Anything to help sleep apnea quickly?

[PickledElectricity]

I am 7 months pp and exhausted. Been blaming the baby for waking me up but we have a guest staying for Christmas so DP was sleeping in with me and the baby instead of in the spare room (where he's been since DC1 was born nearly 3 years ago!) and he said I was snoring and sounded choked up and struggling to breathe.

So now I'm wondering if I'm being noisy and waking the baby up, who is then crying and waking ME up? 🤔

I've since looked up the symptoms and I have pretty much every single one.

I know that the best thing to do is lose weight but I have a toddler, I'm breastfeeding, exhausted and have no energy so it's a bit of a negative loop that I'm stuck in. DP works long hours 3 days a week so I'm solo parenting half the week essentially. I just feel so run down and everything is hard.

I will try to diet and lose weight but that's a long term solution, is there anything I can do in the meantime that will offer relief/instant impact? I feel like a good night's sleep would do wonders for me.

Any advice?

Speak with your GP. You need a referral to a sleep clinic and probably will be prescribed a CPAP if you do have apnea.

see your GP to consider referral for sleep studies +/- CPAP. Referrals often have long waiting lists though. It might be worth asking your partner to film an episode of what they're talking about so you can show your GP. If it's a new problem and coincides with weight gain then losing weight will quite likely fix it. Sleep apnoea isn't just about bad sleep and fatigue though - it has long term serious effects and comes with some implications for driving/some jobs - so if that is what your GP thinks is going on and lifestyle changes are likely to fix the problem it is so, so important to take it seriously.

Definitely see your GP for a referral to a sleep clinic who will assess you and probably provide a CPAP machine. I know it's a pain to attend appointments with a little one but sleep apnea can cause all sorts of problems further down the line if you don't get it treated.

A previous partner of mine had SA and the CPAP was life changing; he had so much more energy after finally being able to get quality sleep. If you drive you will need to inform the DVLA but as long as you use your CPAP, are annually monitored and responding to the treatment you can still drive (might affect your insurance premiums though? I don't know as I'm not a driver).

Good luck! You will ultimately be so pleased you did this.

Oh, a very short term, limited help might be to sleep with your pillow on a memory foam wedge but it's really not a fix.

@TabbyBeast

Oh, a very short term, limited help might be to sleep with your pillow on a memory foam wedge but it's really not a fix.

Sorry what does this mean?

It’s a wedge pillow you put under your regular pillow when you sleep. It props you up more than a regular pillow would, and is generally used to prevent acid reflux.

I think their point is that it may help your breathing a little for the short term, as you aren’t lying flat, but it won’t be the overall solution to the problem. That is why a visit to your GP is recommended.

You don't always need to inform the DVLA, I remember my partner complaining about people who said on a facebook group that everyone needs to. He spoke about it with his consultant.

Either way OP, you need a doctors appt on Monday morning! It's super important you see someone.

This. My DH got his about 4 days after sleep clinic overnight stay for assessment.

A quicker or temporary potential solution, if waiting lists for a sleep clinic are long might be a mouthguard. I saw a dentist for problems with TMJ headaches, she was a specialist that was recommended to me word of mouth. She gave me a machine i had to wear at night for a few nights, and identified sleep apnoea, it had not really crossed my mind before. She gave me a mouthguard fitted to me to wear at night to stop my bottom jaw sliding backward and this helped me, although I have since lost quite a bit of weight and have found I sleep much better so no longer use it. Thought it might be another option to try in the shorter term.

I used to snore terribly, and tried mouthgards etc, but the quick solve for me was sleeping with my hair in a claw clip on the back of my head. I didn't know that I slept in my back - if you'd've asked me I would have sworn that I was a side sleeper, I fall asleep on my side and wake on my side.
But DH told me that I rolled on to my back and that's when my snoring/apnoea was worse. The claw clip stops me from sleeping on my back and has more-or-less completely solved the problem.

https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/conditions/obstructive-sleep-apnoea-osa/epworth-sleepiness-scale

Info here

@Bess91- Yes, apparently you do not have to notify DVLA if the sleep clinic confirms that although you have SA, you do not suffer from excess sleepiness; it sounds as though the OP does so thought I'd mention it.

@HeartandSeoul- thank you, that's exactly what I meant and yours was a great explanation.

@PickledElectricity- you can get the memory foam wedge pillows from Amazon, Argos and Dunelm. Pp HeartandSeoul explanation was spot on. It might provide some relief in the meantime until you can get seen at clinic as lying at an angle can help keep your airways open a little.

Have you had any blood tests PP to check for anaemia? That can't cause snoring, but being knackered all the time 'could' be from anaemia or another deficiency. As someone else said, sitting propped up a bit 'might' help, but ultimately I agree that you need to see your GP.

DH snored for YEARS and refused to see anyone. Eventually, I completed an e-consult for him, including the the Epworth sleepiness scores. I don't even think he needed to see the GP as they did a phone consult and referred him to the hospital respiratory Dr. The hospital gave him the equipment and he wore it for 2 nights at home- no sleep clinics or going anywhere else to sleep. He has/d severely obstructive sleep apnoea and was walking multiple times a minute. He did not have to tell the DVLA.

Long story short, he no longer slept in the days and lost 10kg but just having more energy in the day. He got a humidified machine which stops his throat drying out. He hopes to wean off needing it, but it really can be life saving!