I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Lindsp · Post by **Lindsp** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:41 am

Tell me I'm not the only one? It runs in my family but other than that I don't see how I can have it. I just would like to know if anyone else has been diagnosed with it at my age...

Thanks!

nanwilson · Post by **nanwilson** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:53 am

No you are not the only one that age, or thin. Its an old wives tale that sleep apnea is caused by being fat. We have children that have it too and they are a lot younger than you.
I would suggest that you start educating yourself here and start by reading the subjects on top of the page.

49er · Post by **49er** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:05 am

Lindsp wrote:Tell me I'm not the only one? It runs in my family but other than that I don't see how I can have it. I just would like to know if anyone else has been diagnosed with it at my age...

Thanks!

Hi Lindsp,

Welcome to the forum.

I have a thin family member in his 30s who was diagnosed with apnea so age and weight have nothing to do with the diagnosis. Definitely agree with Nan about educating yourself by reading the subjects at the top of the page.

By the way, instead of struggling for many years with undiagnosed apnea as many people on this forum have, consider yourself lucky to have gotten the diagnosis at your age. Do everything possible to optimize your pap therapy so you can lead a long productive life.

49er

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:14 pm

I believe I had apnea when I was your age.
I remember being insanely tired in the daytime.
So tired I could barely manage taking care of myself and my family.
I was thin, too, but thanks to untreated apnea, I put on plenty of weight over time.
I felt like "ca-ca" for years. Grumpy, weepy, etc.
Since getting on the hose, I finally feel like a functional human being.

BlackSpinner · Post by **BlackSpinner** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:25 pm

I was underweight when it really reared its ugly head. By the time I was diagnosed I had put on a few pounds but not that much.

It is all about the architecture of your mouth and throat.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:38 pm

Lindsp wrote:Tell me I'm not the only one? It runs in my family but other than that I don't see how I can have it. I just would like to know if anyone else has been diagnosed with it at my age...

Thanks!

You're definitely NOT the only one. Sleep apnea can occur at virtually any age and can CAUSE weight gain over time.
It results in a lack of oxygen in our systems as we sleep and can adversely affect our metabolism, among other things.
Even "SIDS" (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is believed to be a version of or related to sleep apnea.

Many of us believe we may have had it most of our lives. However, when we were your age, sleep apnea was virtually unknown or diagnosed and sleep apnea therapy (CPAP) was many years from being a treatment option.
Be thankful yours was diagnosed when it was. Embrace the therapy and learn to use it effectively. Good sleep (and oxygen) can be addictive.

Den

.

jim22 · Post by **jim22** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:48 pm

Count me in too. I believe I had it in college and probably earlier. You are lucky to have figured it out early. Enjoy the ride! I promise it will be OK.
Jim

tiredandscared · Post by **tiredandscared** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:19 pm

Lindsp wrote:Tell me I'm not the only one? It runs in my family but other than that I don't see how I can have it. I just would like to know if anyone else has been diagnosed with it at my age...

Thanks!

You're lucky you found it early. It shouldn't matter whether you have it as a hereditary disease or not. Just treat it fast as possible before it causes permanent issues. If it affected your ability to function as much as it did to me. Then you're better of treating it than investigating the etiology behind it. I still suffer from some issues with fine motor skills degradation and inability to think. But im like you young and in the beginning of my treatment and hopefully can regain my cognitive function and prior motor ability.

Lindsp · Post by **Lindsp** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:42 pm

Thank you everyone! I am definitely thankful to have found out after four years of suffering. After weeks of researching I have learned so much. I'm actually very excited to get my cpap. I know at first it will be hard to get used to it but I feel that as long as I can sleep I see no reason why I wouldn't want to wear it!

I'm sure I will return with more questions once I get it, so thank you all again!

Elapid · Post by **Elapid** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:55 pm

I think many of us wish we knew we had SA at your age, it would have saved me decades of being dead on my feet during the day. Consider yourself lucky you found out before you spent most of your life in a fog.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:10 pm

Lindsp wrote:Thank you everyone! I am definitely thankful to have found out after four years of suffering. After weeks of researching I have learned so much. I'm actually very excited to get my cpap. I know at first it will be hard to get used to it but I feel that as long as I can sleep I see no reason why I wouldn't want to wear it!

I'm sure I will return with more questions once I get it, so thank you all again!

Please feel free to register as a member of the forum.

Den

.

JustinD9 · Post by **JustinD9** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:20 pm

If it helps I am relatively thin (BMI 22.5) but roughly double your age. Like others mentioned here I have probably had it for a lot longer than the last 6mths since diagnosis. My father has it and I suspect my 10yo probably has it (to be tested).
If it helps my niece (wife's family) is 23, not overweight and uses a cpap machine. People are getting diagnosed earlier and earlier due to increased awareness. I suspect if I was born 10-15 years earlier I would have been diagnosed 10-15yrs more advanced in age. So Lindsp you are simply the vanguard of the younger set - and greatly advantaged for it I suspect.

That said when diagnosed its unstandable to feel a certain loss of independence. I think when you gain in years you take on a certain level of acceptance of the loss of independence. It starts with blood pressure or cholesterol meds and grows from there. When people are younger the dream still remains.
Approaching 50 diagnosed with sleep apnea I now know its unlikely I will roam a South American jungle with a sharp knife, a faithful dog or chimp in tow, sleeping in the trees and eating nuts and berries without waking up poorly if I don't have my cpap. (doesn't everyone dream of this???). Its unlikely I will walk across Australia with just a swag on my back able to pull up in some scrub and pitch a tent unless a really really light cpap machine that recharges by solar is invented. So in a romantic sense (the romance of life) everyone's option set continually changes, sometimes better or worse - its just that we are not always reminded of it.

I guess its just a cpap machine with a "darth vader setup" is a very noticable and visceral change in options.

Captain_Midnight · Post by **Captain_Midnight** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:32 pm

Hi Linds.

You are absolutely not alone. I have (according to my pulmonologist) had OSA all my life, and I'm of normal weight. My OSA was diagnosed after age 50. I feel quite lucky to live in an age where the OSA sleeping disorder can be successfully diagnosed and treated. I would have been even luckier if it would have been possible to have been diagnosed and treated in my early twenties.

Best of luck in your therapeutic success.

.

archangle · Post by **archangle** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:22 am

Think of apnea as being like high blood pressure. Fat people, smokers, old people, get it more. Sometimes, "normal" people get it, too.

Our culture gets so much from from fat shaming that we sometimes forget that thing like apnea can happen to the "good" people as well as the evil fatties. I bet the thin apneacs are a lot less likely to be diagnosed.

I suspect the fat people get apnea more often than the skinny ones, but I haven't looked up any good studies. It would have to be a well designed study to get over the selection bias of thin people not getting checked for apnea.

mariejeanne · Post by **mariejeanne** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 6:55 am

You are not alone. My skinny husband is a hosehead too.

Welcome!

I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..

Re: I'm a 24 yo thin female who was diagnosed with sleep apnea..