Girlfriend's Hypoapnea

Hi all,

My girlfriend just got diagnosed with "Shallow Breathing" or hypoapnea at her sleep test. Some of her results are:

AHI = 2.6 (total two obstructive apneas and 15 hypoapneas)
RDI = 5.7
RERA Count = 20
RERA Index = 3.1
O2 Saturation Average = 97.4

The doctor told her that there's nothing to be done... She's tired constantly. She gets up at least 2-3 times a night to go to the bathroom and drink water. I don't know what to do; I'm using CPAP and when I sleep next to her and it feels like I didn't use the CPAP that night! She was away this weekend and I slept really well with my good old CPAP. Sometimes she falls asleep on the couch watching TV and when her head falls back she snores up to a point that she wakes herself up. She definitely has breathing problems but not severe enough for a CPAP.

Has anyone seen a similar condition? Any recommended treatments?

Thanks,

Mike

A lot of sleep labs will order a APAP on this condition. She needs to know what her o2 sats are doing when this happens. I had a similiar experience only mild sleep apnea, but shallow breathing that caused my 02 to drop to the 70's! The new autos will detect this and ramp up the pressure to get you to either breath or wake up. I don't even know its happening.

dwsupt wrote:A lot of sleep labs will order a APAP on this condition. She needs to know what her o2 sats are doing when this happens. I had a similiar experience only mild sleep apnea, but shallow breathing that caused my 02 to drop to the 70's! The new autos will detect this and ramp up the pressure to get you to either breath or wake up. I don't even know its happening.

Thanks, her O2 saturation looks very good 97.4% average overall. I'll add this in my original post...

I have two suggestions. The first would be to do whatever you can (or she can) to NOT sleep on her back as this alone can cause more problems, and the second would be for her to have a glucose test for possible diabetes or pre-diabetes if she hasn't had one already. Let us know how things go. Also a very good idea is to stay far away from caffeine in the second half of the day, let alone before bed.

Julie wrote:I have two suggestions. The first would be to do whatever you can (or she can) to NOT sleep on her back as this alone can cause more problems, and the second would be for her to have a glucose test for possible diabetes or pre-diabetes if she hasn't had one already. Let us know how things go. Also a very good idea is to stay far away from caffeine in the second half of the day, let alone before bed.

Thanks! How do you think we can prevent her sleeping on her back? I heard about people sawing tennis balls at the back of their pijamas/shirts to prevent sleeping on their backs... I was also thinking about a glucose test. But I think that she sleeps her mouth open and loses moisture, then over drinks water and gores to the bathroom. But anyway, we have to get test done juts in case...

You posted the average saturation......what was the lowest....and how much time was she under 90........?

I am a slow/shallow breather (according to the sleep lab) when I am asleep....I rarely have an obstructive apnea unless I am on my back.....and I only have occasional centrals in the early morning........

Unlike your GF, I don't get up thru the night, and I didn't have any RERA on my study.....and I can still feel foggy, unfocused, even tired when I wake up in the morning....... usually means I desaturated even with no obstructive apneas.......

Thyroid might also need to be checked to see if a hormonal imbalance is contributing to the fatigue.....

J

JayC,

The lowest was 91.0% for all stages of sleep. So I think there are no problems in that area... However, overall she's not sleeping well.

How did she sleep during her study? If she slept on her side this may minimize the AHI. Repeat the sleep study and instruct her to sleep flat on her back. This might push her AHI>5 and get her a CPAP order.

Big Daddy RRT,RPSGT wrote:How did she sleep during her study? If she slept on her side this may minimize the AHI. Repeat the sleep study and instruct her to sleep flat on her back. This might push her AHI>5 and get her a CPAP order.

Thanks. I'm not sure how she slept, it's not in the sleep study. When I had mine I remember seeing the position info in the report...

Hi, well a full face mask would definitely help out if you think mouth breathing's an issue - experiment by taping for a couple of nights and see if it helps, then look at the 'real thing'.

Blue Waters wrote:How do you think we can prevent her sleeping on her back? I heard about people sawing tennis balls at the back of their pijamas/shirts to prevent sleeping on their backs...

Some people do sew pockets onto the back of an old shirt/pajamas and insert tennis balls. There are commercial items available too. Some people use a backpack filled with something bulky to keep themselves off their back. I used a homemade tennis ball setup while I was waiting for my CPAP machine:



I cut a hole in the bottom of a tube sock, guided an old belt through the sock, put in two tennis balls, and secured the tennis balls in place with three rubber bands. I wore it wrapped around my upper body, just under my armpits, with the tennis balls on my upper back.

It looks ridiculous, I know, but it worked most of the time. And it was free, as I had all the needed materials.

I hope that your girlfriend finds some relief. We all know how difficult it is not to sleep well.

DreamOn wrote:

Blue Waters wrote:How do you think we can prevent her sleeping on her back? I heard about people sawing tennis balls at the back of their pijamas/shirts to prevent sleeping on their backs...

Some people do sew pockets onto the back of an old shirt/pajamas and insert tennis balls. There are commercial items available too. Some people use a backpack filled with something bulky to keep themselves off their back. I used a homemade tennis ball setup while I was waiting for my CPAP machine:



I cut a hole in the bottom of a tube sock, guided an old belt through the sock, put in two tennis balls, and secured the tennis balls in place with three rubber bands. I wore it wrapped around my upper body, just under my armpits, with the tennis balls on my upper back.

It looks ridiculous, I know, but it worked most of the time. And it was free, as I had all the needed materials.

I hope that your girlfriend finds some relief. We all know how difficult it is not to sleep well.

Thanks for the well wishes. You've done a great job with this -- it looks pretty good

Blue Waters wrote:You've done a great job with this -- it looks pretty good

Thanks. It was very simple and quick to make, so if it doesn't work there's no big loss.

Some people do need something more substantial, like a backpack, but most of the time it worked because it would jab me in the back if I tried to sleep supine. (It also made turning over to the other side challenging.) I have a latex bed with a sheepskin mattress pad, so there were times when the tennis balls would sink into the bed a bit and I would wake up sleeping on my back. Effectiveness with that device probably depends on the bed and how sensitive the sleeper is.

The crazy things we do in our quest for good sleep!

DreamOn wrote: The crazy things we do in our quest for good sleep!

Indeed! I have a long bed time ritual so I can get the most out of it...

1) Put my mouth guard on so I don't grind my teeth
2) Tape my mouth shut
3) Put in the silicone earplugs
4) Put on the light=blocking sleep mask
5) And finally the cpap mask

Julie wrote:Hi, well a full face mask would definitely help out if you think mouth breathing's an issue - experiment by taping for a couple of nights and see if it helps, then look at the 'real thing'.

You might have misunderstood; she's not using a cpap...