If you see a doctor regarding snoring/sleep apnoea, what do they do?

[Cydonia]

DP snores horrifically, always has, and I think he also has sleep apnoea. He smokes and is a little overweight, especially around the chin/neck area. He is constantly tired, can't sit down without falling asleep after about half an hour and often has to stop the car for a 'power nap' on longish journeys. I used to sleep in earplugs which took the edge off the racket but didn't really help, but now we have a baby son I can't use them.
Whenever I try and discuss the subject with him he just gets arsey. I've tried telling him to go to the doctor, that if he has sleep apnoea it at best will be making him so tired, at worst could be dangerous. He insists he's just tired because of work - admittedly he does work long hours, 12 hour night shifts during the week ( thank god else me and DS would never sleep! ) He won't go to see a doctor, says he doesn't have time and that they won't do anything anyway, nothing can be done except a very painful operation. He tends to glean all his knowledge of this from his workmates and won't listen to me and my concerns despite them being based on fact and research. I'm very pissed off about this right now!
So, I would just like to know if anyone has experience of seeing the doctor about this and if so what can be done? Just so I have a bit more to bargain with, he says they'll make him go to a sleep clinic and he doesn't have time for that!!
And any success stories would really be appreciated! I need to get him to take this seriously and stop being so bloody selfish. Even telling him that he's disrupting DS's sleep (kind of true, he does startle at the noise sometimes and always sleeps worse at weekends, he's still in a cot in our room ) hasn't spurred him into action.
Help!!

He's right in that he may be referred to a sleep clinic, after discussing lifestyle measures (lose weight, alcohol, smoking). There's some good info on patient.co.uk, search under sleep apnoea.

The Dr should do the Epworth sleepiness scale. If he scores high enough (tell him to be honest!) he will be referred to a sleep clinic. Waiting list is looooong. The majority will give him a home sleep study - i.e. he goes in for an appointment, they give him the equipment and he goes home and sleeps with it, next morning he takes it back and waits another looooong time for result. Depending on his results they may refer to an ENT and occasionally an op is appropriate. If he has many episodes a night and no obvious reason for an op, they will probably offer him a CPAP machine. If he continues to have problems they may then invite him in for an overnight study. Overnight studies are very expensive and not routinely offered in the hospitals I have been at (I interpret at hospital appointments).

I have spoken to people whose lives have been changed by not being sleepy all of the time.

They will tell him to stop smoking and to lose weight. It may make no difference at all though to the condition.

Thanks! I just need him to see its for his own benefit too. I'm worried about his unhealthy lifestyle ( my mum smoked and she died of a heart attack at 57 ) just want something to kick start a change.

He needs to go to a sleep clinic, NOT an ENT as surgery is vvv rarely a solution (according to DHs consultant), and not take 'lose weight' from the GP as people with OSA find it very hard to lose weight due to hormonal changes.
CPAP is very effective, and works instantly - it can take a bit of getting used to and trial of different masks, but is worth it. And why ? Because untreated OSA is linked very strongly to stroke, heart disease, complications of diabetes, and of course car accidents due to tiredness. DH was told he'd have prob been dead by 50 if he hadn't got treated.

Record his snoring on your phone, do an epworth sleep score on his behalf, make him a GP appt then take him to it so you can discuss the impact of his snoring on your life. And if he argues, tell him you'd like him to see his son grow up, and ignoring this could mean that doesn't happen.
If you want the person with OSAs opinion, I can get dh to post.

Both my brother are terrible snorers & have been referred to sleep clinics & then had CPAP. They both found it very useful as they slept better & awoke more refreshed, which in turn boosted their energy levels so they felt generally more positive, took more exercise & lost weight.

Could you just try & get him to join you & the baby on regular walks ( good for you all-sell it to him as family time not exercise!) & without making a fuss make both your diets a but healthier/lower fat?

Small steps that you can make without him really feeling "got at"

Leep persuading him to see the GP though -just to find out the options, surgery is waaaaay down the list after loads of others.

ExDP did a sleep study and was found to have pretty severe sleep apnoea, so had an operation to remove tonsils and adenoids, plus has a CPAP machine to use.

Thanks for the replies everyone, will be very helpful ( I hope! ) in persuading him, some good points there.

I went to GP for mild sleep apnoea, he examined my nose and was just told to take hayfever medication (tablets and nose spray) regularly, as the hayfever was tipping me over the edge into sleep apnoea. I wasn't as tired as your DH- I was going to bed at 10 pm instead of 12 pm, and sometimes felt groggy in the morning, but as I don't drive there were no safety issues.

Marking place so I can show dh later.

My other half snored for a long long time till I nagged him to go to the drs. He came back with nasel spray which really helped for a while but the effects are wearing of so he is going back.