Less severe sleep disruption?

I am a bit confused re: whether a CPAP will help or not, but will have a sleep test soon to determine. I know I snore (have been recording it nightly), and I am "out of it", can't concentrate, no real energy or "pep" and not refreshed when I wake. I would never fall asleep in public, at work or driving, although I have been in need of pinching myself until I have coffee while driving. I will sometimes fall asleep if watching TV, etc but not without any control over it. I drink coffee and suspect I would have a much harder time without it. First thing I do upon waking is get coffee. I don't believe I have near the issue that many with sleep apnea have but I am extremely frustrated with feeling this way - very unproductive at work and home and cranky with no energy or concentration to do what is needed. I do not feel depressed or have any stress issues, just tired and frustrated. So...I talked to the doctor and he has ordered a sleep test.

My recordings do not sound like I stop breathing although not 100% clear either - my husband hears me snore but has not noticed that I stop breathing. I definitely snore every night and don't believe I get very deep sleep as I'm never refreshed. I don't have high nrg and low nrg days....always tired and have no nrg/pep. I am grateful my situation is not worse than it is and am glad to see the success stories for many of you.

I am wondering if there are others on this forum with a similar background? Everyone seems to have more definite issues (clearly stop breathing, falling asleep at work, etc). Just wondering if there are some with less severe symptoms as I seem to have that can share their experience with CPAP or other remedies?

You may be surprised by your sleep study results. Let us know what you find out.

I am using CPAP because my sleep pattern is better with it than with an oral appliance that I was using. I'm not so sure about that, but I am sticking with it.

My fatigue is very bad, but it does come in cycles. I am never fully energetic or completely clear in thought. It's just that the falling asleep in inappropriate places comes and goes.

Your description of your level of sleepiness is almost exactly like mine when I was diagnosed. I had trouble with long drives, but never fell asleep while driving (except maybe one time in college when I pulled an all-nighter to write a paper...). I never involuntarily fell asleep, but it was a struggle to stay awake. And most of the time I would stay awake, but pretty much feel like a zombie and have trouble doing things. Lots of typos and forgotten tasks. And my morning commute regularly included a stop at the gas station for a 32 ounce diet coke.

I do not snore much at all, and the snoring that I did do was chalked up to my allergies. I went on a week-long trip where I shared a bed with a friend, and she said that I barely snored at all, and she never noticed any breathing disturbances.

It was actually a struggle for them to get the insurance company to approve the sleep study at all, since I did not meet their criteria. If you don't have an outside complaint of snoring or stopping breathing during the night, then sleepiness itself was not enough for them to pay for the sleep study. The sleepiness had to be accompanied by a high BMI, heart problems, high blood pressure, or some other issues, none of which I had. It took two weeks and a conference between my doctor and the insurance company's doctor before they approved the study.

My doctor was even shocked by the results, as she did not expect me to have apnea. The sleep study confirmed that I have minimal snoring. Also, virtually all of the events recorded at the sleep study were hypopneas rather than apneas, so I never actually stopped breathing. So, just because you don't stop breathing and gasp for air, doesn't mean you don't have OSA.

I feel a ton better on CPAP. I refuse to go without it now. So, go in for your sleep study and see what they say, but don't be surprised if it's OSA.

Thought I replied but not seeing it so if this posts twice...chalk it up to my being a newbie

Thank you cowlypso and NotSleepingBeauty. First post - what a great forum with so many experiences and information. A lot to learn! cowlypso - your experience sounds very similar so I am particulary glad to hear CPAP helped you! I will also double check insurance - doctor prescribed but I know they can still claim it was not "medically necessary". NotSleepingBeauty - I will post once I have results and a night on CPAP if they provide one. Sounds like I can expect some adjustments but have hope for renewed energy at some point.

I think most places do a preauthorization with the insurance company before a sleep study. You can check with your insurance company to see if preauthorization is needed and/or you can check with the lab to make sure they did it.

In my case, it was a mess because the lab didn't try to do the preauthorization until the day of the sleep study, even though it had been scheduled for 3 weeks. So they had to cancel and reschedule. So, based on my experience, I would probably call to make sure that everybody's doing their jobs like they should be.

The thing about sleep apnea is that there is a wide range of symptoms and a wide range of "severity" and there simply is not a neat little mold that we can put everyone in.

My sister has all the classic symptoms...yet she doesn't stop breathing during the night.
Her husband has only very mild snoring and no other symptoms and he does indeed stop breathing during the night. A huge surprise to them.

Get your sleep study so you know for sure if you have sleep apnea and can proceed based on those results.

I had the classic symptoms and my husband witnessed me stopping breathing... BTW just because your husband doesn't witness it...doesn't mean it doesn't happen. He can't be awake all night, every night, to watch and some people don't really show the classic stop breathing and gasp thing..some people have a very gradual partial collapse of the airway so it isn't so outwardly apparent but it is still just as dangerous.
Air flow is greatly reduce but outward breathing may not change markedly.

Good luck to you. I actually welcomed the diagnosis as it gave me a name and face to explain why I felt so awful.

I will check on the preauth - gives me an excuse to call and prompt them to schedule the study. Pugsy - good to hear the variation for your sister and her husband. I have felt like the snoring wakes me, and seems likely this would be to get air as I don't recall hearing it (just in the morning from recording it), so that may explain it - just not gasping but may still either stop breathing or just not get enough breath and wake because of it. Speculating until I have the study. My dad had major snoring issues and I recall him sort of snorting and waking then would stop for awhile - I swear the neighbors could hear him although he never believed it - if I only knew then what I'm starting to learn now I would have insisted on a sleep study for him. I have not always been this way so if there is an issue, it developed as an adult.

I will welcome the diagnosis if it comes as well - keep looking for the answer and hope for feeling better after trying exercise (almost impossible - just wears me out! I loved running when I was younger and before feeling this way but now can't even imagine it....), diet, melatonin and other natural remedies that sometimes help a bit but don't resolve it.

Thanks to all for the information - will post when I have results.[quote][/quote]