[Dano2808]

Hi,

Have got an appt to see yet another NHS gp, been living with what I now "think maybe" DSPS for over 10yrs now (am 37). (I don't want to self diagnose, but need to go armed with some knowledge this time, CAN'T go on like this, DSPS "seems" closest to my symptons, without "trying to make them fit the condition"). Have seen a few GP's over the years, but they have either laughed or been belittling & dismissive, humiliating! "try to goto bed earlier" !! So I go to another Dr expecting to be patronized "good old NHS style" yet again!
CANNOT wake up to ANY alarm clock, phone ringer etc, in the last 8months even a REALLY LOUD clock with horrendous strobe light & vibrating pillow pads, which my ex had as she was deaf - ALWAYS woke her up, NEVER once did it wake or rouse me. Managed to sleep through a fire evacuation alarm in Jan 08, of 12 flats we were the last evacuated, by some 15mins+ after everyone was already out, another minute & the door was gonna be kicked down we were told. Only the fact the fire was small and extinguished was the door not taken out earlier!

Well I'll let you know how I get on!

Dan.

[hope512]

Hi, how did you get on? I've had DSPS my whole life but trying to get it sorted has been very difficult. I also have chronic fatigue (which isn't suprising) and trying to get that dealt with has been a nightmare. I've tried for 15 years to get someone to listen. Eventually I had to get a list of symptoms from the net and present it to my GP. She referred me to The Royal Free where I did Graded Activity Therapy and The Tavistock Clinic, (I think they think the tiredness is all in my head) where I think the consultant has decided I'm lazy.

I went to The St. Georges Sleep Clinic about ten years ago. The doctor I saw was a £%&^* and said I had DSPS and it was antidepressants or nothing. I have epilepsy and musn't take them. A few years later I was so desperate that I took them and it was disaster. I could have done someone serious harm because the tablets made me a hundred times more depressed and horribly aggressive. Recently I felt like trying again with a new GP. I've been referred to the Papworth Sleep Clinic and I'm due to have a polysomnogram.

I'll let you know how I got on with it!

[Dano2808]

Hiya Hope,

Wow, We’ve got very similar stories of idiot Dr’s to tell & suffering from them not listening eh! (Surely listening is a pre-requisite of being a good Dr!!!!??) Glad your finally being taken seriously. Tavistock's ironic, my much missed ex, is training x Tavistock.
The very best of luck to you.

Well I went to see my GP in Dec as I said, but she was pathetic, useless & offhand, predictably, By FAR the WORST I’d seen yet.

But personal events have moved fast since Dec, & several times in the last 6 months Ive woken in the middle of the night convinced id p/ssed the bed, SOAKED, REALLY soaked, so that i had to sleep on the sofa while the mattress dried out!!! But in the past i assumed with my ex gp it was stress and worry etc, a prescription anti-depressant drug withdrawl side effect possibly.

My NEW GP last week having listened to my list of about 9 problems over the last 15 years sleep related, he looked down my throat & said something is enlarged, uvula? ulvica or something like that, which blocks my breathing,

He stressed it MAY NOT be what he called OSA, or the root cause of my problems, but as he said it would go a long way to explaining WHY depression drugs didn't work & much more besides.

So I go into Worthing hospital the end of March to the sleep clinic for an overnight sleep assessment plus other tests, then they'll decide what happens next. It may prove to be there's nothing wrong with it, but if nothing else they will be able to find a way to sort my sleep/waking up out. So I cant loose, at least ill be able to get up to an alarm, which will cheer me no end. I'm angry all the other GP's I’ve seen in the last 15 YEARS didn't make the connection. So I’ll let you know.


Dan.

[Dano2808]

To clarify, it was SWEAT, I hadnt wet the bed!!!

[hope512]

LMAO I did wonder.... :-) Night sweats are ghastly. My mother had them with a different health problem.

Good luck with your tests, I'm having my polysomnogram within the next 6 weeks. I'm looking forward to it. I've had EEGs before for epilepsy so I know what to expect with that aspect but all the rest of the wires will be interesting. I toss and turn while trying to sleep, so how the wires will cope with that I don't know! LOL. It'll also feel really wierd being watched... feels a bit pervy, LOL. Being videotaped! Ew. I'll feel really self-conscious about it. Either I'll have a really bad night's sleep or, I have a feeling, it could be my best!

Hope