how did you know you had sleep apnea

I went for my sleep study last Spring, but I've known for years that this has been a problem for me. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with hypertension that I mentioned it to my doctor, as I had recently read that OSA can cause hypertension. I figured I could kill a few birds with a single stone by finally getting a cpap, so I did the sleep study and here I am.

My husband complained about my snoring on occasion, but not too often as he can sleep through anything. A truck HIT THE HOUSE across the street one morning and he didn't hear it. My mother-in-law, however, did tell me once when we were at her house for the weekend that I stopped breathing several times the previous night (between loud snoring sessions). That was just confirmation of what I already knew.

I've snored for as long as I can remember. As a teenager my family just use to shut my bedroom door. My husband has worn ear plugs for the past 8 years. He told me that my snoring was getting worse, louder, the ear plugs weren't blocking me out. He also said that I would stop breathing at times.

I knew I slept bad, looking at the clock every 20 minutes, ALL night long, every night. I was always tired, crabby and would fall asleep sitting straight up during the day. I went to my doctor wanting to sleep better, he ordered the sleep study.

RDI of 100 and Oxygen saturations down to 69%, I've had my CPAP for 6 months and I feel so much better. Had forgotten what it was like to actually sleep.

Happy sleeping,
Sharon

A friend shared a hotel room with me at a conference maybe 10 years ago. The next day she told me I had apnea, that I stopped breathing during the night. So I knew I had apnea, and I knew I snored very loudly, but I didn't realize how dangerous the condition is.

Finally I started falling asleep constantly--at work, after work, riding in the car, then DRIVING the car! Then I went to the doc and got a sleep test. I am sure that bipap therapy has saved my life--without it, I would have died on the highway.

Moogy

I started snoring really bad when I was about 30 years old. This was the early 80's and apnea was unheard of then. My hubby was always complaining about my snoring and I can't really blame him. I would get really sleepy and tired during the day but with four kids to take care of, I just pushed through the day anyway. Our kids finally grew up and left home and my snoring got so bad that I moved into one of the spare bedrooms so my husband would stop constantly waking me up to tell me to stop snoring. I just drug myself through the day in a fog. In 2004, I went on a vacation with my sister and we shared the same hotel room. Her hubby had been diagnosed and treated for sleep apnea several years earlier. She woke me in the middle of the night and said I scared her half to death. She propped my head up on some pillows and made me promise that I would go and get checked out for sleep apnea. Strangely enough, through the years, when I would go to the doctor I would always complain about constant fatigue and the doc would say it was all just part of getting older. Anyway, I went back to the same doc that never even mentioned the possibility of sleep apnea and told him what my sister said and asked to to set me up for a sleep study. The techs at the sleep lab said I was one of the worst cases they had ever seen. I got set up with cpap and the rest is history. I was sitting in church the other day and I realized how wonderful it was to be able to sit through church or go to a movie or even sit still for a while and not fall asleep. I'm so glad I got on cpap when I did because 21 months ago I started keeping my grandson while his mom and dad work and there is no way I would have been able to keep him and enjoy it like I do now if I wasn't on cpap. I just wish I had known earlier and started treatment before struggling through life for almost 25 years of fatigue.

My children had been complaining about my snoring for some time. I was tired all the time and could sleep anywhere anytime - silly me I thought this was a plus and that I just able to relax anywhere. I never remembered dreams. Gradually other things started to happen like I would be driving and feel that I was sleeping while my eyes were open. Twice I fell asleep at stop lights. I was waking up every day with a headache. It wasn't until the headaches were happening that I recognized the relationship with all the other symptoms. When I finally went to the doctor she was so concerned that she sent me to the sleep lab that very night and they got the preliminary results to her the next day. By the end of that day I had my bi-pap machine and she wanted me to take a week off work. I didn't take the time off but I loved my machine from the start and won't even take a cat nap without it. I know I am so lucky to have taken to treatment so easily. I literally sat in the Drs. office and cried when she told me that in addition to all the above symptomks this would also take care of the heart palpitations and getting up about 8 times a night to urinate.

I went to go see my doctor in 2002 for a physical and things checked out ok. At the end of the exam I got to talking to him about how tired I feel all the time--exhausted. I'm glad he did not chalk it up to one of a hundred other things. He asked a few questions and said it sounded like I might have OSA and sent me home with an order of an overnight oxymeter.

I had NEVER heard of OSA before and had no idea what a CPAP was. But four months later I had my CPAP and was thinking: "You've Got to be KIDDING!! This Must Be Some Kind of JOKE!!" On the other hand I had to tell myself that I might just be able to get some real sleep with that thing, that perhaps it was my friend. And it worked, eventually.

