, as hopefully are future health will be protected from further damage http://hope2sleepguide.co.uk/forum/topics/undiagnosed-untreated-sle...

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