Anyone have sleep apnea?

[MissySki]

So I may have found another reason for the fatigue I've been having recently. In the past I've had episodes, witnessed by DH, where I'll wake up gasping for air. Since it was always quite sporadic I never got checked out with a sleep study for sleep apnea or some other issue with breathing at night. Thinking more about it I'm realizing that it's been happening more often lately that I'll vaguely remember in the morning that I woke up in the middle of the night from this. I'll wake up from what seemed to be a dead sleep and bolt straight upright to hunched over the side of my bed in a panic trying to breathe in because it feels like I've been holding my breath for who knows how long and my heart is racing. I think since it happens in the middle of the night and then once I catch my breath I lay down and fall right back asleep I haven't really given it the attention it deserves and kind of forget about it the next day.

So I called my doctor this morning and she wants me to come in tomorrow so we can discuss what's been happening and if I should setup a sleep study. I just hope it happens during the sleep study if I do one because I'm not sure whether it happens every night or not. I know I don't remember consciously waking up every night..

I have GERD and years ago before I was diagnosed was when I had the worst cases of waking up like this, once I was diagnosed and on medicine it improved a lot so I thought it had to do with that and never pursued it further. It's been years now and I've somewhat been able to reduce my GERD meds without issue, so I wonder if that is causing a flare up right now that I've been unaware of. The reason my GERD took so long to be diagnosed at the time was because it was silent and my only symptom was shortness of breath ALL the time day and night. I was "diagnosed" with many other things that proved to be incorrect before we got to GERD. Yesterday I started feeling a little short of breath during the day again just sitting around and it's here again today, so definitely going to go back to taking medicine twice per day rather than once to see if that helps. It freaks me out to get this symptom again as it was a really crappy time that affected quality of life and what activities I could do greatly. Of course this time I'm not starting from square one so that's a plus!

My cardio workouts have been terrible last week and this week, not that my cardio is ever great, but I have to admit it's worse than normal and feels like such a struggle to catch my breath so something is going on. I didn't even try running yesterday because I know it wouldn't have been pretty. Hoping hot yoga tonight doesn't exacerbate things as heat and humidity don't seem to make things better usually and everything that happened with this years ago is actually when my real hatred of heat and humidity making me feel physically ill started. I'm hoping concentrating on my breathing there will be helpful instead, we'll see.

Regardless, I've of course been trying to diagnose myself online for the nighttime breathing stuff and freaking myself out, so it's time to further explore it with my doctor at least.

DH is also worried enough to insist I talk to my doctor, he told me this morning that he's been waking up at night to make sure I'm breathing which is all sorts of creepy and stressful that I don't want him having to worry about..

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I am so sorry you are going through this.

DH has sleep apnea, albeit a mild case but he still has it nonetheless. He's been to 2 sleep studies and is on his second CPAP machine. Prior to DH being diagnosed he was ALWAYS tired, really seriously almost narcoleptic tired. He often said he has no idea what it likes to feel rested. He was getting annoyed at me because I am a 6 hour sleeper and wake up pretty chipper in the am. I was getting annoyed at him because he was tired forever and never doing anything about it. I had been urging him to go forever and he finally went last year.

I am glad you are going to the doctor and looking into this. It must be so frustrating to be sleepy all the time.

 

[MissySki]

Why did he need multiple sleep studies and machines within a year out of curiosity?

I can relate to his annoyance haha, I am NOT a morning person!

 

[surfsnowgirl]

He was still wicked tired after the first machine and plus he wasn't a fan of the particular mask they gave him. They sent him for another study thinking maybe his levels on the machine needed to be adjusted which they did a little bit. He also got a different mask which I think he likes better.

I try and tone down my chipper attitude ha ha because my goal isn't to torture him so I try and be understanding. One time there was someone around us that was like that in the am and its different being on the receiving end so it gave me some perspective. I said to Michael, am I like that, OMG and he said yes. I am now more understanding

 

[mustski]

Definitely get thee to a doctor @MissySki! Sleep apnea can lead to strokes and heart attacks and that is not a risk worth taking. I also have GERD though mine isn't silent! It is sporadic though with good cycles and bad cycles. It may still be that, but at least eliminate sleep apnea as a cause.