In the three years leading up to therapy I thought I was going to die I was so exhausted. I very nearly had a nervous breakdown. I am very grateful for a good doctor who took the time to listen to me and get me just the right kind of help. It was a life-saver for me.

Thanks Doc!

Yes, that's right. I don't snore (according to my husband), but my husband would say that I would gasp and choke in my sleep when I was on my back. He would push me over onto my side. He said I also made horrible noises like the high pitched ones that cats make when fighting! I was also exhausted during the day, running on adrenaline and all stressed out. When I woke up in the mornings, I felt like I hadn't slept. I also slept very, very lightly. I took my husband to the dr. with me, and the dr. said you do not HAVE to snore to have OSA.

I was having an ultrasound of my thyroid by the endochrinologist. After she finished the test, she took me in her office and told me that I should have a sleep study done because the sound of my breathing while lying on my back suggested airway blockage. Later she told me how concerned she was while I was lying there because of all the dreadful noises I made. I wasn't even asleep!

My sleep study showed I have severe apnea, and that my O2 saturation was down to 71. With CPAP, the O2 returned to normal.

I believe I have had OSA for at least 20 years. I was glad to have the answer to my health problems and that it only required breathing instead of more medications. I do wish there could be a pill for it instead, now that I know how difficult the therapy is for me and for others.

Catnapper

Obviously that guest and I are the same person.
Catnapper

My husband has always said I snore, but I ignored him.

When I had my first child 13 years ago I was so so tired, but, duh all new moms are tired. My daughter was a terrible sleeper and didn't sleep through the night until she was at least 5, and then we had another kid, and then another. All the time I was getting more and more tired and irritable and grouchy. My weight was up and down like a yo-yo. I was always sick, pneumonia, sinus infections, etc. After my third child was born it was so so bad. I had a two year period where I was always sick, always had a headache. My regular doctor treated me like a hypochondriac, told me it was part of getting older, I was a busy mom with a full time job etc. My OBGYN finally checked my thyroid, and I was hyperthyroid, and I turned out to have a multi-nodular goiter, my endocrinologist was very supportive, but I still felt bad, my thyroid levels were back to normal with no treatment, and I was slowly losing my mind.

Finally I asked my doctor to at least start treating my symptoms. So she put me on prozac and sent me to a neurologist about the headaches. All heck broke loose, I started crying all the time, acting really erratically. I became suicidal and had migraines daily. I was admitted to a psych ward and diagnosed bi-polar. But my mom and mother in law are both psychologists, my good friend is a psychiatrist, no one thought I was really bipolar. After about 6 months on meds, getting worse and worse (by which I mean, I was having palpitations, arythmias, panic attacks, sleeping no more than one hour a night, crying most of each day, thinking about killing myself ALL of the time) my therapist saying she didn't think my diagnosis was right, etc. I decided to go off the drugs, slowly. I was much better, but still tired, still sick often, still headaches. I kept telling doctors, therapists, etc that if they left me alone in the room I would be asleep in less than a minute, that I was so tired it couldn't be normal. "You have three kids" they would say.

Last fall I finally got it together to find a new doctor, right around that time my blood pressure, which had always been really low, spiked really high. The new doc thought I might have fibromyalgia but then when I didn't have tender points she suggested a sleep study. By this time I was seeing a naturopath who had me on some supplements and my headaches were getting better and I had more energy. I almost canceled my sleep study about 5 times. Finally: sleep study and severe upper airway resistance syndrome. I have started cpap and all of the mood-symptoms are gone. I still am tired some, though much less, and I still get headaches, but fewer, and less intense. I haven't had a cold or any kind of infection in months. I am slowly tweaking my cpap and I expect to be able to almost solve everything once I find my sweet spot. The only sticky-wicket is: I have alpha delta intrusion, so I may not be able to get enough stage 4 sleep with just cpap, and after my horrible horrible lost year there is no way in heck I am ever taking any psychotropic meds again! Interesting point for any medical geeks, I also turn out to have a CYP 450 polymorphism on 2D6, so it's no wonder the psych meds made me nuts, I couldn't clear them from my system, and could in fact have died had I kept taking them.

Sorry so long. Guess i was just waiting for someone to ask.

tater pie wrote:...Strangely enough, through the years, when I would go to the doctor I would always complain about constant fatigue and the doc would say it was all just part of getting older. Anyway, I went back to the same doc that never even mentioned the possibility of sleep apnea and told him what my sister said and asked to to set me up for a sleep study. The techs at the sleep lab said I was one of the worst cases they had ever seen. ........ I just wish I had known earlier and started treatment before struggling through life for almost 25 years of fatigue.

