Sleep Apnea & Driving license

[SexyGreyFox]

So in that time you've had no follow up appointments (either in person or by phone) in the intervening years?

I find that odd, I've had four follow ups in the last two years, two in person and two by phone, the last phone one was on Monday and her last comment to me was they'd be happy to report to the DVLA that I'm using the equipment correctly and can keep my licenses, yet you've had no contact at all?

I think at least you should contact the sleep & ventilaton department at Royal Stoke and have a word to see if somehow you've dropped through the net.

None, zero, nada since around October 2020 when I was put on it.
The only one I got was to change the machine because my model was deemed to be faulty so off I went to Ward 76 and the RSUH and waited to be told off - nothing.
All I can think is that between Oct 2020 and Feb 2022 they had dialed into the machine and weren't concerned.
Funnily enough one of my Rocker mates is a sleep and ventilation Nurse and never mentioned it.

 

[Burnsy2023]

My grandfather kept driving right up to going into hospital to have his cataracts done - and that was after a 2 year waiting list to have them done. He refused to stop driving as he said he would lose his freedom. My parents sold his car while he was in hospital. Good job as he refused to drive any faster than 30mph as he claimed he couldnt see anything otherwise.

I have a pile of driving licences ready to send back to the DVLA that have been revoked due to circumstances like this. Unfortunately, some are from very preventable collisions.

 

[Scania]

None, zero, nada since around October 2020 when I was put on it.
The only one I got was to change the machine because my model was deemed to be faulty so off I went to Ward 76 and the RSUH and waited to be told off - nothing.
All I can think is that between Oct 2020 and Feb 2022 they had dialed into the machine and weren't concerned.
Funnily enough one of my Rocker mates is a sleep and ventilation Nurse and never mentioned it.

I had the machine recall also, and like you went off to ward 76 for an exchange machine.

They dial into the machines as a matter of routine but that doesn't mean you don't need a follow up consultation, they have told me repeatedly that they are happy with my treatment and use of the machine but still have to have the follow up as a matter of routine, I'd at least drop them a call if nothing else.

 

[Hodders]

I can't justify it but I can 100% assure you that I have never fell asleep while even sitting in a chair.
Here's the thing, anybody with a CPAP knows that the department can log into the machine any time they want to see the results and they haven't said anything since Feb 2022.
I even swopped the machine last year and expected a talking to but nothing happened so they aren't concerned about me.

I guess it's your decision - but it's not just about falling asleep at the wheel. The sleep foundation cited a study that basically equates 20 hours without sleep has a similar effect as 0.08% blood alcohol (the legal limit in the UK). I imagine that poor quality sleep caused by sleep apnoea must have a very similar effect.

The number of new parents driving around basically "over the limit" must be substantial.

Hope I'm not coming across as too puritanical!

 

[Scania]

One thing I will say is prior to my diagnosis, I would have sworn on my life that I never fell asleep without knowing about it.

After a monitored sleep study, I was doing it multiple times whilst being adamant and wholly unaware that I was dropping off...

This is the problem - and killer - with sleep apnea, it's sufferers don't realise how badly they have it, I know, I'm one of them!!

 

[SexyGreyFox]

One thing I will say is prior to my diagnosis, I would have sworn on my life that I never fell asleep without knowing about it.

After a monitored sleep study, I was doing it multiple times whilst being adamant and wholly unaware that I was dropping off...

This is the problem - and killer - with sleep apnea, it's sufferers don't realise how badly they have it, I know, I'm one of them!!

So you have been studied while you're awake?

 

[Diagro]

One thing I will say is prior to my diagnosis, I would have sworn on my life that I never fell asleep without knowing about it.

After a monitored sleep study, I was doing it multiple times whilst being adamant and wholly unaware that I was dropping off...

This is the problem - and killer - with sleep apnea, it's sufferers don't realise how badly they have it, I know, I'm one of them!!

What sleep study did you do? Must have been bad to get it

 

[booyaka]

Pretty unbelievable some of the responses in here....

the classic - "it won't happen to me" attitude is just unbelievable.

If it was turned round and someone in your family was hit by a motorist/killed by someone who had an illness or notifiable condition and hadn't bothered to declare it - people would be going ballistic.

It's notifiable for a reason - I've no doubt it would turn peoples lives upside down not being able to drive etc - but ignoring the facts/diagnosis or just saying "won't happen to me" is just ridiculous.

Insurance would be voided immediately if you've not declared it to DVLA or your insurers.... So potentially no insurance, no "valid" license etc....

