sleep apnea?

[amandabenjamin74123]

my friend has told me that they think i have sleep apnea. It seems that when I sleep I take two short breaths, and then hold my breath for over a minute before gasping for another breath. If this is true, which I'm going to my family Doctor on Monday, could this be a reason for my elevated heart rate in the morning when I wake up?

[JAMESFETT]

Yes, it could. It is nice of your friends to tell you about that because obstructive sleep apnea is an important condition that requires treatment when confirmed. Confirmation is through a sleep study with monitoring of brain wave sleep pattern, blood oxygen saturation during apneic phases, heart rate, rhythm, and blood pressure. If confirmed, obstructive sleep apnea is effectively treated with C-PAP, whisper-quiet positive pressure applied to the airway, resulting in much more restful sleep. Clues to this condition are provided by others who may witness the patterns, frequent wakenings during the night, and unusual day-time drowsiness.

JD

[amandabenjamin74123]

is it hereditary? I'm really wondering if that is it. I guess I'll find out tomorrow if it could be. If my Cardiologist finds nothing on my echo, maybe that would explain my symptoms, (ie) fatigue, moods, elevated heart rate in the am. I will ask my Dr if I can do the sleep test. It would be nice to feel better.

[JAMESFETT]

Sleep apnea can be a hereditary pattern, but usually I don't think of it in those terms. The condition exists a lot more than is recognized or treated, sometimes severe. The most severe is when the blood oxygen drops durng the apneic phases, and there is actual hypoxemia, which can lead to heart rhythm problems and sometimes hypertension.

JDF

[JAMESFETT]

The detailed sleep apnea test is an overnight sleep study with monitoring of respirations, heart rate and rhythm, oxygen levels in blood (through a finger oximeter,non-invasive), and brain wave patterns. That is somewhat expensive. There are screening tests, such as finger oximetry at home, looking for lowering of oxygen during sleep; if found then go to the detailed test. Obviously, the detailed test is better.

JDF

[Erin]

Sleep is more important than we realize.

That's what I keep trying to tell my twin babies who still keep me awake at night sometimes. :rolleyes:

My husband did the quicky sleep study where they basically just looked at oxy sat levels, and was given the "all clear" sign. A few years later, with continued chronic headaches in the morning, fatigue, etc., he convince his doc to do the more extensive overnight study that Dr. Fett talked about. In the middle of the study, they woke him and said he was waking upwards of twenty times an hour because of apnea. (!!) They put the C-PAP on him right there and he did much better the rest of the night. He uses it now and his headaches have virtually gone away.

However, he went to my cardiologist recently and that Dr. told my husband he doesn't "believe in sleep apnea." What does that mean, I wonder?

Anyway, just to let you know that it may be preferrable to push for the longer sleep study.