How long ago were you diagnosed with OSA?
“I was diagnosed with OSA in November last year.”
What prompted your diagnosis?
“I was feeling very tired even though I went early to bed and rose late in the morning. This occurred over a period of four years. Every member of my family told me I snored and I believed them, but only went to my GP when I could hardly keep awake during the day and could not remember where I put things away and other little things."
How did your sleep study go?
"I went to a sleep lab and they did a study on me overnight. During my sleep test I was told I stopped breathing 55 times during a four hour period and my blood pressure was elevated. On average, I stopped breathing for 45-75 seconds. I was rather alarmed.”
What advice would you give to someone who has just been diagnosed with OSA and hasn’t had any treatment?
“I would advise anyone with a sleep disorder to get help and treatment. I was given a CPAP machine to trial for three weeks. My word! What a whole lot of difference it made to me. I was more alert and actually could say that I had a good night's sleep.”
What sort of differences has CPAP therapy made to your life?
“I now own a SleepStyle™ 600 series with humidifier and it has helped me sleep better and has changed the way I feel in the morning. I can even watch a whole movie without nodding off. I sat through Harry Potter recently and actually enjoyed the whole movie. We were at the 9.00 pm show and didn’t get home till midnight. I put the mask and machine on and slept soundly till 7.30 in the morning. Before CPAP therapy I would never have been able to do this.
I am used to the mask now and don't even know it's there half the time. I shall be taking my CPAP and mask with me later this year as I travel around London, Scotland, Ireland and Wales and then to Malaysia and Thailand.”