Do u think most people have apnea and don't even know?

[KsUp]

"if he was having the exhaustion I had he would think twice"

There are a lot of people that, until it happens to them, means it doesn't happen.
having restful sleep your entire life does not give one perspective on another's suffering. I know from personal experience. Makes me sick sometimes at the lack of empathy in the world these days.

Yeah i agree with you and I'm not even looking for sympathy I just don't think he takes me seriously sometimes, I mean I have some annoying symptons that has been happening to me sleep related and non-sleep related recently. Passing out from dizziness, pressure in my head, anxiety attack , tachyardia, confusion, sick 24/7, list goes on, I know he understand somewhat though from the doctors

[-tim]

I would say it is more common than most people would think. My parents both use machines (VPAP and APAP). My grandfather died of complications of what appears to have been sleep apnea. A friends father died in a sleep related car accident. My doctor was calling me for advice when he first got his machine and still has questions every time I go see him. The guy who changed my power meter has a machine as do a few guys who are in a club I belong to. Of the ones I know, half are not over weight at all.

[andy5805]

I know a couple of people who should definitely get checked.

Then to my surprise the other month, I met a chap at martial arts who had it, also my old friend got with a chap in the south, and he's been diagnosed with super bad OSA due to his weight.

I thought it was something you just read about, then I looked into it for me, and then a lot of people around me come into focus, who either have it themselves or should really do a test. It's amazing what we can ignore while we've not had experience.

I've had to educate myself about this, ask for help, figure things out, I don't doubt there are people out there who just don't, maybe because of their age or background. Like another chap at martial arts, who asked how my sleep was going, I told them a few stories, then they said "that's interesting, I also sleep terribly" but to my knowledge, that was that. There was no connection made, nor pursuit of a diagnosis. I could be completely out of order and my friend could have some completely different issue, but what started me on the road that eventually ended with a machine, was the need to know and resolve why I was tired and angry all the time.

[balor123]

I woke up gasping for air a few times in college but didn't think much of it. Then I starting having morning headaches and peeing a lot at night. I mentioned it to my doctor. I mentioned it to my dad, who is an Internist. No one thought anything of it. A few years go by and I develop a lot of other problems. A Neurology fellow mentions to me on the phone that my serum bicarb is a bit high and I might have sleep apnea but I wasn't tired so I shrugged it off. A few months later I'm desperate and start following every lead and that's when I demanded a sleep study. My PCP only ordered it to humor me I think but it came back positive, very positive (AHI of 55). I still have some problems but things have mostly stabilized. What a ride it's been! Estimated incidence ranges from 1-2% of population up to 24% of males.

There is no good reason for it to have gotten to this point. My serum bicarb didn't change, btw, so I stumbled upon it by complete accident! I am of healthy weight, I exercise, eat well, and appear to have none of the other risk factors except for being male and having allergies. I think two of the most significant diseases right now in Western countries are obesity and allergies and there's only wide recognition of the first one.

[Captain_Midnight]

KSUP writes...I bet alot of people have it and don't even know or care, or care to get a sleep study.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is significantly underdiagnosed; however, it's difficult to put a percentage on it.

The first issue is defining OSA. The prevailing wisdom is that "mild" OSA begins at 5 or more events per hour. From my own experience, I feel icky if I have an AHI of 2 per hour (my long-term average is 0.3). Thus (one suspects) the mere definition of the condition excludes a large fraction of frankly symtomatic apneic individuals.

I was diagnosed at age 57, but my pulmonologist tells me after a thorough exam that I've had it all my life. I had no idea, but one I learned this, a lot of challenges throughout my life (now solved thanks to xpap therapy) suddenly made sense.

I suspect that as the general population begins to learn the symptoms and causes of OSA, and the success that xpappian therapy can provide in overcoming the symptoms, more folks will get the study.

Hopefully, more research will highlight the erroneous notion that for some individuals, an AHI of 2 or 3 can lead to symptoms with a severity greater than "mild".


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[Dive Apnea]

I suspected I had SA, waking up gasping at times, very tired during the day at times, accussed of being a loud snorer by friends on trips, but I didnt have SA,(lol) until I married a woman who woke up to a pin drop! She told me I stopped breathing while sleeping, along with escaping to the spare room in the middle of the night. That was no way to live, so, I got sleep study, waaalahhh! I have had a couple previous relationships, and they were heavy sleepers, never complained about my snoring, or stop breathing, so I guess I musta married the right girl...

But to answer your question, I am sure many people,are in denial, or clueless. If I had not married my wife, and married one of those heavy sleeper floozies, I'd probably be living in denial, still drinking coffee all day to barely function, and worse quality of life.

[scrapkat]

I woke up all the time from dreams of falling and not being able to breath or being underwater and drowning. I really had no idea it was dreams triggered by my actually having breathing issues. Would wake up gasping because I had been "holding" my breath. Was tired all day, fell asleep at my work desk, at lunch break or watching TV in the early evening. When I did fall asleep, I would snore so loud it would wake me up, but I honestly did not know why I woke up (hubby clued me in that it was my snoring )Took me so many years to realize that what was happening were typical symptoms of apnea and then a lot more years to do anything about it. Now that I am, I am really glad I am doing something to address my problem.