In the news...kids and sleep apnea

weebles · Post by **weebles** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:19 am

This one suggests some kids with ADHD symptoms may have sleep apnea instead...

Hyper kid? Sleep apnea may be the culprit
Some children suspected of having ADHD may actually need better rest

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22881407

socknitster · Post by **socknitster** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:10 pm

This is exactly my son's story. Age 4, he was starting to show signs of ADHD and was tired all the time--all the time! We stayed for a visit at my sister's house and shared a full size bed and I was astonished to hear my own son having apneas. If I had not been diagnosed myself, I'm not sure I could have known what it was or what to do next.

After his adenotonsilecomy it took about 8 weeks to see an improvement in his sleep (he used to get up at least once a night, often crying inconsolably for no apparant reason). Now he sleeps thru the night (no more crying spells) and his ability to concentrate is 200% better!

He has made a huge jump in his learning skills in the few months since the surgery. Prior to surgery in early October '07 he knew his abc's, could recognize most letters, and could count to 10 and recognize those numbers--and those were skills he had mostly acheived around age 2. Now he counts to 100, can recognize any 2 digit number and is reading small words. He memorizes songs after just a couple of listens. I walked into a room recently and he was singing the song "Help!" by the Beatles thru without a mistake.

I'm so glad we found this out sooner rather than later. Life is going to be easier for him now. We can never underestimate the value of good sleep for any age.

Jen

GeneS · Post by **GeneS** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:55 pm

That is a good article. Now the question is how does the word get out to parents and doctors. My guess is very slowly. It seems sometimes that sleep apnea is not as well understood as the theory of relativity. Why did it take this long to figure it out that kids have sleep apnea and that it can cause problems like ADD. Cpap was invented in 1981 so sleep apnea was known before that. It is usually not hard to tell if someone has severe apnea by listening to them sleep if you know what to listen for. Most parents could probably do it if they were informed on what to listen for.
GeneS