sleep apnea and pregnancy

[tater pie]

My 26 year old daughter who is 6 months pregnant just called me in a state of anxiety and told me how extremely tired she always is to the point where she has lost concentration and become very disoriented and forgetful on her job. She has also suffered severe headaches all through the pregnancy. She's afraid of getting so bad that she might lose her job. Having had 4 kids of my own, I know there is some extra fatigue and things of that sort to be expected during pregnancy but not near as much as she is experiencing. I wondered if anybody else out there knew anything about treatment or sleep studies done while pregnant. She is overweight so this might even make it worse and I wondered if pregnancy might cause her body to be even more oxygen deprived and cause the headaches. I went with her to her ob-gyn and she said frequent and severe headaches were to be expected during pregnancy. I never had them. She also has a stress fracture and a herniated disc in her back so she's pretty miserable. My oldest daughter who is 33 and not overweight just went through two years of going to different doctors for not being able to sleep and severe shoulder pain. They put her through all sorts of hormone and thyroid tests which showed up normal and then put her on all sorts of sleeping aids which didn't help the fatigue either. She snores very loud also. As I have said earlier, I got a sleep study and was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (82 apneas in 60 minutes) last fall although I would have never thought about sleep apnea if I hadn't spent the night with my sister whose husband has sleep apnea and she told me to go and get treated for it. Do people literally have to see you gasping for breath in your sleep before doctors will consider it as a cause of a lot of other problems you have? What about people that sleep alone? They're in a fix. The doctors put my oldest daughter on antidepressants which didn't work either and now finally they tell her that she might need a sleep study done. I'm sorry to rant on so but they are my kids and I don't want to see them have to go through the years of misery I went through before getting the proper treatment. I'm sure other mothers out there will understand. I can't tell you how many doctors I went to over the last 10 years and told them how sleepy and fatigued I always was and they just blew it off. Before my sister told me that I had sleep apnea, I honestly had just accepted it as part of getting older and just tried to learn to live with it. I would appreciate anybody telling me about any experiences or knowledge they may have about this. I know weight does not cause sleep apnea but I also know the doctors always bring that up like it will cure everything. That's what they always told me. As I have said earlier, please forgive me for going on so.

[snoozin']

Your daughters probably should be tested. Sleep apnea can also have genetic factors - ie. naturally small airways, the shape of the mouth, etc. can contribute to sleep apnea without any overweight.
Also, for the daughter who is pregnant, lack of oxygen while sleeping can also harm the developing fetus and cause problems there. If she does have apnea, she needs cpap not just for her fatigue, but for the health of the baby.
Debbie

[G00fy217]

Also, for the daughter who is pregnant, lack of oxygen while sleeping can also harm the developing fetus and cause problems there. If she does have apnea, she needs cpap not just for her fatigue, but for the health of the baby.
Debbie

I would have to agree with this comment by Debbie!! For the sake of your daughter's baby, she should be tested. They say it can be hereditary (ok... I know this has to be spelled correctly.... I looked it up in the dictionary).

[Guest]

I'm pretty sure it's hereditary. My father snored so loud that he would make the walls shake and then wake up. If he ever sat down for more than 5 minutes, he would fall asleep. He was over six feet tall and never weighed more than 130 pounds in his life. Sadly, sleep apnea was never talked about back then so he was never officially diagnosed or treated. The only reason I bring this up is because so many times in the past, doctors would say to just lose the weight and you'll be fine. I know that weight does aggravate the condition but losing weight won't cure it. Besides, like my ent doctor told me, weight loss can take a long time and you need treatment now and actually cpap has made it easier for me to lose weight. My ent doctor also told me that muscle tone had a great deal to do with it and I imagine that's hereditary. My pregnant daughter has an appointment with her ob-gyn next week. I hope her doctor listens to her and just doesn't throw another pill at her and tell her to wait until the baby is born. Some doctors are extremely resistive to considering sleep apnea. Thanks for your replys.

[tater pie]

I meant thanks for the "replies" not replys. That was me. I forgot to log in.

[meister]

http://www.sleepreviewmag.com/Articles. ... d=S0409F01

[tater pie]

Thanks meister for the article. I forwarded it to my daughter and told her to make a copy of it and take it with her to he doctor's appointment next week. She talked to her doctor earlier today and the doctor gave her the usual thing about all pregnant women go through this. My reply to that is if they all do go through it, which they don't, is it really necessary that they do or could they be helped! Thanks again.

[glassgal]

Hi Tater Pie,

My thought on this is what about a portable blood oximetry unit to see if she is desaturating? I would think that the OB/GYN would have access to this type of unit, or could use something from the sleep lab at the hospital (if there is one?).

The article from Meister was very interesting reading! Thanks Meister!

Good luck and sleep well,

Jane

[Liam1965]

I'm going to assume that apnea and pregnancy is only an issue if the MOTHER has apnea.

As I've mentioned, we're expecting, and I have apnea, but somehow I really don't fear for the kid in this respect.

Liam, gaining sympathy weight at an alarming rate.