Anyone have food-related drowsiness?

[mkirkwag]

We discovered my husband's apnea while trying to solve his problem with falling asleep immediately and imperatively after eating (first carbs, then *anything*). He's been fully compliant with his cpap therapy for about three months with a very low apnea count (averages between 2 and 4/night).

At first, the problem seemed solved. He was staying awake all day. But now it's starting up again. Nothing has changed in his cpap therapy or apnea levels, but he's falling asleep after eating. Today it was for 2 hours after eating four 2" pita pockets filled with hummus. It's very discouraging, and we really don't have a clue what to do next. The endocrinologist shrugged and said that people get sleepy after they eat. (Not like this, they don't. He's almost narcoleptic) Provigil didn't help. The sleep doc wouldn't hear of it being anything but apnea. Anyone have any experience with this?

[Wulfman]

I've always thought that condition was "normal" for people regardless of whether or not they had apnea.
At least he's falling asleep AFTER eating......as opposed to DURING.

Den

[Catnapper]

I sometimes have an allergic reaction to food that makes me have chills and be extremely sleepy. I have to go to bed when that happens or I will fall asleep sitting there.

I believe I have read that eating carbs can make you sleepy. Maybe you can find something by doing a Google search. Try carbs and drowsy together.

[msteve]

Absolutely. In fact my apnea was diagnosed after I fell asleep driving on the expressway coming home from visiting my mother. We had eaten lunch together at a restaurant near her nursing home, and I had the lasagna. You know how restaurants are -- they over-size the portions to justify prices. And because I do so very much love a good plate of lasagna, I ate the whole thing. I had noticed before that I need a nap after a heavy lunch or dinner; but this episode put the fear of death into me and I visited a sleep center shortly thereafter. I'd be surprised if this isn't fairly commonplace among people who are sleep deprived.

[neversleeps]

Might not have anything to do with sleep apnea. I found this interesting blog where 23 people shared their experience with (and possible causes of) the same problem:

http://www.blogginginparis.com/2006/03/ ... er-eating/

[Slinky]

I've had problems on and off for years w/both becoming seriously chilled after eating and with getting so terribly sleepy after eating it is a fight to stay awake.

I've always joked that my body was so busy digesting food it didn't have the energy to generate enough heat as well. Or that it was so busy digesting the food it didn't have enough energy left to keep me upright and awake.

It doesn't happen all the time, and its more likely to be sleepy than chills but it also seems to go in streaks; the chills especially seem to come in streaks.

I'm inclined to think it is due to some type of hypoglycemic action, insulin resistance, something along those lines.

The chills can be terrible. They seep right into the bones and the very core of your body. There's no fighting them except to don my down jacket, climb under the blankets w/a down sleeping bag on top and try sleep it off. I have found a hot cup of tea sometimes can help if I drink it at the first hint of feeling chilled. I'm sure any hot drink would do as well.

[kteague]

I would think that blood sugars at either extreme could cause a drowsiness beyond what one would naturally expect after eating. Most of my adult life I have been hypoglycemic, and the cold shakes would start at close to 2 hours after eating high carb or high sugar meals, with my BS dropping into the 50s. (Confirmed by glucose tolerance test.) During this time I would feel very "disjointed" and drowsy until my body would naturally rebound sometime during the third hour after eating. In recent times my sugar has flip-flopped to sometimes being high, and when it happens, it's within a half hour after eating I can't stay awake and the feeling lasts for hours. When that unquenchable thirst hits with the sleepiness, it's ususally the high blood sugar (unless I ate pizza or chinese). But considering today's holiday meal, I'm just gonna say my 2 hour nap was an expected phenomenon.

An easy starting place would be to keep a detailed meal journal including times and symptoms and look for a pattern.

Kathy

P.S. Having an AHI that's good isn't absolute proof that one is getting the needed proportion of the different sleep stages to feel rested. Also, it is possible to have more than one sleep disorder, and treating one will help but not cure the daytime sleepiness. It's just my theory, but since people with OSA have so much potential for disrupted sleep stages (machine noise, pressure changes, mask leaks, etc.), there may in some be less tolerance margin for anything else that could normally cause sleepiness. Whatever the cause, driving drowsy is serious business and needs to be addressed.

[Rapunzel111]

Get your hubby to his doctor immediately and have a Glucose Tolerance Test scheduled for him!
This is how I found out I was borderline diabetic and had higher than normal cholesterol.
If he gets tested and his sugar levels are too high get him out excercising immediately and maybe he too will not become a diabetic,and can beat it before it happens,like I did.
I started rollerskating again after not being on skates for over 25 years,and I went 2-3 times a week for 2-3 hours at a time.I then got retested and I am no longer borderline diabetic and my blood sugars are normal again.Please get your hubby tested and help him before he becomes diabtic....once it happens,there is no going back.

