For years even though I had medical insurance through my company, I followed the standard NHS pathway for my High Blood Pressure. The research I have done on Sleep Apnoea whilst writing this blog has been eye opening.
I waited nearly two years for a sleep clinic appointment and yet ResMed offer a private sleep test for less than £400 (at the time of writing). That may seem a lot but the impact the CPAP device has had on my blood pressure has meant I can reduce my medication. At £20 per month for the medication over 18 months it would have almost paid for itself. If I’d known that earlier I would probably be on just one blood pressure tablet instead of three.
The Reality of the NHS Pathway
“I have spent the best part of 20 years trying to deal with hypertension not knowing the root cause was actually my sleep apnoea.”
I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And because of that, I waited a very long time.
My first NHS referral was labelled “mild,” which meant I wasn’t prioritised. I waited months, moved house, waited again, tried mandibular devices, and eventually got a home sleep test.
When the results finally came in:
“My breathing had 44 obstructions per hour… the longest obstruction lasted 87 seconds… oxygen saturation was 55%.”
That’s severe not mild.
Why Researching Sleep Apnoea Matters
Doing your own research isn’t about distrusting professionals. It’s about understanding that there is often a root cause that needs to be addressed. For at least 10 years no one connected the snoring with my high blood pressure and when I was finally diagnosed with sleep apnoea I just followed the process without challenging and researching.
Connecting the two (sleep apnoea and snoring) has been life changing for me. Just four weeks in and I have dropped my third blood pressure tablet (1mg Doxasosine) and halved my second (10mg to 5mg of Amlodipine) and my blood pressure is still tracking below 120/80. Hopefully in other week I will be dropping the Amlodipine altogether.
My Updated Statistics
After just 21 days of CPAP treatment here are my latest readings. For a comparison read the original numbers here. Amlodipine takes a few weeks to come out of your system. I have reduced the dosage from 10mg to 5 mg. I was expecting to see a gradual trend of raising blood pressure but the blood pressure is actually trending down still. Fingers crossed for next week as if this continues I will ask to drop the Amplodipine completely.
- Average Blood Pressure 120/81
- Medication 10mg Ramipril, 5mg Amlodipine
- Average of 8 hours sleep and 1.6 events per hour
Now that I am sleeping I have the energy to start exercising again. Today I have started rowing again. Lets see if I can nail that Ramipril!
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