Did you have any of these symptoms before diagnosis?

[esangston]

And did they go away after treatment?

Docs have me on a 4 month hold before they will proceed with anything else. They are seeing what will resolve itself but I'm just curious... Anyone have any of this?

Loss of grip in hands, upwards of 46% in one side and 38% in the other. Now my arms get tired quickly as well... I can barely carry my baby from the car to the store...

C-reactive protein tests show high levels of inflammation for the past 3 years. I get blood tests every 3 mo at least now.

Thyroid flip flops around and I just found out my thyroid gland is enlarged. Tests show it's nothing to worry about. I think the flip flopping was from pregnancy... Were keeping a watch on it...

My liver function tests showed issues, highly elevated if I remember. Doc ran more blood work and they were a lil lower but still no where near normal. It hasn't been normal for like 8 months now. Doc did an ultrasound and said out liver is enlarged, but I'm told it's nothing to worry about...

I pulled a muscle in my back like 6 months ago, most days it's good... Some days it feels like it still hasn't healed. My thinking was maybe lack of real sleep was keeping me from healing right...

Now I'm told my vitamin d is low... That's all I got from them over the phone, they put me on 2000 units of d a day...

I go see my primary a couple of weeks, gotta go do another massive array of blood tests next week so he has the results in time and I'm hoping my cpap compliance will be eliminating some of these issues... But I'm still exhausted without meds. (No it's not the dex, before anyone says it. I'm not one of those people on it to keep me awake, I do in fact have ADHD and bad... Diagnosed as a child way way before OSA. So how it would affect me, isn't the same it would affect someone on it solely for the wake up due to differences in brain chemistries. The wake up effect for me is just a bonus as of the past 3 years.) I know thyroid issues and inflammation can cause tiredness... But I was kinda hoping cpap would be my dream come true of a cure all...

I'm just wondering if any of you had any of this prior to your diagnosis or treatment of OSA? It would be nice to know if I'm not just waiting around for my doc to be lazy... I know sleep deprivation can cause issues, but none of these were ever listed on signs and symptoms sheets lol...

[JointPain]

Sorry, I didn't have any of those.

Keep up the good work on using CPAP. The OSA was (most likely) damaging your body for years before you started therapy. It'll take a while to mend.

Of course, there might be other issues going on too. Keeping up with the CPAP therapy will possibly eliminate some red herrings and hopefully make any other real issues easier to diagnose and treat.

Best wishes for getting some real answers when you see the doc.

[chunkyfrog]

There has been some discussion here about a connection with vitamin D deficiency--I don't remember if it was conclusive. . .
Some of your symptoms may improve with adequate rejuvenating sleep--but it may take a while.
If you are not keeping some kind of journal, it might help to keep track of your symptoms as time goes on.
Nothing too involved--just a quick summary as often as you can do it. (I know, with the kids, that can be hard)

[esangston]

Googling some things led to a study by a few different places who found a link in c-reactive protein levels and OSA... Apparently thats one of the side effects of our bodys fight or flight reaction when we stop breathing.

Thru looking thru everything closer with a fine tooth comb, if you think about it, increased lvls of inflammation can cause a lot of issues including inflammation of fine blood vessels... Which can cause issues in the extremities as well as some organs... I guess I answered my own question and hopefully cpap will turn out to my my miracle cure all...but what all happens to our body when we have untreated OSA, it's just crazy. Guess it's another motivator to stay on my cpap! Not like I needed another reason, but why not right?

[Resister]

I remember the Vitamin D discussion--wasn't there a Dr. here posting about her findings or something?

Sorry, I didn't actually have those symptoms.

[Mary Z]

I have low Vit D (just take calcium/vit D supplement), also sporadically elevated CRP levels associated with muscle pain/joint pain. None of your other problems.
Please don't expect CPAP to fix everything. It won't raise your Vit D for instance. Real, restful, rejuvenative sleep can work wonders, but many of your symptoms point to comorbidities, diseases that coexist and may or may not be affected by successful sleep apnea therapy.
Glad your doc is keeping a close eye on you.

Personal views only, not a doc.

[Captain_Midnight]

Esangnstrom - -

When one considers the avalanche of inflammation that accompanies OSA, then the other conditions that it causes (or coexisting ones made worse) become more easy to comprehend.

Try this URL for an interesting (but a bit technical) run-down on the local and systemic inflammation that OSA so generously stimulates. http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/conte ... .full.html

As far as the neuro weakness, I suspect that it's quite possible that neurological injuries might be sequelae of OSA, and that at least some of these injuries could be reversible with xpap therapy. I'll say that after a month or so of my beginning w cpap (6 years ago) I seem to have noticed that my handwriting improved (and got faster) and my typing got quicker. There are no guarantees, but if you do notice an improvement, that could be newsworthy.

One other thing. I never play doctor, but you might ask YOUR doc if you can try fish oil supplements along with the vit d. Fish oil can be a good inflammation fighter. (Note to all, this is not a recommendation. Check with your physician before taking supplements, and don't believe anything you read in an online post, even this.)