[mkirkwag]

Thanks, everyone. I should have been more specific. He's been to his GP, and endocrinologist, and the sleep doc. He's been tested many times of over the years for sugar issues. He's been treated for testosterone and seratonin levels. He feels well rested and energetic before it hits him.

When it first started, he only reacted to carbs. We were certain it was blood sugar, and had him tested. Even with negative results, we assumed it was just not detectable. He avoided carbs at lunch. Then he was affected by fruit. Then by protein. Now it's crept up to late morning - he can be wiped out by breakfast. He's gone on diabetic diets, protein diets, elimination diets - you name it.

He's fortunate in that he feels it coming on, so his safety isn't threatened, but the sleeping is imperative.

You may be right about there being more to the sleep disorder than we've resolved.

[Wulfman]

Just out of curiousity......how much sleep does he ACTUALLY get? Being "compliant" doesn't actually translate to "enough" sleep.

Does he fall asleep "anywhere".....or just like in his recliner?

Three months after starting therapy isn't necessarily a long time, yet, to see a complete recovery in one's health.

Den

[munsterlander]

Is he taking a statin drug? I had the same problem for years and my doctor shrugged it off. This past summer I had a stress test and had a small abnormality. Being concerned I started researching statin drugs and found out that statins inhibit the body's ability to manufacture Coq10. I began taking a supplement and I can not believe the energy I now have. No more afternoon naps.

[NEGiroux]

Just thought I'd drop in to say, that I have those days, too when I must go to bed or fall asleep in the chair or driving. I still haven't found the answer for these forces 2-4 hour "naps." I use my cpap faithfully, take meds for my RLM and RLS and use a regular nighttime routine. Somedays I will have had nothing of food value to eat or drink before the sleeping crash hits. It can be very scarey when I need to drive and it hits because I've found nothing that relieves the sleepiness. Once I fall asleep it is for a long time not one of those quick power naps people talk about.

[Slinky]

It kind of makes me wonder about few apneas but lots of hypopneas? Not all sleep docs are attentive to the read-outs results. Do you know if he had any central apenas? How many?

What PAP machine is your husband using? Does it have a data card? Do you have the software and reader? Have you seen the results yourself? Have you seen the entire data from his sleep and titration studies for yourself? How is his breathing? Does he get short of breath during the day? Have you thoroughly reviewed his medications and possible side effects?

I'm not quite sure the difference between the multiple sleep latency test and the maintenance of wakefulness test but possibly these tests should be considered.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... i_12357347

Maintenance of wakefulness test and multiple sleep latency test: measurement of different abilities in patients with sleep disorders
CHEST, April, 1992 by Rahul B. Sangal, Larry Thomas, Merrill M. Mitler
(5 pages)

I'd be inclined to go back to square one and ask for a copy of the sleep study and titration study results, not the dictated report, but the actual data which should be some 10-12 pages or more long.

[mkirkwag]

So here are some answers:
He gets about 8 hours of sleep a night. We did definitely notice a difference with the food issues when he first started using his cpap. We thought for awhile he was "cured" - but now it's back. No change in his nighttime sleep experience, though.

He doesn't go to sleep anywhere - he feels it coming on and goes and lies down.

He's on a Respironics with c-flex, and yes, it has a smart card. That's how I know how many events he has. It's listed as the "apn/hyp index," and his average over the last 30 days is 2. (I remember this particularly because mine is in the 20's - I'm jealous)

Statins - I know what you mean - they can cause virtually anything. Statins actually killed his signal that tells you when you're full - he's ragingly hungry all the time - this is an ugly companion to someone who can't eat without falling asleep. But no, for that reason and many others, he's off statins. I will try getting him back on CoQ10, however.

Yes, we're very cognizant of all known side effects, and as he's struggled with this over the years he's eliminated every one at some point or another to no effect.

His only shortness of breath comes from occasional asthma - you're talking about having the same kinds of episodes during the day as at night? I have those, but he doesn't.

I don't remember seeing any central apneas in his sleep study.

I think our center is pretty alert to those sorts of issues. They were the top rated sleep center in the country last year - not that that's any guarantee, but we haven't had any of the slipshod sorts of treatment that I've been seeing other people complain of. We'll go back to them, of course, if it doesn't improve; I was just hoping for someone to say, "I know JUST what that is." It's sort of good to hear that he isn't alone, though - though not for the sufferer!