How may I overcome OSA to get my UK driving licence back?

My guess is that the stoma could be sealed during aquatics. (but only if upper airway remains usable)
Otherwise, the stoma would have to remain clear for breathing (do they make a snorkel for that?)
Another thing: the stoma bypasses the normal immunity defenses of the upper airway,
increasing the likelihood of infection of lungs or bronchi.
If you can get the surgery, it is higher maintenance than our machines and masks.
You will need to be fully informed before you sign, and be ready for the special care needed--for the rest of your life.

Did you know it is a crime nowadays to cyberbully and harass people online? People go to prison for that now. There are federal and state laws regarding cyberbullying, cyberharassment.

Id be careful what you say to me...

Eric

guest99 wrote:guest99

Guest wrote:

SuddenlyWornOut45 wrote:It is called tracheostomy. It is considered a last ditch treatment for obstructive apnea here in the USA, but if done correctly, "cures" obstructive apnea but not central or mixed apnea.

If you have the surgery, you cannot do aquatics anymore because you can drown. The water enters the stoma hole and goes right into your lungs and you have no control over it. To me it is the main disadvantage to this surgery.

And yes, this surgery only works for purely OBSTRUCTIVE sleep apnea. Such as a very narrow airway, obesity and so on. It wont work for you if you have mixed sleep apnea or central apneas and Ive even read the surgery can make central apnea patients worse. I dont know the mechanism as I am not diagnosed with mixed or central apnea so I have not read up on the details.

Stay away from ANY sedating medication, prescription or OTC. Also become a teetotaler...booze is the worst drug for worsening sleep apnea it makes your airway collapse in your sleep. Booze just it the worst for OSA. If you are on ANY sedating medication, I'd get off of it. If you take anti-hypertensives, I'd get on one that is not sedating. For example ACE Inhibitors are not very sedating compared to beta blocker blood pressure meds. Beta blockers are very sedating. Anything you can do and it adds up.


I really botched previous post.........
Eric.. Didn't know that you were a doctor able to prescribe or tell patients what or what not to take........

[quote="SuddenlyWornOut45"]Did you know it is a crime nowadays to cyberbully and harass people online? People go to prison for that now. There are federal and state laws regarding cyberbullying, cyberharassment.

Id be careful what you say to me...

Eric


]

Eric, you need to develop some thicker skin. Nothing stated here would be considered bullying of any sort. If you are going to post something, be prepared for a rebuttal, expect ally when your posts can be misleading. For example, the normal surgeries for sleep apnea have a very low success rate and their definition of success is only a 50% reduction. For people like me, that would still leave me in the severe category while cpap gets me an ahi of less than 1. Also, many people find that the effects of the surgery last only a few years and then the sleep apnea is back again.

The only surgery that can really cure sleep apne is the tracheostomy. But who really wants to go to that extreme?

zoocrewphoto wrote:
The only surgery that can really cure sleep apne is the tracheostomy. But who really wants to go to that extreme?

No kidding Zoocrew! Sheesh...

SuddenlyWornOut45 wrote:Did you know it is a crime nowadays to cyberbully and harass people online? People go to prison for that now. There are federal and state laws regarding cyberbullying, cyberharassment.

Id be careful what you say to me...
]

This comment got me to thinking. Which jurisdiction would cover the comments made on this website? The country or state where cpap.com is located? Where the posters are located? Personally I don't see any evidence of cyber bullying or cyber harassment on this thread, However I did look up US state laws on the subject. Not every state has laws related to this, but I did look up a few states and they all seem to relate to schools and schoolchildren.

SuddenlyWornOut45 wrote: Stay away from ANY sedating medication, prescription or OTC. Also become a teetotaler...booze is the worst drug for worsening sleep apnea it makes your airway collapse in your sleep. Booze just it the worst for OSA. If you are on ANY sedating medication, I'd get off of it. If you take anti-hypertensives, I'd get on one that is not sedating. For example ACE Inhibitors are not very sedating compared to beta blocker blood pressure meds. Beta blockers are very sedating. Anything you can do and it adds up.

Eric

Thanks Eric for your message,

I take you points about medications, booze, and Beta blockers.
I had been aware that a couple of social beers in the evening in a pub increased my snoring and since starting on my APAP have stopped that once a week occasion and am now becoming a teetotaler.
I will make an appointment with my GP to discuss the potential effect of Beta blockers on my OSA treatment.

My sporting and medical history:
BMI has been in the heathy range all my life.
I had been a very active runner, SCUBA diver, swimmer, snow skiier, cyclist and windsurfer since the 80's.
My blood pressure suddenly increased from normal to alarmingly high readings in 2002.
This resulted in me having an echocardiogram and a consultant cardiologist informing me that I had trivial apical systolic murmur (due to mitral valve insufficiency), borderline first degree heart block and borderline left ventricular hypertrophy.
Since then the health of my heart has declined, my pulse is capped at 90bpm but I still cycle moderately, keep on windsuring and work out moderately in the gym.
As a result of the decline in the heath of my heart I am now taking prescription drugs daily:
1. An angiotensin-II receptor antagonist, Olmesartan medoximil, to control my blood pressure
2. A beta blocker, Bisoprolol fumerate, to slow down my heart beats, stop my heart muscles working too hard, cap my maximum pulse rate and control my paroxysmal atrial fibrillation
3. An antiarrhythmic agent, Flecainide acetate, to control my paroxysmal atrial fibrillation
4. An anticoagulant, Warfarin sodium, to lower the risk of thrombosis.

