To ask if sleep apnea is an emergency?

[Sleepapneaproblems]

I have undiagnosed sleep apnea and am awaiting the sleep study for official diagnosis. After being in hospital for something unrelated the consultant I saw expedited the referral because I was struggling to wake and kept falling asleep during conversation.

I will fall asleep sitting up, sitting on the floor, with a coffee in my hands, eating etc, it’s getting really bad.

I get dizzy often and feel like I’m going to pass out when I stand up. I have a headache all day every day. I also get a frequent thundering in my ears which comes with waves of pressure.

this week the earliest I have woken is 1pm, my partner cannot physically wake me up and he’ll tell me he tried multiple times and I have no recollection of this.

This week has been particularly bad and I’m getting worried. I didn’t wake until 4pm and despite this still slept until 2pm today and im still exhausted. I had a fall two nights ago when I briefly woke up, stood up to go get some water and fell and face planted the floor. Currently have a nice big bump on my head.

Today im really feeling quite out of it and im getting a lot of palpitations and dizziness, and even standing makes me feel nauseous because of how light headed it’s making me.

I’ve barely moved off the sofa today because it’s literally exhausting me to move.

Really panicking about tonight/tomorrow because I hate not being able to wake up.

When does sleep apnea become an emergency, and is this something I should just wait to see GP/continue waiting for the sleep study?

Puts hands on hips.

Wags finger.

Now listen to me. If they had assessed you correctly in the first place and admitted you to start treatment, you wouldn't have needed several trips.

You have symptoms that need careful and considered assessment, and which I hope can be improved and managed with the right interventions and treatment. You are not a hypochondriac, you are a sick person needing and deserving care and compassion.

Do not let them make you feel bad. And don't let them send you home. Sending hugs.

If you had been dealt with properly the first time you wouldn’t need repeated trips to A&E. Unless you need to use the NHS you have no idea how bad it really is. Keep pushing, contact PALS and beg, steal or borrow for a private consultation if they don’t take you seriously tomorrow.

Oh crossed posts

Are they keeping you in overnight?

@VeganNugsNotDrugs haven’t even seen a doctor yet so who knows. Still waiting.

Are you booked in for a heart echo? Ultrasound if the heart and all the major vessels going in and out? That ruled out heart failure for me.

I have sleep apnoea and this does seem very extreme . Please go to your gp. You can buy cpap machines online Amazon ect . If you can afford one I would do it .

Really hope you are taken seriously and assessed properly before they even think about sending you home this time - I think the sleep apnoea confused the issue a little the first time but you still shouldn't have been sent home with your heart rate and oxygen levels like that.

And ignore the rude, tactless receptionist. As others have said, you've only had to go there more than once because they didn't assess you properly the first time!

Hope you get some answers soon and it's something easily treatable.

Sent me home and said I was hysterical and anxious and that I just need to keep seeing the GP. I’m at a point where I’m just ready to end it. I can’t anymore. Sat in the cold crying because there are no taxis. Just cannot go on anymore. I’ve never felt like this before. My body feels dead anyway.

I also asked if I could record our conversation so that I can ensure everything is done clearly. He refused, said he would not talk to me if I tried to, and said I can go elsewhere. So I didn’t record, he made me give him my phone, checked it to make sure I wasn’t recording, and then dismissed me anyway. At this point I think it must all be in my
head and I must be crazy.

I think the situation is so frightening for you that you probably have anxiety symptoms making everything a lot worse. Unfortunately the hospital have labelled you as hysterical as a result, its crappy but not unexpected in an overstretched system. Honestly, it's good if anxiety is making this worse as it means that it's not all related to HF. It feels crappy to be dismissed and treated badly like that (and is hugely out of order too). But put that to one side for now and hang in there for your GP appt. One step at a time, it's going to be ok

You have been treated disgustingly, I'm so sorry.

The hospital you were at today, was that the same as the one that dismissed you before, or the one where you had the chest xray?

Then you can go elsewhere, can you go back to the hospital that's a bit further away, which hospital is doing the echo. Who dismissed you and sent you home , nurse or doctor?

You're not crazy, you're not making anything up. You've been treated appallingly!

Which bit of the country are you in? Maybe the MN hive mind can suggest a hospital that's actually going to help you!

You don't have to ask for permission to record medical appointments and it would help you to to have that record so do it!

OP, can I just apologise, as a health care professional, for how you have been treated. This is absolutely fucking disgusting and I’m actually raging for you.

You have your echo today I think. Please come back and let us know how you get on. Thinking of you.

Dear God please go to a different hospital and start formal complaints against all of them. Clearly something has been very wrong for nearly 10 years. You desperately need treatment. Fucking hell, contact as high up as you can, pals, mp. They have not run the tests, you need a full mri. This is absolute madness, anxiety doesn't make you sleep constantly.

OP, how was PCOS diagnosed? I only ask as a PP questioned Cushing's- it has lots of the same symptoms as PCOS - weight gain, hirsutism, irregular periods, thinning hair and acne. It also causes abdominal weight gain, stretch marks and a rounder face.

Untreated Cushing's can cause severe fatigue, headache and heart failure. Obviously can't diagnose anything online - hopefully the echo today will provide more clarity. Good luck with it.

A relative had these symptoms and was diagnosed with heart failure. He would fall asleep mid conversation and was really dribbly and sleepy all of the time. He got breathless going between rooms in the house and became quite puffy.

Easier said than done but please push for the care that you deserve OP!

Blood oxygen level of 88% is a concern
a resting heart rate of 131 is a concern

I’d insist on more thorough testing. Without being rude, if you’ve told hospital you’re awaiting a specific referral, unless you’re presenting with ‘life threatening’ symptoms, they will send you away as another teams problem.

You need to be persistent, to make sure you don’t slip through the net.

www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/ethics/confidentiality-and-health-records/patients-recording-consultations

The BMA guidance on requests to record encourage doctors to allow it. Patients should request consent, which you did. Your NHS trust may also have a policy on it.

I don't think this should be your key concern right now but, again, OP, you were perfectly reasonable in asking to record for the reasons you did and the reaction of the Doctor (including taking your phone, awful) was wholly inappropriate and should not have refused to not continue with the consultation, duty of care came first. Please don't feel like you were unreasonable.

I initially got reffered for sleep apnea tests in 2021 I finally had my sleep study last year and am still waiting to see the consultant after a letter stating I have it. Was supposed to see them a couple of months ago but due to doctors strikes they cancelled. Keep on at them because that sounds a lot more than sleep apnea

You’ve been treated really badly, I’m so sorry. I hope you get answers soon, please persist, you’re clearly very unwell.

I commented earlier and suggested HF
You were treated terribly by the receptionist.. but she isn't medically trained so her opinion is irrelevant.
If they had treated you properly in the first place you wouldn't have needed to return
Please don't panic. If that is diagnosed there are new medications especially in younger patients
My exh has this and is now treated at a heart institute( Bristol) so you could be referred on to a specialist unit
I hope your echocardiogram is helpful

Legally they cannot prevent you from recording the conversation and they certainly have no right to demand access to your phone or to refuse care based on your decision to record. Please escalate this via PALS when you are feeling well enough, it is appalling.

Hope your echo went well today and to be honest, hoping they've admitted you!