13 Questions About Sleep Apnoea

My regular readers may well be sick of hearing about this, but I will keep on writing about it because people need to hear it!

1. What is it? - Sleep apnea (or sleep apnoea in British English) is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep. Each episode, called an apnea (Greek: ἄπνοια (ápnoia), from α- (a-), privative, πνέειν (pnéein), to breathe), lasts long enough so that one or more breaths are missed, and such episodes occur repeatedly throughout sleep.
2. What made me think I had it? - I had been dealing with severe tiredness for a number of years. Add to that my weight issues and the fact that I am a loud snorer and I was pretty sure this was what I had. However it took me a while to get my GP (family doctor) to take me seriously.
   
3. What did the GP suggest it was? - Well they ran all the usual tests for tiredness, such as diabetes and thyroid, etc but refused to test me for sleep apnoea because at that point in time my husband had not heard me stop breathing in my sleep. This was laughable because by her reasoning it could not be happening while he was asleep! Truthfully I think in his mind he thought I was just too fat and it would all solve itself if I could just lose some weight!
   
4. How did I get the GP to refer me for tests? - Well finally, another 2 years after the initial visit I was even more tired and even more fed up and falling asleep in the day frequently, even whilst working at the computer or in the middle of conversations. By now hubby had heard me stop breathing and so they finally agreed to refer me although insisted on doing all the other tests again first!
5. So what is the test for this? - You used to have to go to a sleep clinic overnight to get diagnosed with this, but these days they can send you home with a machine that you tape and wire yourself to that records various things such as
   Blood oxygen saturation
   Heart rate/pulse
   Body movement and position
   Oral & nasal airflow
   Snoring sound data & wave form
   Patient events
   Time
6. And my results were? - Quite horrifying! The main thing the machine does is count the number of delayed and missed breaths. To be considered as diagnosed with sleep apnoea you have to have 5 to 15 per hour of deep sleep. to be considered a moderate case you would be having 15 to 30 and to be considered a severe case you would be having over 30 (or 60 depending on who you ask). I WAS HAVING 126 apnoeas or hypopneas PER HOUR of deep sleep! No wonder I was tired.
   
7. So, what causes it? - if you have obstructive sleep apnea, your airways can be blocked or narrowed during sleep because:
   Your throat muscles and tongue relax more than normal.
   You're overweight
   The extra soft fat tissue can thicken the wall of the windpipe. This causes the inside opening to narrow and makes it harder to keep open.
   Not enough air flows into your lungs when your airways are fully or partly blocked during sleep. This can cause loud snoring and a drop in your blood oxygen levels. When the oxygen drops to dangerous levels, it triggers your brain to disturb your sleep. This helps tighten the upper airway muscles and open your windpipe. Normal breaths then start again, often with a loud snort or choking sound.
8. What is the treatment? - The main treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea is to use a CPAP machine each night as you sleep.
   CPAP machines have three main parts:
   A mask or other device that fits over your nose or your nose and mouth. Straps keep the mask in place while you're wearing it.
   A tube that connects the mask to the machine's motor.
   A motor that blows air into the tube.
9. So will that cure it? - NO, treatment wit CPAP is long term, you have to keep using it, EVERY NIGHT for ever!
10. Is there not a surgical option? - There are surgeries that can be considered but many doctors doubt their effectiveness and certainly the risks are quite high, so over here in the UK it is not generally offered.
11. So, it is for life then? - Yes and no. If your Sleep Apnoea is mainly caused by excessive weight making things worse, you can bring your weight down through diet and exercise. Easier said than done when you have no energy due to this condition!
12. What is life like with sleep apnoea? - Tired, tired, tired! As I said, I used to fall asleep frequently through the day, some days I would take 2 or even 3 hour naps and still feel tired. I felt like I never had any energy for anything. Once I was diagnosed I had to stop driving, because my consultant suggested I contact the DVLA, and of course once your doctor has said so, if you were to be in an accident because of it, your insurance company may have something to say. And eventually your doctor may contact them himself anyway, especially if he thinks you are a danger.
    Thankfully when my driving licence was revoked I was given a free bus pass, so I can still get out and about, which is nice!
13. Finally, how is it going now? - Well, I've had my CPAP machine since the last week of January, and I have only NOT used it once! Every other night I have managed at least some time on it. At first it was hard going and I struggled with it, but now it's going really well. I went back to the clinic this week and she checked the results on my machine.
    It says that now I am averaging between 5 and 6 hours a night (although that should go up because the last week has been even better than that), and that when I am ON the machine I am having only 7 or so episodes an hour! HOW AWESOME IS THAT? I have so much more energy, I feel alive and am able to do things I have not been able to do for so long! It's fantastic! I still don't have as much energy as i would like to, but compared to where I WAS at, this is amazing!
    

So that's my 13 things about Sleep Apnoea!

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