Mike

Due to the number and type of RX drugs you take, I doubt a tracheostomy would be prescribed--except in an emergency.

Hi, are you aware that atrial fibrillation is very often a direct result of OSA? And that BP is likely to drop once on Cpap? I mention those because you're on meds for them and I'd want to get them checked out once you've been on Cpap for a while as your need for the meds might change (for the better), plus I'd want to talk to the doctor about possible effects the meds could have on your sleep - i.e. anything that depresses your system can be counterproductive to benefitting from Cpap, and by the same token so can anything that artificially stimulates it - something others have had to tweak, such as taking stimulant meds in the a.m. instead of at night, etc.

A lot of those cardio drugs you listed cause sedation/tiredness/fatigue. You also mentioned you are an active person. Yet you have serious heart problems and OSA? I could see having OSA and still being active, I still do stuff physically strenuous and I have OSA. But no heart problem (that I am aware of).

I take an ACE Inhibitor and dont find it sedating, myself. On the other hand Ive tried beta blockers and calcium channel blockers and diuretics a few times and found they sedated me.

Your situation sounds like a scenario for real life interactions with a good MD. Or maybe several MDs. Too bad you have to deal with that reportedly slowwwwwwww UK socialized medicine system. Hopefully it will not get like that here in the USA. I dont think it will, Americans are too impatient and high pressure.

Socialism really does suck, wow I feel for you.

Eric

Eric - that was a terribly presumptuous and insulting thing to say about someone's country! If they didn't like it they would have voted it out long ago, just as us Canadians (and 99% of the rest of the world ) have kept similar programs for so long. Calling billions of people 'socialists', as if the so out-of-date American knee jerk label makes them all baaad, is ridiculous and just makes you look immature and provincial. If you disagree with a program or policy somewhere else besides the U.S. there are lots of ways to debate the merits without resorting to that. There's nothing intrinsically wrong anyway with making sure all of your country's people have good access to medical care... no one's saying you cannot still be economically, socially, politically conservative (or capitalist) otherwise. My rant for tonight.

Bottom line this is about metabolic health.

Personal trainer.

Dietitian.

Learn how to take care of your self.

If you can download SleepyHead and establish several times a week feedback on therapy.

Regardless, move away from pollution (including pharma), learn to eat well, learn to move well.

Long term that is your hope.

Todzo wrote:Bottom line this is about metabolic health.

Personal trainer.

Dietitian.

Learn how to take care of your self.

If you can download SleepyHead and establish several times a week feedback on therapy.

Regardless, move away from pollution (including pharma), learn to eat well, learn to move well.

Long term that is your hope.

I agree and have adhered to much of the above during my life.

However what evidence do you have that pharma (when prescribed responsibly by NHS GPs) is something to move away from?
Are you claiming that people in their 70s like me who have been prescribed drugs to control their blood pressure and other related cardiac problems may safely move away from those prescriptions?

(I have statisitics and graphs produced from all of the 10 days I have been using my APAP and progress is looking good having discussed the first 9 nights' records with my NHS consultant.
Last night, my 10th night, I had no obstructive apneas and only two 12 minute Centrals.)

You sometimes have to take Todzo with a grain of salt... just a bit fixated on nutrition being 'the' answer for everything! And whatever you do don't act on anyone online telling you to stop taking cardiac (or any other) meds unless you hear many, many more people saying why you should do it and then present it all to your doctor to see what he/she says.

SuddenlyWornOut45 wrote: Socialism really does suck, wow I feel for you.

Eric

I'm afraid that you are Ill informed if you believe that there has been Socialism in the UK in any of the last 20 years. None of the leading political parties are Socialist.
In general the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties focus more for the welfare of the population but less on the economy. The Conservative party focuses more on the economy and capitalistic values than it does on the majority of the less weathy sectors of the population.

The National Health Service is struggling to cope with the increasing demand from the population especially as people are living longer. It was set up post 2nd World War to provide basic medical care to people at nocharge at the point of delivery.
Despite its alleged inefficiency in some hospital trusts, anyone in need of getting critical care for a life threatening situation is generally treated swiftly.

The UK NHS is significantly different from health care services in the USA where if you can't afford to pay you generally get poor or no care.
I do though agree that the taxes levied to fund the NHS have not been sufficient to maintain a service that increasingly has been required to provide so much more than basic care with the introduction of expensive sophistated technology and phamacological products.
Many of us here in the UK should pay more into the NHS and there needs to be a comprehensive review to detemine how the NHS should countinue to be funded effectively.