OSA and Alcohol Intolerance/Sensitvity

Hi everyone,

I'm a 24 year old male recently diagnosed with mild OSA after a year of feeling run down and crummy. I started therapy two weeks ago and haven't began feeling much better yet. However, I wanted to ask if anyone else had an intolerance to alcohol when prior to being diagnosed? For me, it was one of the very first things that I noticed.

About a year ago, I suddenly started to get drunk really easily, and feel horrible the next day after just a beer or two. All my normal symptoms of sleep apnea (which I didn't know was the problem at the time) were exaggerated if I had any alcohol. I used to be able to drink a couple of beers and feel totally fine and not have a hangover. I still feel like even just one light beer makes me feel way off, so I hardly drink at all.

Have any of you experienced this? I'm curious because I don't typically find this as a symptom or being related to sleep apnea. Why would this be? Just because it's a sedative/depressant and we're already dead tired all the time due to OSA?

Thanks!

youngcd12 wrote: All my normal symptoms of sleep apnea (which I didn't know was the problem at the time) were exaggerated if I had any alcohol.

Alcohol relaxes your throat muscles, so it’ll make you more prone to obstruction and arousals. Your events will be more frequent and longer.

youngcd12 wrote:I started therapy two weeks ago and haven't began feeling much better yet.

Are you monitoring your AHI and leak line?

Please fill out your equipment profile - https://www.cpaptalk.com/ucp.php?i=prof ... pment_info

Thanks for the response! I am. My AHI during my sleep study was 6.5 or so and most nights with the CPAP I'm about 4.5-6.0 so far. My worst night on the CPAP was 8.3.

Leaks don't appear to be an issue at all for me, atleast from what I can tell with Sleepyhead and Dreammapper. I hope to post some Sleepyhead data soon and see what others think. I feel like with my mild AHI to start, I should be able to get it down to 1-2. But I am also still new to the machine, so maybe it just takes time.

youngcd12 wrote:I hope to post some Sleepyhead data soon

Good!

youngcd12 wrote:my mild AHI

OSA is a progressive condition meaning it might get more severe as you age. So, it's very good that you are starting treatment young.

youngcd12 wrote:But I am also still new to the machine, so maybe it just takes time.

If your treated AHI is "4.5 - 6.0", it will probably take some tweaking of your CPAP therapy to make you feel better. A true AHI of 5.0 means you are awakened 40 times in an 8-hour night. Unlikely to feel good with time!

Defintily sounds like you have a too low starting pressure if your AHI is basically the same or only slightly lower with the mask, you should probably get that adjusted....it could also be that you are waking up less, so getting some slightly deeper sleep, but then you have clusters of apneas... either way, it sounds like your pressure is to low if your apnea numbers are basically the same as your sleep test. Most doctors don't know much and start you out an an artificially low number, so this isn't a surprise.


as for having worse nights - yes definitely possible... in fact when I have allergies or a cold/flu my apnea is much worse. Ironically if I drink my apnea goes really low, I think because it allows me to stay on my side (apnea can be worse on your back), but it's different for everyone. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it makes yours worse.

nicholasjh1 wrote:Defintily sounds like you have a too low starting pressure if your AHI is basically the same or only slightly lower with the mask, you should probably get that adjusted....it could also be that you are waking up less, so getting some slightly deeper sleep, but then you have clusters of apneas... either way, it sounds like your pressure is to low if your apnea numbers are basically the same as your sleep test. Most doctors don't know much and start you out an an artificially low number, so this isn't a surprise.


as for having worse nights - yes definitely possible... in fact when I have allergies or a cold/flu my apnea is much worse. Ironically if I drink my apnea goes really low, I think because it allows me to stay on my side (apnea can be worse on your back), but it's different for everyone. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it makes yours worse.

I see nowhere where he says his treatment pressure, but I am sure you are right, he probably was set up at 4 cm to 20 cm, failure settings... Jim

youngcd12 wrote:Hi everyone,

I'm a 24 year old male recently diagnosed with mild OSA after a year of feeling run down and crummy. I started therapy two weeks ago and haven't began feeling much better yet. However, I wanted to ask if anyone else had an intolerance to alcohol when prior to being diagnosed? For me, it was one of the very first things that I noticed.

About a year ago, I suddenly started to get drunk really easily, and feel horrible the next day after just a beer or two. All my normal symptoms of sleep apnea (which I didn't know was the problem at the time) were exaggerated if I had any alcohol. I used to be able to drink a couple of beers and feel totally fine and not have a hangover. I still feel like even just one light beer makes me feel way off, so I hardly drink at all.

Have any of you experienced this? I'm curious because I don't typically find this as a symptom or being related to sleep apnea. Why would this be? Just because it's a sedative/depressant and we're already dead tired all the time due to OSA?

Thanks!

Hi, to answer your question, I did notice extreme alcohol sensitivity. Even sipping an inch of beer felt awful to me. I haven't had any alcohol since starting treatment. I think your hypothesis is as good as any. I would guess that there are a range of smaller, more idiosyncratic satellite symptoms of OSA that nobody has documented. Definitely those of us who have been diagnosed would do better to abstain, which at your age can be a challenge.

If beer or wine makes you sick, but distilled spirits do not,
consider the possibility that you are allergic to the yeasts responsible for fermentation.
They are different than bread yeast, so you may not notice a problem with fresh bread.
We have a neighbor with this interesting condition.

Untreated OSA often causes medical-grade fatigue. Fatigue decreases the body's ability to process alcohol.

Dudes on the second floor of St. Liam Hall wrote:When someone is fatigued, the liver is less efficient at processing and/or eliminating alcohol, leading to the experience of a higher-than-normal BAC. -- http://mcwell.nd.edu/your-well-being/ph ... e-factors/

Once again Sleep Apnea causes everything, and everything causes Sleep Apnea, in Everyone! Jim

Goofproof wrote:Once again Sleep Apnea causes everything, and everything causes Sleep Apnea, in Everyone! Jim

I think it may actually be a bit broader than that, Jim.

Ah, but for a witless generalization, there is more than a distilled grain of truth to it.