I don't feel tired

I am having my second sleep study done on August 7th - my first one was in November that showed I needed a pacemaker. They also said I was waking about 30 time a night. They are not sure what my numbers will be like now so I am getting another study done. I read about how tired everyone is who has untreated sleep apnea - the snoring problems, etc. Well, I never have had snoring problems and until the first of 2008 never felt tired. Since I had the pacemaker implanted I am back to my old self. I work a 10 hour day, go to the gym, come home and enjoy movies and spending time with my family. I don't fall asleep at my desk, or in my car, or in front of the tv. Is it possible that the pacemaker was all that I needed? Does anyone have any experience with this? My doctor says one has nothing to do with the other but I sure don't fit the description that I am getting here of someone who suffers from sleep apnea.

To the best of my knowledge, cardiac rhythm problems do not cause sleep apnea.

And sleep apnea can occur without snoring.

If you had a diagnosis of apnea, then you need to treat that separately from the pacemaker. Even though you don't feel tired, you are not getting the quality of sleep that you should. And apnea causes your blood's oxygen saturation to drop, which makes your heart work harder, and your blood pressure to increase.

You may be surprised at how much better you feel when your apnea is treates.

I can't speak for anyone else but I never felt tired before I started being treated for OSA. I thought I had completely normal levels of fatigue, and I actually would pass the Epworth test with flying colours. However, I mos def have OSA.

Just another perspective. I agree with jdm.

At first you may not be tired from it. You really want to catch it as early as possible. I am sure I have had it for many years but until the last year when I seemed to hit a brick wall I was not tired. I was getting random high blood pressure readings, snoring badly but not tired at all.

With the pace maker you definitely want to make sure there is no other stress on your heart and OSA will create high blood pressure plus high pulse rates.

BlackSpinner wrote:At first you may not be tired from it. You really want to catch it as early as possible. I am sure I have had it for many years but until the last year when I seemed to hit a brick wall I was not tired. I was getting random high blood pressure readings, snoring badly but not tired at all.

With the pace maker you definitely want to make sure there is no other stress on your heart and OSA will create high blood pressure plus high pulse rates.

You didn't mention that OSA can cause "low oxygen levels". Very important...especially with heart problems.

I wasn't very tired. Only sometimes. Much less now.

I got my first sleep study in '05 and was told I had SA then. I was in denial because I snored, but didn't gasp and wasn't tired.

Fast forward 3 years where I got to the point of dragging my butt around, napping at every chance, and just feeling like sh*t.

I've been on CPAP since 12/08 and feel soooooo much better!

BlackSpinner wrote:...high pulse rates...

You're not kidding -- I hit 103 this morning following a hypop, not even an apnea!!! Doc's gotta figure out what next to improve my xPAP therapy 'cause this can't be healthy!

Good thing I exercise 45-60 mins/day and have a resting pulse in the low 60s or I'm sure after my sleep doc sees my oximeter data for the past few nights he'd be on the phone immediately to my cardiologist to assure himself that I have a healthy heart

New doc thought I had apnea -- I knew how to spell it and that was the extent of my knowledge . I thought adult asthma had returned exacerabated by horrible alleriges...surprise, none of the above. Snoring had increased as my weight increased, tho most nights I didn't snore. Tiredness has been a constant from depriving myself of sleep from young adulthood...too much to do, night owl in an early bird world, too hectic lifestyle, cramming too much into too little time, never took time for me...I'm paying the price now . Chronic tiredness slowly turned into exhaustion...I thought it was just age...so I never questioned why and my old doc was clueless, even when I gained 50# in one yr with no change in eating or physical activity.

If you've been diagnosed, please don't ignore it... untreated apnea is deadly.

I've probably had it for 25 years (as reported loud snoring by spouse) but I never felt tired. What called my attention to it was in the last year I would wake suddenly up gasping for air. Mentioned it in passing to my internist during physical. I had never heard of OSA prior to that except in babies (crib death).