Apnea at 11?

[jgjones1972]

Looking for some guidance here from those more familiar with oximetry.

I got a new CMS 50I wrist oximeter a few weeks ago and have used it a few times - nothing different shows up than with my other oximeter. It seems to work fine when I use it.

My 11 year-old daughter decided she would like to wear it all night last night and I figured it couldn't hurt. Here is what it recorded:



Maybe I'm too concerned about this; but, my oximetry looks much, much better. Keep in mind that she doesn't snore. Also keep in mind that this oximeter measures perfusion and removes readings that fall below the accuracy threshold, so the desats are not just from moving around - on the expanded chart you can see where reading are removed due to low perfusion - all of these readings are good.

I've only ever seen my own oximetry charts. Is this in any way normal, or should I be as concerned as I am? Will the doc be as concerned as I am, or am I making too much of this?

[bwexler]

Is your daughter overweight? How much?
Does she have allergies or asthma?

Based on my limited knowledge and info, I think she should see a doctor to evaluate her.
I would probably bring a weeks worth of charts rather than just one.

[jgjones1972]

She has gotten a little overweight lately, but not much; she's athletic - plays sports and takes dance classes. She had an allergy test - nothing came up. She has bronchospasms that she uses an albuterol inhaler to control, she must have inherited the bronchospasms from me. My biggest concern is that she also inherited my jaw structure - a pretty bad under-bite. I didn't have my under-bite fixed until I was in my late teens because the dentist kept thinking my jaw would develop better and by the time I saw an orthodontist to correct the problem my jaw was set and the orthodontic appliance he tried to use to move my jaw forward wouldn't work, he said it was too late - so he ended up just using braces to move my bottom teeth forward. My daughter is already seeing an orthodontist and is scheduled to get an orthodontic appliance and braces in the next few weeks (she has spacers in now), so I was hoping we would be alleviating and possibly avoiding jaw structure problems. I thought there would be some time. I never would have thought that I had any apnea until I was at least 20 or a little older. I didn't think it would kick in this early and thought for sure that she would at least start snoring a little or something before having these problems.

I'm taking oximetry on her again tonight, as well as Zeo to check out her sleep stages.

Today was Sunday, so have to wait 'till tomorrow to make an appointment with her pediatrician.

[pgw78]

My niece had a similar problem when she was a little younger than that. Turns out it was her adenoids (tissue which takes up quite a lot of the sinus cavity when you're young, but which is supposed to shrink away as you mature). Hers were swollen, which was causing snoring and apnea. She had a minor surgical procedure to remove them, and she's been fine ever since.

I don't know if that's what's happening with your daughter, but, as others have said, it may be worth having her see a doctor.

[Paptillian]

I've always had very large tonsils. My pediatrician mentioned it to my dad when I was little, but never was it suggested that I have a sleep study. I suspect that I've always had some kind of breathing difficulty. My parents would catch me snoring from time to time but they didn't know about apnea. My father was a heavy snorer and they just considered it "normal" to snore, so it was ignored. It only took until my very late 20's (thanks in part to my wife) to catch it.

Good on you for keeping tabs on your daughter. Hopefully she doesn't need the mask.

[PaulaO2]

Kids tend to sleep deeply and tend to sleep in odd positions.

Have her wear it during the day, as well. A nighttime study is useless without a baseline.

Could be tonsils, adenoids, position, the full moon, etc.

Or aliens.

[tfm0891]

Lots of things to take into consideration with children. Tonsils and adnoids are the most common problem.....or could be her weight. Could be nothing....."home sleep studies" are not always accurate especially on children thats why they are not done on children. Definitely talk to her doctor soon!

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Also....if she has a recessed jaw....that can definitely be causing this problem!