Sleep apnea - does anyone have any experience with this?

[vffvv]

I've had sleep problems since nearly 9m now. My main issue is I wake up feeling that I haven't slept a wink. I'd have gone to bed, closed my eyes for 8 hours and then wake up feeling exhausted with tired eyes. It's so bizarre.
I also wake up with a sore throat, Ive noticed that my mouth is sometimes wide open during sleep ( noticed when I've just

I'm sure I have sleep apnea. I'm exhausted but repeated bloods are ok. I wake up in a pool of dribble! None of my drs take it seriously. I snore like a wart hog on heat 😂

Lego, blood tests won't show anything. You need a monitor overnight which tracks your sleep pattern. It's very different to snoring.

@vffvv

Anotherlovelybitofsquirrel no never. No coughing or choking. Like I mentioned earlier I have recollections of having my mouth wide open and making a weird breathing sound. Is coughing / choking always present?

I never even woke up. My sister was the one who said I should get it checked after sharing a room with her once.

Denman03 I mean my bloods are generally ok but despite years of extreme fatigue and suggesting i think I might have sleep apnea, my gp still doesn't believe me.

I think this has inspired me to pay for self home test. My gp wanted me try exercise on prescription first but then the gums shut so I'm not closure to a answer and have to do three months at the gym before I can do any more tests

I've just been diagnosed and waiting for a CPAP machine, I did the test with a machine at home then had a telephone consultation, all in the last few months as the hospital is closed. I was borderline a few years ago but it's got worse, I'm 67. Terrible snoring and painful dry mouth and broken sleep, so I'm hoping the machine will help all that.

It helps if you share a room/bed with someone and they can report what they hear. Would that be possible for you, OP? I was able to record my DH’s snoring and audible breath stops on my phone, and that was really helpful to figuring out what was going on with his sleeping and why he was so exhausted all the time (if a bit weird and creepy for him to hear!). I was awake in the middle of the night anyway, cos of the volume of the snoring...

My GP sent me to a friend of his who was a ENT specialist. He was the first person to suggest sleep apnea. He said if ever I went down to London he could arrange a night in the Sleep clinic for me to be monitored. I often fall asleep only to wake and be wide awake and feel like I have had a full nights sleep but eventually drop off and I can do this several times a night. When I wake up in the morning I feel tired. I was getting two and a half hours sleep a night when my GP referred me. I was working 30 hrs a week in a demanding job.
I am awake now having had an hours sleep.🤔

FYI OP, you can also get humidified CPAP machines which DON'T dry your nose/mouth out.

I imagine i have it mildly. I have a deviated septum and extremely narrow nasal canals which I am being operated on for. But the waiting list was 72 weeks long when I went on it just before covid...so I’ve got a while to wait.
I just scored 15 on the sleepiness scale

Dh has a humidified cpap. He also uses Xylimelts which are little discs you stick to your gums and they keep the mouth moist and help protect your teeth

TuMeke as mentioned earlier I'm still sleeping in the spare room as DD is still with DH! 😂 So I don't have anyone to see what I'm doing. But even so, DH sleeps like a log and doesn't notice anything at night.

NainAGP. That's great that you were able to get tested / diagnosed etc during the covid. Is your GP taking appts. Mine only allow emergencies otherwise I'd have gone now. Did they check for any nasal obstruction or anything? I feel that's my cause.

Elouera thanks didn't know you could get humidified machines. Will keep that in mind.

JoshLymanIsHotterThanSam good luck with the op when you eventually get it it done! did the hospital offer to do the nose op quite happily. I have read in some places they're not doing septoplasty ops anymore and you need to apply for funding. What were your issues? Was it not sleep issues?

@vffvv
My GP also only does emergencies but I was referred before Christmas, then all hospital contact has been by phone and the overnight testing machine was couriered to me. But no physical exam of nose, no, but perhaps because the monitor in my case indicated the CPAP.

NainAGP you mean that it's taken 5/6 months after your referral for you to be contacted by the hospital? I don't think I can cope that long!

@vffvv
Actually I was pleasantly surprised at the speed! I suppose it depends where you live, I phoned the department for an estimate of the waiting time and it came round about a month earlier, even with Covid.

Partner had tests and has sleep apnea, since being given the Cpap machine he sleeps 7/8 hours instead of getting up 3/4 times a night.

DH has it and has used a cpap machine for the past 15 years. He used to snore and then stop breathing, before jumping and making a weird noise then start snoring again. It was awful. He was so tired all the time and wrote our car off on the way to work one morning after he fell asleep at the wheel. He was lucky to walk away without a scratch. GP sent him for a sleep study and they actually woke him after 2 hours as he was having so many episodes that they were immediately concerned for his health. The cpap machine transformed his life, and saved our marriage.

sparkli omg. That sounds awful. I have sometimes in the morning felt like I can't concentrate on the road when driving but luckily I got a job last year close to home which means no driving.

I have got a telephone appt with the gp - they are seeing some routine appts now. I woke up this morning again with 9 hours of "sleep" yet when I woke up I felt like I'd only slept a few hours. My eyes feel so tired.

@vffvv I hope you get some joy with the gp. I don't have it, but I do wake up every morning just now feeling like I've not slept! I think it's a feature of lockdown

Thanks. sparkli I've been referred to the ent at the hospital in the next town as where I live the waiting time is nearly 4 m.

The go luckily was really sympathetic and did take it seriously however she ruled out sleep apnea because I wasn't waking up in the night. But you can still have sleep apnea without having a recollection of waking up. Ill see what happens at ent and take it from there. If they say everything is fine then I will push for a sleep study but the waiting time for that is 8m!

stayingaliveisawayoflife
I just wanted to update you that I received the nose things a couple of days ago. It arrived earlier than stated so I was happy.
Anyway the past 2 nights I have noticed that my sleep has actually improved! It's nowhere near normal but it's actually improved. I definitely noticed that I wasn't feeling as awful as I normally do upon waking and that is bloody amazing! Absolutely nothing I've tried has helped a jot so thank you so so much!

When I wear them I can actually feel air going down my throat whereas before I think it was causing me to mouth breathe more to get air in that way. I can't believe this bit of plastic up my nose has helped! Thank you!

That's great! It is a strange feeling when you put it in and instantly feel more air going in! I use mine every night now. It has fallen out a couple of times but I find it on the floor, wash it and back in it goes.

Now just waiting for a doctors appointment!

@vffvv sorry for the delayed reply. I’m in Birmingham area, I didn’t realise i was lucky to be getting it to be honest. I’m was offered it because I can’t breathe through my nose and at the grand old age of 34 I’m starting to get problems with gum disease from all the mouth breathing. Sleep issues weren’t mentioned-they never even asked me about my sleep quality.