Tater pie:
I'm wondering if you let your doctor know the impact of his ignoring your complaints?
I sure would have!

so glad you're doing better. I too have remnants of sleepiness, but that can be helped with keeping busy - 'usually'.

Offerocker

I did go back to the doctor that ignored my symptoms and tried to talk to him about the importance of recognizing the symptoms of sleep apnea and treating it but he just blew me off. He has a typical "god" syndrome that a lot of doctors have. Needless to say, I've haven't been back to him in a couple of years and don't intend to go back. I'm really concerned about the probably thousands of people out there with sleep apnea who are either ignored or misdiagnosed.

tater pie wrote:Offerocker

I did go back to the doctor that ignored my symptoms and tried to talk to him about the importance of recognizing the symptoms of sleep apnea and treating it but he just blew me off. He has a typical "god" syndrome that a lot of doctors have. Needless to say, I've haven't been back to him in a couple of years and don't intend to go back. I'm really concerned about the probably thousands of people out there with sleep apnea who are either ignored or misdiagnosed.

Yes, that's something I wonder about also! They may have learned the 'word' in medical school, but failed to further educate themselves, and the WORST is that some just refuse to be educated by their patients!

I too run as fast as I can away from those 'godlike' "doctors" - they frighten me to no end. Even when another doctor 'vouches' for their abilities, I know that they are indeed lacking a crucial element - empathy for one.
Especially scary are when we might encounter a SURGEON with that trait!

It's so ironic that your doctor, even after hearing your 'scolding' ordered the sleep study? Hmmmmm admit/not admit... poor man
I hope that his 'following' has dwindled tremendously!

I was really sick and thought i was dying. I went the Dr and he spotted
it right off, went to sleep study then started CPAP. Well it didnt work
as air was leaking thru my mouth and i did not even know about it. Back to
Dr many times and he never even thought about the air leakage. I dont
think he even gave a hoot about me at all to tell you the truth. I lost all
hope at that point and fell into a deep depression/dilusion. Then i just gave up
altogether and decided to end my life. I first tried to jump off a building
but i just could not do it, i am very afraid of heights as i had some bad
falls as a child. Next i sat thru 3 consequtive Al Gore speaches and nothing (just
kidding). Next I started thinking pistol, but where to place the shot? I
thought about the head first then i thought that would be too painful even
just for that split second so that left a .45 +P Corbon to the heart.
I wrote my goodbye letters to my family and my wife. The one to my
wife ripped me to shreds. I continued to get worse and I hoped i just
died naturally. Finally a picked a day, a Tuesday where i would be alone.
A few days before I woke up and and my air was blowing hard out of my
mouth as the night before i set CPAP on 20 as a last ditch effort. Then i
thought maybe this is why its not working. So next night i taped my
mouth. I woke up to a beatiful new world the next day and in one month i
was PERFECT. So a piece of tape saved my life.....

regards
Bill

i've always been a 'restless' sleeper, snoring, sleepwalking, talking, twitching, jerking etc.; and i've always been tired, sluggish, unmotivated...but i pushed through my days just counting the hours till i could go back to sleep--even as a kid! my husband told me from day one that i needed a sleep study, but at the time i would've had to travel to do it, and i'm ashamed to say i couldn't be bothered...i had my first child at 29 and my second at 31, and somewhere in between i started to feel debilitated by fatigue, sleepiness and pain...i was diagnosed with fibromyalgia...in the meantime, my husband started working a lot of midnights, for which i'm grateful, since i think it's part of the reason we're still married...i'm impossible to sleep with, but with him gone at night i guess my symptoms went unnoticed in any meaningful way...about 2.5 years ago i crashed...i couldn't get up a flight of stairs without resting at the top, i started sleeping around the clock, developed brain fog, gained 40lbs in six months...when i had gained the first 15 lbs, my gp told me i 'looked great' and what was i worried about? then he told me he'd hate to see me if i had a real problem...i switched to a female gp, thinking she'd be more able to relate, and she told me to eat less and move more...for all of my other symptoms she tried to put me on antidepressants...thank goodness my neighbour happened by one day and told me his osa story...i recognized myself in everything he said, had a sleep study, got the call: 'severe sleep apnea', and went for the titration...i've been on cpap for 7 weeks now, i admit with no appreciable results, but i'm not giving up and i'm really hopeful, for the first time in many years