08-12-2015, 06:28 AM
RE: When did you first begin to suspect that you had apnea?
I've snored all my life, but it got significantly worse when I got pregnant with twins at 43 years old. The snoring was so bad that is usually kept my husband awake but he didn't want to keep waking me up while I was pregnant.
I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, Diabetes and Chronic Fatigue in 2002 and I had never even heard of sleep apnea. I was always tired... like a bone numbing tired. It got a little better with treatment for hypothyroidism and Diabetes, but I still felt tired much of the time.
So, after my sons were born, I expect to feel tired. I mean... there's 2 newborns, right? But they started sleeping through the night at 6 months old and I was still snoring LOUDLY and I was still exhausted after 8 hours of sleep. I went to several doctors - each of them dismissed it as "you have twins". Twins don't cause you to snore like that.Twins don't cause you to be so exhausted when you wake up. So I kept going. I found this board when the boys were about 10 months old. I got a pulse oximeter and started recording the sounds I made at night via Sleep for Android. The results were kind of startling - my AHI on my pulse ox was regularly 8-20. So I fought for a sleep study. Finally, I found a doctor that would give me an at home sleep study. My AHI those two nights was merely 5. My RDI was 36. I really didn't know what those terms meant, but this doctor told me I didn't have sleep apnea.
So I spent time looking for another cause of the snoring and exhaustion. My husband was frustrated because HE couldn't get a good night sleep either. He said that it was MUCH worse than when I was pregnant.
I ruled out allergies and my thyroid and my female hormones. Diabetes was very well controlled. So another doctor said that there was nothing wrong with me, that I should pursue mental health treatment for depression.
I went to see a sleep doctor and he gave me another at home test. This time the AHI was 5 and the RDI was 15. He said I had sleep apnea and needed a cpap. He said to call the sleep institute and have them do a titration study. So I did and they disagreed... said that my sleep apnea was mild and my insurance would not pay for a cpap, so there would be no point in doing the titration study. He explained that they didn't care what the RDI was. I believed them.
So, I went to an Ear Nose and Throat doctor who wanted to burn the soft palate to stop the sleep apnea. I was desperate, so I agreed to it. They ran it by my insurance - who refused to pay for the surgery as it's "experimental". So the ENT got me a cpap - which the insurance paid for just fine.
It was pretty frustrating. But I KNEW that there was something wrong. I'm struggling these days with staying asleep past 7 hours though. I wake up after 7 hours of sleep and I'm not tired when I wake up but usually get that way by the afternoon. I try not to take naps because there is so little time with 2 two year olds running around, but I can't figure out why I can't sleep more than 7 hours a night.
I suspect my mother has sleep apnea because she has always snored and she fell asleep in the middle of a conversation one Thanksgiving. She said that her mother just got diagnosed with it and got a cpap, too, but she doesn't want one, so she's happy. She said she's tired because she's tired and when she snores too loud, my Dad just elbows her and she rolls over and stops snoring.
I'll keep working on her :grin:
I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, Diabetes and Chronic Fatigue in 2002 and I had never even heard of sleep apnea. I was always tired... like a bone numbing tired. It got a little better with treatment for hypothyroidism and Diabetes, but I still felt tired much of the time.
So, after my sons were born, I expect to feel tired. I mean... there's 2 newborns, right? But they started sleeping through the night at 6 months old and I was still snoring LOUDLY and I was still exhausted after 8 hours of sleep. I went to several doctors - each of them dismissed it as "you have twins". Twins don't cause you to snore like that.Twins don't cause you to be so exhausted when you wake up. So I kept going. I found this board when the boys were about 10 months old. I got a pulse oximeter and started recording the sounds I made at night via Sleep for Android. The results were kind of startling - my AHI on my pulse ox was regularly 8-20. So I fought for a sleep study. Finally, I found a doctor that would give me an at home sleep study. My AHI those two nights was merely 5. My RDI was 36. I really didn't know what those terms meant, but this doctor told me I didn't have sleep apnea.
So I spent time looking for another cause of the snoring and exhaustion. My husband was frustrated because HE couldn't get a good night sleep either. He said that it was MUCH worse than when I was pregnant.
I ruled out allergies and my thyroid and my female hormones. Diabetes was very well controlled. So another doctor said that there was nothing wrong with me, that I should pursue mental health treatment for depression.
I went to see a sleep doctor and he gave me another at home test. This time the AHI was 5 and the RDI was 15. He said I had sleep apnea and needed a cpap. He said to call the sleep institute and have them do a titration study. So I did and they disagreed... said that my sleep apnea was mild and my insurance would not pay for a cpap, so there would be no point in doing the titration study. He explained that they didn't care what the RDI was. I believed them.
So, I went to an Ear Nose and Throat doctor who wanted to burn the soft palate to stop the sleep apnea. I was desperate, so I agreed to it. They ran it by my insurance - who refused to pay for the surgery as it's "experimental". So the ENT got me a cpap - which the insurance paid for just fine.
It was pretty frustrating. But I KNEW that there was something wrong. I'm struggling these days with staying asleep past 7 hours though. I wake up after 7 hours of sleep and I'm not tired when I wake up but usually get that way by the afternoon. I try not to take naps because there is so little time with 2 two year olds running around, but I can't figure out why I can't sleep more than 7 hours a night.
I suspect my mother has sleep apnea because she has always snored and she fell asleep in the middle of a conversation one Thanksgiving. She said that her mother just got diagnosed with it and got a cpap, too, but she doesn't want one, so she's happy. She said she's tired because she's tired and when she snores too loud, my Dad just elbows her and she rolls over and stops snoring.
I'll keep working on her :grin:
