Sleep Apnoea

[pcolbeck]

I was diagnosed with this a year ago, was permanently tired and fell asleep very easily watching telly etc.. They said I would have to wear a mask and use a positive pressure machine every night for ever. Bummer. However last year I lost nearly 2 stone and my snoring disappeared (well went to normal person levels) and I was waking refreshed without the mask.
Over the last three months I have put on a bit of weight again (maybe half a stone - I'm blaming Christmas) and have started snoring hugely again and am feeling more tired. So it looks like it's a fine line between OK and not OK.
So no more chocolate for me and no more wine or beer during the week. I am also going to make a big effort to cycle more again after getting out of the habit after my off last summer (10 stitches in my head).
I am sort of posting this in case anyone else suffers from obstructive sleep apnoea to let them know that there is a strong possibility that simply loosing some weight may alleviate the symptoms completely but that they may have to loose quite a bit before they see any beneficial effects but not to give up as it seems that there is a magic weight that once you cross it you get great benefits.

[geraldc]

My fancy new watch monitors my oxygen saturation over night. Looked at the stats, and it drops below 90% a couple of times a night. So looks like sleep apnoea, will probably get some gadgets to monitor breathing rates/snoring, as well as diet/exercise, and trying to solve it myself before trying the doctor. Has anyone had it, and had it go away?

I wake up tired, but I'm normally right as rain after bike commute into work.



I've always suspected it, as I've occasionally had dreams where I'm drowning/unable to breath etc, but this goes right back to childhood.

[Wowbagger]

I had sleep apnoea and there's another thread somewhere about it. I haven't got it now but I had to lose at least 2 stone before that was the case.

[L CC]

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=86997.0 refers.

I don't (think I) have sleep apnoea, though I'm probably fat enough, but I am definitely not getting enough sleep.

Google-induced hypochondria being what it is, I might change my mind.

[Notsototalnewbie]

My fancy new watch monitors my oxygen saturation over night. Looked at the stats, and it drops below 90% a couple of times a night. So looks like sleep apnoea, will probably get some gadgets to monitor breathing rates/snoring, as well as diet/exercise, and trying to solve it myself before trying the doctor. Has anyone had it, and had it go away?

I wake up tired, but I'm normally right as rain after bike commute into work.



I've always suspected it, as I've occasionally had dreams where I'm drowning/unable to breath etc, but this goes right back to childhood.

I read that sleep apnoea can exacerbate ADHD symptoms.

I'm on a waiting list to see the sleep clinic as apparently I regularly stop breathing at night and wake up with a gasp. I do have dreams about not being able to breathe. My migraines also often come on overnight which is a real pain as it ruins the entire day.

The huge downside of waiting to see the sleep clinic is that the migraine clinic has decided I'm not allowed to try any more preventive meds until I've seen the sleep specialists, which I'm a bit gutted about as there are exciting new drugs about.

I'm not overweight either, though I'm at the upper end of a healthy BMI (problematic though BMI is) but apparently it's not essential.

[Wowbagger]

For some people, sleep apnoea is caused by stuff going in in the nasal cavity. IIRC Teethgrinder had/has this. For me, it was the sheer mass of neck flab squashing my trachea.

[Notsototalnewbie]

For some people, sleep apnoea is caused by stuff going in in the nasal cavity. IIRC Teethgrinder had/has this. For me, it was the sheer mass of neck flab squashing my trachea.

I do struggle with a blocked nose most nights. While I'm waiting for the sleep clinic the GP prescribed flunarizine antihistamines and mometasone nasal spray, which has helped a bit.

[geraldc]

They say if you fall asleep too quickly, it maybe an indicator of sleep apnoea. I can put on a podcast, and I'm asleep before the intro music has finished.

[Notsototalnewbie]

They say if you fall asleep too quickly, it maybe an indicator of sleep apnoea. I can put on a podcast, and I'm asleep before the intro music has finished.

I generally fall asleep very quickly (but wake in the night). I can put the 15 minute sleep timer on my podcast and still be asleep well before it stops.

