POLL: What two symptoms lead you to have a PSG?

[Sleeprider]

Snoring to the extent my wife moved to a different room was the biggest motivator, daytime sleepiness to the point I nearly fell asleep at the wheel once was another. In retrospect, I used to hear about all these dreams people would tell me about, yet I never had any. "Well everyone dreams!". Turns out, not true for someone with severe apnea.

[robrdavis]

I chose snoring and daytime sleepiness, but was tempted to choose "other" in place of the second.

My "other" was occasional severe bruising of my legs and arms. Interestingly enough, I wouldn't have the bruising as severely on the nights that my wife gave up and slept on the couch or in our son's room.

If you want to know a fast way to ruin a new marriage, pair a light sleeper with an untreated OSA sufferer. Fortunately, still being newlywed at that time, I was willing to listen to her advice. (Being fairly newlywed, I also considered it "advice" and not "nagging" yet. )

[SleepyNoMore]

I voted and checked 8 of the options listed above...
I used to snore like a freight train since I was a child and it slowly got so bad that my husband was waking me up several times a night.
I gasped for air & choked off and on all night long, again my hubby would wake me up several times a night and tell me to breathe!
I would fall asleep in the chair or on the couch watching TV...
I would get a (what I call) a heart thing, my heart would pound out of my chest, I would start sweating, I would feel the blood rushing down my legs, and feel like I was going to pass out so I would run and get to a chair or my bed as fast as I could before I fainted ( I am wondering if this was all due to a low oxygen level) because I had my heart checked out good after starting cpap therapy and all was well except a slightly blocked artery in my neck on one side... This has only happened maybe 2 times since starting therapy and happened about 3 times a week pre-cpap
I would get up at least 6 to 7 times a night to urinate....
I would get severe headaches that I called migranes and my Doctor would call them Cluster headaches, that would last for up to 5 days and I would have to sit up on the sofa because the pressure was so severe I couldn't lay down, then it would go away only to return a few days later and I would get it again for a few days to a week!!! I think I have only had about 5 headaches (post cpap) in the past 2 years, yeaaaa, I love it.
I NEVER got sleepy driving because I always made sure I have at least 3 cups of FOLGERS in my cup and 2 huge glasses of iced tea before I left home (I have alot of bathroom stops though)
I had severe spasms in my legs and feet, I would wake up all night with then!
I WOULD have SEVERE NIGHT SWEATS, oh sooooo bad, I still have them (due to my age) and even with taking premarin but NOTHING like pre-cpap!
Geezzzz, is that enough for one post??? Sorry so long folks but you wanted to know,
SNM

[Jaylee]

Well my doctor suspected I had OSA when I temporarily lost my eyesight in one eye and was in the hospital. Because I could not see out of both eyes, I was a fall risk, so they had a buzzer on my bed. I set that thing off constantly because I moved every few minutes. Then when I went for my follow up he started asking questions about my crazy headaches (had them several times a week, always in the morning), how I fall asleep during regular activities and my snoring, etc. So I picked headaches and daytime sleepiness.

[FinceMgr]

When I look back a can now identify many symptoms. However a symptom which I have not seen mentioned is that some, myself included wake wet with sweat as a result of OSA. It was the noctoria, night sweats, and headaches which led me to research the symptoms. After 15 years of not sleeping properly, I thought feeling like sh_t was normal.

...has anyone else out there also had that experience, that is being aware of the obstruction as it is happening?...

[cotech50]

I went to the doctor probably 20 or more years ago for night sweats. Tested for many things no diagnosis of anything have had them off and on for years. Severe sleepiness this year and no energy, plus excessive drooling at night due to mouth wide open, have destroyed pillows and cases for several years. But excessive daytime sleepiness and no energy is what drove me to finally seek some answers. After scheduled for first sleep study really hit the internet and did not take me long to realize I suffered from many of the problems associated with OSA. Life has completely changed now, what was once a stance of I am not wearing a mask the rest of my life has been replaced with the felling of looking forward to putting it on at night because I now know what it is going to do for me.

[Gerryk]

I checked the top two, but I could have checked seven of the choices up there. I actually had several more reasons why I finally went in for a test. I had no idea their was such a thing as sleep apnea, i just figured all the problems I had were from mistreating my body.

Gerry

[ZIFF]

what finally got me to conduct my own sleep study at home in '92 (I rented a VHS videocam) was morning headache/fog. Specifically the fact that quite often I was seriously non-functional at work in the morning, most of my work was accomplished in the afternoons. It is now quite obvious this was due to the hypoxia my brain had to recover from every day.

[DreamOn]

The two main symptoms that lead to my study were snoring and high blood pressure ("other"). I did have several of the other symptoms listed on the poll, but those were my most glaring. I also had a lot of mental confusion, fuzzy thinking, and inability to concentrate on tasks.

~ DreamOn

[JohnBFisher]

Just two symptoms? Yikes! Let me count the ways:

• Snoring
• Daytime Sleepiness
• Nighttime Urination
• Severe Fatigue
• Headaches
• Nighttime Gasping or Choking
• GERD at night ... with aspiration (YUCK!)
• Falling asleep while driving
• Falling asleep during meetings
• Dreaming when simply blinking

But the one thing that finally tipped the scale? I literally snored so loudly one night that my children woke up screaming. My wife gave me a scowl, told me to get one of the children and DO SOMETHING about the snoring! (We had been talking about obstructive sleep apnea as a possible issue). So, literally the next day I scheduled an appointment with my doctor.

[thewetlizard]

I was told by my family that I snored like a frieght train or that I could shake, rattle, and roll the windows!

[montana user]

My other was high blood pressure. It was through the roof! After about a month on CPAP I have had excellent blood pressures, and the doctor even took me off my blood pressure medicine. No more acid reflux either!