ETA: complications from sleep apnea increase at altitude. As a skier, it is far better to travel with a CPAP that have a doctor tell you to keep it at sea level!

 

[altagirl]

My husband has this happen all the time, but refuses to see a doctor about it because he "feels fine". And, I think, because he doesn't have to listen to himself gasping for air. It scares me and I have to wake him up half a dozen times a night to get him to breathe, but he never remembers it (or only vaguely remembers it).

As I've mentioned before, I think he'll do a sleep study when I can get a doctor to do a home visit on a completely unwilling patient.

Good for you on getting it taken care of!

 

[VickiK]

Good luck with the diagnosis, @MissySki .

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I think that's what scared DH into going to the doctor in that not treating it can lead to other major heath issues. Good luck at the doctor.

@pinto my SIL has sleep apnea also they did her sleep study at home. She went to the sleep center and got hooked up with the wires, etc and then went home where they monitored her. Perhaps its worth an inquiry with DH's doctor?

 

[bounceswoosh]

DH is also worried enough to insist I talk to my doctor, he told me this morning that he's been waking up at night to make sure I'm breathing which is all sorts of creepy and stressful that I don't want him having to worry about.

DH finally got a sleep study because I pushed him to do so. Same deal - I would hear him gasping at night. It sucks.

Then later, he thought maybe me being tired had to do with the same sorts of issues. It turns out you can get a blood oxygen monitor to leave on your finger overnight, and they read the data to see how bad it is. It's a cheaper/less invasive way to see if you're having breathing issues. In my case, it didn't show any problems. I don't know if there are cases it might miss. For me, my difficulties sleeping have to do with my brain, not my breath.

Also, DH hated the first mask they gave him. He got a different, smaller mask and likes it better. He still finds that it chafes some, but he prefers that to waking up tired.

 

[MissySki]

So I went to the doctor on Friday.. at some point I'll be doing a sleep study as well as a throat ultrasound because my doctor yet again felt that my thyroid was enlarged on physical examination. We also did a boatload of bloodwork and upped my GERD medicine in case my symptoms are stemming from a flare up of that sort. The thyroid thing is really annoying because it seems we're always following up on it at and then my bloodwork is all fine and it's swept under the rug again until the next time it comes up once again..

Now I'm just waiting on the appointments for my various tests to be set up. I was told it can take some time to setup the sleep study because they need to verify insurance coverage first.. not sure why that should take any real time at all, but okay..

One interesting thing was that she looked back at records for an old CT scan I'd had for my thyroid, probably ~1.5 years ago now, that was all normal, but noted that I had enlarged adenoids which is apparently somewhat rare in adults since they are supposed to essentially shrink to nonexistence in your teenage years? She thought it was something I should mention to the sleep doctor since that can sometimes cause sleep apnea by blocking the airway.

To be continued..

 

[MissySki]

Definitely get thee to a doctor @MissySki! Sleep apnea can lead to strokes and heart attacks and that is not a risk worth taking. I also have GERD though mine isn't silent! It is sporadic though with good cycles and bad cycles. It may still be that, but at least eliminate sleep apnea as a cause.

ETA: complications from sleep apnea increase at altitude. As a skier, it is far better to travel with a CPAP that have a doctor tell you to keep it at sea level!

Good point, I definitely don't want any issues at altitude!!

I really wish back when my GERD started that it wasn't silent, it took years of suffering to get a diagnosis. Only having the symptom of 'shortness of breath' at the time was miserable, it would inevitably turn to my having either anxiety or panic disorder once a doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong with me or their initial diagnosis and medicines failed to cure me. Then they'd give me valium or Ativan that would just make me sleepy, but never alleviated my breathing issues. After a couple of years I started thinking that it must just all be in my head, I felt like I was going crazy and it was a really low point in my life.