Good luck! Cpt. Midnight.

.

[chunkyfrog]

Well said, Midnight.
No online discourse can replace your physician.
No strangers' guesstimates can replace lab tests.
We may have similar situations and share our experiences--and opinions--(for what they are worth).

[esangston]

Well said, Midnight.
No online discourse can replace your physician.
No strangers' guesstimates can replace lab tests.
We may have similar situations and share our experiences--and opinions--(for what they are worth).

definately agree. I was only looking for shared experiences and/or opinions. i would never take a forums advice over that of my drs, but its kinda nice to know somtimes that your not alone. i was curious if there was anyone who had said symptoms and if they were relieved by cpap. Honestly i've been looking for someone with those symptoms for quite sometime with very little luck. i just thought id ask the osa communtiy for their experiences.

osa could still possibly be a reason for them with the inflammation, being my personal belief, the reason behind my current problems... i think i just havent found a dr who is familiar with osa enough to peg it down. I'm under the care of a primary, a sleep dr, a neuro and a rheumy... and although they all have their beliefs regarding the problems, i think a sit down would do them all some good but you know in the real world, it doesnt happen that way. my rheumy is all about talking to my primary, but the neuro just sends his findings and the sleep doc, well i had to pick up his notes and drop them off to my primary lol. And my poor primary is just out of his league i think lol. i guess in a way im hoping the outcome is as easy as cpap and not what the drs are playing around with. they are waiting for my ana to pop to diagnose me with lupus... but even in that research ive come across info that may link auto immune symptoms to osa... I think the way OSA can hurt soooo much more than just make us sleep deprived is absolutely fascinating.. the human body is just crazy incredible.

For example, my hand weakness is actually not neurological, as ive been cleared by 2 different neurologists in the past 3 years. the only thing they can link it to is the chronic inflammation causing the smaller blood vessels in my hands to restrict blood flow. I've lost grip because my hands are so swollen. I've even had to size my wedding rings up a size and a half, and with all my weight fluctuations, my fingers always stayed the same size until now. And finding drs and studies online that believe that osa can cause inflammation from our bodies responses still has me hopeful. the inflammation is also linked to the issues with my liver, which along with the kidneys, is responsible for dealing with vitamin d... the inflammation is also one of the reasons osa puts you at risk for heart problems. all those lil vessels and capillaries are struggling to let blood through.

of course this is just the theory i have myself developed regarding my own personal experiences and the info provided to me over the past 3 years from my drs. thanks for ya'lls input... as always...

and ill ask my dr about the fish oil... i have ample supply from when my hubby was taking it and ordered some special stuff that costs a fortune lol... someone should get some use out of it!

[cpaptex]

It sounds as though you might have Auto-Immune issues. CRP can indicate RA might be involved. Hand grip can start to fail when you have swelling of the joints. Thyroid issues are also associated with inflammation. Liver Function AST/ALT are usually Fatty Liver issues and can be associated with meds and dietary issues.

Low Vitamin D seems to be the rage lately, but it too is often associated with Inflammation. Most Drs seem to recommend Vitamin D and Fish Oil on a regular basis.

Most of the Inflammation markers are non-specific. Even a negative RF doesn't necessarily rule out RA.

For me, I had alot of these issues before I had the Sleep Apnea test done. But that doesn't mean that one came before the other.

[Eureka]

I do hope you will stay in touch and let us know how these things work out for you. I was mentioning to my wife yesterday that sleep apnea isn't a cure-all -- but that it does affect so many areas of a person's life. Hopefully you will find a lot of improvement from your cpap treatment.

[kndralee]

Hi I'm new to the community and find this post extremely interesting because of my health issues:

I've had mononucleosis (reactivation of EBV) recur so that I've had it 3 times. With the most recent occurrence in May 2010 I started snoring. Since then I have had numerous sore throats and throat infections; I had the worst I've ever experienced over Christmas 2011. After that infection/illness, my boyfriend has noted multiple episodes of sleep apnea per night.

I'm scheduled to have a sleep study done soon (but as my boyfriend is a medical student in his 4th/final year I tend to trust his observations), but I feel like sleep apnea is a symptom of my issues rather than the cause. So I'd really appreciate the input of anyone who has been in a similar situation.

A bit more history:
I've been tested for thyroid disfunction annually for the past 3 years to no avail.
I'm female, 22, have a healthy weight, do not smoke and rarely drink, and have documented orthostatic HYPOtension complete with syncopal episodes.

I feel like I'm going crazy trying to figure out what's going on so any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Unsuspected Severe OSA]

I've been on APAP for 5 months now and am looking forward to reporting if my mildly elevated liver enzymes (50-60 ALT) will lower. Just like the previous post, my 2002 ultrasound revealed an enlarged liver, huge for a small thin woman, but no diagnosis. Since my OSA was characterized by desats into the low 60s, and I don't have any risk factors for fatty liver disease, meds, ETOH, etc...I suspect OSA. Perhaps, my imagination, but my liver is no longer tender when I roll on my side.