A while back I took a monitor home from the hospital and slept with it but I don't get an appointment to discuss results to the end of January and given the circs I'm not convinced it will happen.

[Notsototalnewbie]

Had my appointment with the sleep clinic consultant over the phone. My overnight oxygen levels are good so he thinks it's highly unlikely I have obstructive sleep apnoea but instead elements of insomnia and parasomnia. The other night I apparently climbed over Rob's body in bed and tried to throw myself off while shouting about a spider. He grabbed me to stop me falling off, which woke me up.

He's going to get me to do another test with a monitor that measures more than blood oxygen, and write to my GP suggesting a referral to ENT to check all is well there (I'm perpetually snuffly even before covid, which is why my GP gives me prescription antihistamines and mometasone nasal spray, and my tonsils are always the first thing to swell up if I get ill - when I first got covid I thought it was tonsillitis).

[barakta]

If you see ENT, ask about 'Avamys' nasal spray.

A lot of GPs won't prescribe it without ENT advice, but if the basic mometasone isn't working, Avamys might be better - it takes a few weeks to tell. I find it's better and my own GP (a former ENT registrar) gave it to me after many of my ENT infections and now I have it full-time. I am still snotty by normal standards, but in my case we know the inside of my nose is a scary mess.

Good luck, that sleep activity sounds quite scary!

[Notsototalnewbie]

Thanks Barakta I will remember that.

Annoyingly, he said he would have referred me to ENT himself but he can't because Kings has no ENT department. Slightly worried this means I'll end up at the local hospital, nicknamed Mayday/May Die, the same one that cheerily sent me home with an undiagnosed broken arm because they couldn't be bothered to xray. ho hum.

[rogerzilla]

I went through a phase of not being able to sleep on my back because my own snores woke me up, choking.  Seems ok now.  I think, in many people, it's a combo of age, flabbiness and the amount of mucus in there.  Not having a cold for two years due to WFH (the office is a wholly insanitary place) has probably helped.

[Notsototalnewbie]

Two things:

Consultant rang me and said I'm very unlikely to have obstructive sleep apnoea as overnight pulse ox test was good, but he thinks I have elements of insomnia and parasomnia. I'm going in to get another device for a different sleep test in a couple of weeks.

Yesterday I managed to properly see a migraine specialist for the first time in about three years by volunteering for a new drug trial. (Previously had a handful of emails and one telephone convo about a year ago).

Upon doing a medication review she was NOT happy to find out I was regularly using the steroid nasal spray I mention above - apparently there is evidence that these sprays generally do migraineurs no good. I didn't know this and evidently neither did GP. She said why didn't the GP do some investigations as to what was causing the nasal congestion instead (it may well be the migraine attacks themselves, there is a link). I'm not sure I have the energy to push for that but perhaps if the sleep specialist does as he said and asks GP to refer to ENT that might help.

[barakta]

Interesting re nasal spray. I've been using one since 2009ish and it combined with daily cetirizine has reduced my antibiotics for ENT nonsense from 2-3x a year to once every 18-36 months on average.

In my case I know what causes the issues, anatomical issues + too many 1980s surgeons stomping around inside my nose cos my nasal passages kept closing up. My GP (former ENT registrar) sent me to her ex consultant who made very bad faces when he looked into my nose and saw my scans. Nothing they can do, damage is done.

The quick reading I did after seeing your post seems to suggest that the nasal sprays worsening migraine usually kicked in within 3-4 days in the way I get with paracetamol, celecoxib and gabapentin. Paracetamol was The Worst.

[Notsototalnewbie]

I reckon if you have known issues to the extent you do there's a balance to be had. In my case she probably has a point.

Interestingly she mentioned 'rebound' - I've looked back at my records (all attacks logged on an app) and it seems they did actually get slightly better when I first started using the spray and then got worse again.

[barakta]

Yeah. I suspect ENT won't take referrals for "what's causing the issue" until the GP has tried daily antihistamine and nasal sprays. So the GP is probably caught in a hard place and may not know about the migraine conflict issue.

I hope you can get the GP to find out more for you and see if sprays are your issue.