New & don't know what to expect

Hi, i'm new to this sort of thing an new to the medical condition called obstructive sleep apnea, i was diagnosed on Fri the 5th December after having a home sleep study, had to surrender my driving licence
I have an appointment on Monday 22nd Dec for a CPAP trial and do not know what to expect and also how long will it be before i get my license back, any advise would be great.

OSA does more than steal away your license. It steals away your money, it steals away your breath, it steals away your life.

Lucky for you ... you found your way here! Nice forum members will help you get your life back by getting your breath back. The money and license ... you may need a different forum for that -- but you never know, there are lots of resourceful people on this firum.

Good luck and welcome!

CDL?

So sorry you had to surrender your driver's license. Where are you located?

I didn't know the cause at the time, but I had to leave a very good job that was a little more than an hour commute each way because I would get so sleepy while driving. It just got to be too dangerous. My condition worsened to the point where I had to fight going to sleep while driving my son to school in the morning. I thought medication I was on was making me sleepy, but my doctor said it shouldn't be making me that sleepy and suggest I might have OSA. The condition became very severe before I finally scheduled a sleep study.

I'm on C-PAP therapy now and on the right track. You're on the right track too. There are lots of wonderful people that are glad to share their knowledge and experiences! Glad you found the group!

Wow! That's frightening. I didn't know that you could lose your license.

rwalker wrote:Hi, i'm new to this sort of thing an new to the medical condition called obstructive sleep apnea, i was diagnosed on Fri the 5th December after having a home sleep study, had to surrender my driving licence
I have an appointment on Monday 22nd Dec for a CPAP trial and do not know what to expect and also how long will it be before i get my license back, any advise would be great.

Which license? Which state? DOT?

Try to relax for the sleep study and let the technicians take over.

As soon as you can, watch the first one of these and then read the other two:

sleeplabvideo

http://www.raleighneurology.com/special ... _poly.html

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.h ... ep_Lab.htm

Thanks for the welcome, sounds like i have come to the right place for some info, I am in Newark UK

rwalker wrote:Thanks for the welcome, sounds like i have come to the right place for some info, I am in Newark UK

You have, indeed. Sleep apnea is a world-wide issue, and there are people from all over here. I'm a newbie at using my Bipap, less than two months. But it's gone so much smoother for me for having found this Forum just after diagnosis.

And for a great visual understanding of what OSA is check out this video -

http://www.resmed.com/en-us/clinicians/ ... 40x380.swf


And I think some people have gotten a spare license from a box of these ...

The lone Ranger !

You'll have to check out the specifications where you live, but surely there is a means of getting the license back if you can prove your are compliant with your treatment. All the more reason to do whatever it takes to make the treatment work for you and as quickly as possible. You are in the right place for learning ways to help yourself adjust. I know that where I am there are facilities that can test people in question to see if they are safe to drive. But maybe compliance is all you'll need. Hope you let us know how this unfolds for you.

I will let you know, i need my license for the job i do so will do all i can to make the CPAP work

Since you are in the UK, you have to either deal with NHS or go private pay. We don't hear a lot of positive things about the NHS from the visitors here from the UK. You might want to search the board for NHS and read stories of other UK members.

Since you have to have the license for your job, it is some kind of commercial license such as a trucker would have? That is what I asked above not realizing you were in the UK.

If you are already not considering private pay, you might want to spend some time investigating that option.

I will have a look, the license is a simple car license believe it or not, medical rules state for a car license that if you are diagnosed with OSA you must surrender your license until their is a satisfactory control of the symptoms and this must be confirmed by a medical opinion, bit of a

rwalker wrote:I will have a look, the license is a simple car license believe it or not, medical rules state for a car license that if you are diagnosed with OSA you must surrender your license until their is a satisfactory control of the symptoms and this must be confirmed by a medical opinion, bit of a

WOW - you have to surrender your license if you're diagnosed with OSA. However, people could be suffering with OSA, never have it diagnosed, therefore never properly treated - THEY are the bigger hazard on the road!

Here's hoping you get your symptoms under control and get it confirmed quickly so you can get your license back!