 

[SexyGreyFox]

What sleep study did you do? Must have been bad to get it

I don't know one person who did a study while awake as @Scania has had done.
Not saying it doesn't happen because I used to have a lecturer in the 70s who could be talking and suddenly drop off so Scania must be bad.

 

[Scania]

So you have been studied while you're awake?

Yes, that's exactly what happened, I was in a room with discrete cameras around me , I was asked to read a book for an hour and watch a film for an hour, I thought at most I'd slightly nodded but nowhere near the point of being asleep whereas in reality, having had the footage shown back to me, I was clearly out for many minutes at a time., it was quite unnerving to be honest.

What sleep study did you do? Must have been bad to get it

Yes, I was pretty severe, I had a sleeping study where I was monitored whilst sleeping at night and a wake study as I describe in my post above.

In short, I was stopping breathing for up to 45seconds an average of 50 times per hour, the strain this put on my heart caused me to have two heart attacks on consecutive days (!) the coronary care centre couldn't work out why I'd had them until I mentioned that I'd recently been referred to the sleep & ventilation unit for suspected sleep apnea.

I was told in no uncertain terms that a third in succession would have killed me, all caused by a condition I frankly at the time scoffed at, putting my tiredness down to the long hours and irregular sleep patterns I had/still have as an HGV driver, incidentally I'm still an HGV driver, I maintain my license because the DVLA are aware of my condition and liaise with my sleep clinic, despite being older now I don't have the problems I used to have getting up at stupid times of the night to start my shift...

People dismiss sleep apnea yet as I say, it damn near killed me, at age 43...

I'm 53 now, never felt better simply because I'd argue over the last 10 years now I'm treated I.e. I use a CPAP machine, I've had the uninterrupted sleep that I hadn't been getting for years and years previously.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Yes, that's exactly what happened, I was in a room with discrete cameras around me , I was asked to read a book for an hour and watch a film for an hour, I thought at most I'd slightly nodded but nowhere near the point of being asleep whereas in reality, having had the footage shown back to me, I was clearly out for many minutes at a time., it was quite unnerving to be honest.

Wow.

I got my figure wrong, I stopped breathing 24 times an hour (not 49) but a work colleague is 96 times and she's never had the 'awake' test.

 

[Diagro]

Yes, that's exactly what happened, I was in a room with discrete cameras around me , I was asked to read a book for an hour and watch a film for an hour, I thought at most I'd slightly nodded but nowhere near the point of being asleep whereas in reality, having had the footage shown back to me, I was clearly out for many minutes at a time., it was quite unnerving to be honest.


Yes, I was pretty severe, I had a sleeping study where I was monitored whilst sleeping at night and a wake study as I describe in my post above.

In short, I was stopping breathing for up to 45seconds an average of 50 times per hour, the strain this put on my heart caused me to have two heart attacks on consecutive days (!) the coronary care centre couldn't work out why I'd had them until I mentioned that I'd recently been referred to the sleep & ventilation unit for suspected sleep apnea.

I was told in no uncertain terms that a third in succession would have killed me, all caused by a condition I frankly at the time scoffed at, putting my tiredness down to the long hours and irregular sleep patterns I had/still have as an HGV driver, incidentally I'm still an HGV driver, I maintain my license because the DVLA are aware of my condition and liaise with my sleep clinic, despite being older now I don't have the problems I used to have getting up at stupid times of the night to start my shift...

People dismiss sleep apnea yet as I say, it damn near killed me, at age 43...

I'm 53 now, never felt better simply because I'd argue over the last 10 years now I'm treated I.e. I use a CPAP machine, I've had the uninterrupted sleep that I hadn't been getting for years and years previously.

Oh wow.
You had a really bad case then

 

[Scania]

Oh wow.
You had a really bad case then

Yes mine was bad, although it should be appreciated that lesser cases as such still have a similar detrimental effect on your sleep pattern/cycle and it's the interruption of your sleeping in a nutshell, you stop breathing and your body wakes you enough to start you breathing again albeit without you realising you've woken as such and it's this "waking up" that does the damage.

As I say, it's an easy condition to miss as until either a partner points out to you that your not breathing or indeed like me you see a video of you sleeping when you thought you were awake, you simply have no idea that you have the condition.

 

[montymint]

My OH has sleep apnoea and stops breathing about 45 times an hour without her machine.

From getting her test done to getting her cpap machine was quite short of I can remember.

Thankfully she’s caught this early (she was under 35 when referred) so hopefully not as much strain on her heart as there could have been.

She’s fully declared to the DVLA , who have no issue with her as she’s being treated.