75yo Dad sounds like he's snoring when awake

[Penguintears]

My Dad is a bit overweight, has high blood pressure and is on quite a few different medications, including for glaucoma. He eats fairly healthily as my Mum cooks everything for him but he drinks fairly heavily, mainly red wine. He does a lot of gardening so sort of active but he has dreadful posture/flexibility and walks slowly.

He has always snored and breathed heavily but it is getting much worse. We're just watching TV and he sounds like he's snoring but he's wide awake.

He has a difficult personality so mentioning it to him won't go well and he is likely to dismiss my concerns. I'm just wondering how worrying this is or what it means?

Sleep apnea? Are you sure he's awake and not 'dropping off'

He's definitely wide awake.

My mother (early 70’s) breathes very noisily has done for years (heavy smoker with a nasal deformity) and has been diagnosed with COPD in the last 3 yrs. She has a long history of serious acute respiratory illnesses too, which have hospitalised her.

If your father has other chronic illnesses, presumably he has regular appointments with his GP? Even if you aren’t able to raise it with him, it is likely that his GP will, if it’s that noticeable. Are you able to talk to your mum about it? Has she noticed it and could she persuade your dad to visit the GP about it (or tell you if he already has)?

I have a colleague like this. He's a morbidly obese smoker, and he was recently diagnosed with sleep apnoea - he snored when he was awake, regularly fell asleep at his desk, and was starting to fall asleep at the wheel of his car 😳

His parents forked out for a CPAP machine for him and the difference in him within just a few days was staggering. He was so much happier, and feels like he's got the energy to attempt exercise now - he's utterly miserable with his weight, but was far too exhausted to do anything about it.

Definitely try to push for a sleep clinic referral!

If you google sleep apnoea self test or similar, you'll get a test that assesses your risk. It asks questions such as if you're sitting watching TV, how likely is it you'll fall asleep? Sleep clinic is the way forward then - they'll sort out a CPAP machine.

One of my friends is like this - although she’s fairly young she’s probably morbidly obsese but I’m aware of her breathing loudly even when she’s sitting doing nothing! She also complains about being tired a lot and snores like a trooper (I can hear her from the next room) so i suspect she may have sleep apnoea too.

He probably does have sleep apnoea but would no way talk to a doctor about it or go to a sleep clinic. My mum has no influence over him either. I'm not sure there's any way we could persuade him to bring it up with the doctor but I was just wondering how dangerous this is, as its definitely getting worse.

Sleep apnoea is quite dangerous and more so, as a PP said if causing issues during waking hours when it could contribute to accidents. Obviously this is especially worrying if he is still driving, not just for him and any passengers but for anyone in the vicinity; pedestrians, other road users etc.

Snoring while awake = obstructed airway, whether that's down to a lung condition or something else I don't know but he definitely needs to be medically assessed (good luck!)

It's life threatening. My husband was very resistant, especially when he saw what a CPAP looked like, but now he wishes he had sorted it earlier. We practically had to stage an intervention to get him to even see the GP, and the GP made it clear that there was no point referring him if he wasn't prepared to try the machine, so I get your situation. Is there anyone he'll listen to?

Sadly he won't listen to anyone. It's some kind of weird ego thing where he won't ever admit to any kind of weakness or vulnerability.

Hi, my Dad started doing the same thing last year. We're not sure of the exact cause, but it has stopped.
A reduction in his blood pressure medication has helped a lot. Apparently, coughing and wheeziness can be a common side effect.
He was also diagnosed with something called Barret's oesophagus, which may or may not have contributed to this, and is now on medication, so perhaps ask your GP about checking this out.
I hope you get things sorted.