I'm not all that convinced that I wouldn't still be undiagnosed if it weren't for a chance encounter I had with my ENT doctor when I was there for a routine hearing test and super down about everything that had been going on with my health.. I told her what had been going on and about what each different doctor had tried, she urged me to go see a gastroenterologist and the rest is history! IF my ENT did primary care I'd be with her in a heartbeat, she's an amazingly gifted physician who I cannot say enough good things about. It's amazingly scary how many other doctors were not at all helpful!

 

[mustski]

^^^ That's why they call it "practicing" medicine!

 

[MissySki]

True, I know medicine isn't an exact science by any means. I just wish the knee jerk reaction wasn't always anxiety/depression/panic disorder when a woman has symptoms that aren't easily fit into a box. Not that all doctors are like this (my current doctor is very proactive), but I know too many women including myself that this has happened to. Heck Avril Lavign was just talking about this recently on some talk show because she was very very ill and bedridden for months with what turned out to be lyme disease and the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her and were guessing that she had chronic fatigue syndrome and asking if she was depressed etc. She was really emotional about the whole thing and I 100% get it.

I'd so much rather have a doctor scratching their head and admitting that they aren't sure yet what's up than making me feel like a hypochondriac/crazy person because they can't figure out what's wrong..

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I was wondering if anyone ever sleeps separate from their DH. I have read that its becoming more popular. Sometimes I wish we had an extra bedroom for this reason. DH has sleep apnea and is very sensitive to any kind of noise and it doesn't take much for him to have a disruptive nights sleep. We don't have the cats sleep with us because they walk on him at night and this wakes him up. Last night we had the air conditioner on for the first time and I didn't think it was in economy mode but apparently the compressor kept turning on and off and this woke him up. I went OMG the a/c is how I survive this time of year, wish we could sleep separately sometimes. Maybe I will see if he'll take one of his sleeping pills tonight and I can see if the a/c is still disruptive.

 

[bounceswoosh]

DH and I have a spare bedroom - it's even on a different floor - and we definitely use it sometimes. If one of us is sick, for example, so the tossing and turning doesn't keep the other one up. Or sometimes DH's CPAP keeps breaking the seal, and it keeps waking me up, so I just slip downstairs. It's not frequent, but having the option is a big help. I keep it made up.

 

[Jenny]

We have friends that sleep separately. Started out as a snoring issue, and then got to be more permanent once they both figured out they sleep a lot better separately than together. He assures us there are still conjugal visits, but we don't really want to hear about that and just cover our ears!

 

[altagirl]

Sometimes. When DH is at his worst with snoring, I often move to the other room or the sofa. He acts very sad about it, even though he's the one sleeping like a log and doesn't notice I'm gone until morning.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Thanks. I have read that its a growing trend with couples sleeping separately and having set sleep together nights a couple/few nights a week. I think it would work for us. He requires a lot more sleep than I do. I'm a night owl and a morning person, a heavy sleeper and would love the cats with me. He's requires lots of sleep is a light sleeper and wakes up at the drop of a hat. Right now we don't have the room short of one of us sleeping on the couch but this time of year no way, mama needs the ac . We'll have to figure something out in the meantime.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Sometimes. When DH is at his worst with snoring, I often move to the other room or the sofa. He acts very sad about it, even though he's the one sleeping like a log and doesn't notice I'm gone until morning.

I continue to suspect that your DH and my DH are secretly the same person. If I hadn't seem them both at the same time at your house, I would be convinced.

 

[altagirl]

I guess on the bright side, I don't have to tiptoe around. He might wake up if the dog jumps on him or I slammed a door, but he'll fall back asleep within 2 breaths, so I don't have to worry. Hah, same when I elbow him for snoring. He wakes up long enough to say "huh? I'm not snor... ZZZZ" I used to feel bad waking him up for that, but then realized he never even remembers in the morning.