2yo with sleep apnoea - anyone have any experience? At our wits end here

[ipswichwitch]

DS1 has always snored and been a mouth breather but this last few months things have got a whole lot worse. He's now got sleep apnoea - has pauses in his breathing, is hot through the night, very restless sometimes waking every hour.

We were told a while ago that his tonsils an adenoids are big, and he has had a few episodes of tonsillitis. The Gp has been very reluctant to do anything ab

My two year old had her tonsils whipped out quickly once I told the GP she had sleep aponea. It made a huge difference and completely changed her and the sleep was cured. This was a couple of years ago though when maybe there was more money around.

For my younger DD, who also suffered, I recorded her breathing on my phone and played it to the consultant.

I would ask firmly for a referral to a consultant.

You need a referral to ent specialist, your GP should do this, if they won't I'd see another or be generally annoying till they do!! Good luck

Crappy iPhone and sleep deprivation make for half arsed post!
Gp has been very reluctant to do anything until I went back again recently and insisted. Nobody here is getting any sleep - DH is dealing with his through the night now as we have a 10 day old DS2 now, and he is exhausted. He has resorted to camping on DS1's bedroom floor since he's up so often.

We do now have an appointment with ENT and I hope they recommend removing his tonsils and adenoids and that will be an end to the problem. Has anyone had any experience of this and does the surgery solve the issue or am I grasping at straws here?

We had the same problem. DD had her tonsils and adenoids removed at aged 3 and the improvement was immediate. My GP was fantastic and the ENT consultant was quick to recommend the operation. We think that the lack of oxygen at night was holding back her development - she was tiny and didn't talk much. After the operation, she stopped snoring at night, slept better and had a massive growth spurt. A year on, she has made massive improvements in her speech and language. The operation is a bit stressful (she was in hospital overnight) but was her usual self by 5pm on the day of the operation. Push for the operation ASAP, it really worked wonders for my DD.

I agree you need to get assertive and insist on an ENT referral. Your GP may be trying to keep his/her referral rates down but you need to insist. When I had to do this, I was shown huge checklist of criteria (which I think a "points" system) to assess whether it was worth operating, and Sleep Apnoea scored very highly.

You'll need to think through whether the risks of an operation outweigh the effects you are living with. Unless there have been more recent advances, the only two possible course of action are "wait and see if it goes away by itself" or operate and remove adenoids, possibly also tonsils - but that's not a thing to be done lightly so you need to see a proper ENT specialist, not just a GP, to weigh up those options.

Sorry OP it took me so long to compose that I didn't see your second installment - well done on the insisting.

The surgery, if he has it, should make a big difference but won't necessarily be a miracle solution to everything. In our case it solved the snoring and improved breathing massively but didn't stop the mouth-breathing. Adenoids can grow back too, which is why some health professionals are reluctant to recommend operating.

Both mine has this aged 2 - first one in hospital overnight - second one home in own bed same day

Immediate improvement - oh my - night and day

I think the main thing with the surgery was coming out of the anesthetic - they can be pretty scared - lots of crying for about 10 minutes and then ice-cream and lots of smiles

Haven't looked back

Feel free to PM me if you have questions

My DD now 12 had this when younger, she originally was referred to ENT as she was a seriously snotty kid, & had always snored & woke frequently but I didn't make the connection, she also had glue ear.
When we originally went for the ENT app one of the questions was about snoring & when I said she was a snorer & waking up lots. She was then also referred for a sleep test, a nurse brought a monitor out to tape to her finger & sleep with, the results were shocking she had stopped breathing (only for a few seconds) over 20 times!!
She then had the op for enlarged tonsils, gromits & adanoids(?!) & all was fine. I would see another GP, get an ENT referral which anyone can request, & also request a sleep test..... Hope that helps

Thanks for all the replies.
DS1 has always been a very snotty kid and had frequent ear infections too. His normal breathing is so loud I can hear him from the far side of the room, and the snoring is ridiculous. He has also started getting night terrors recently.

I am worried about his growth an development now - particularly if this problem doesn't get sorted. He has always been on the small side (0.4 centile) as he was prem, and his being so tired during the day is starting to impact on his behaviour - nothing major yet, general naughtiness and overtired type behaviour.

I really hope ENT recommend the surgery - we don't take it lightly, DS has a fear of drs, but I don't believe waiting to see if he grows out of it is an option now as its having such an effect on his sleep.

We are going through the consultant process. ENT consultant wanted a sleep study done to check oxygen levels at night. Have now done that & had letter confirming she has breathing difficulties at night. Now waiting to see consultant again (in Feb) to see what next step is.

Glad you've got the referral, usually surgery makes an immediate difference, really hope everything is sorted soon in the new year

I hope so too mrsspencer , he was awake every hour last night :( he had night terrors too - DH couldn't calm him for ages, he just didn't know where he was or seem to recognise us at all. Frankly any sort of improvement would be a godsend right now.

Poor boy and you! maybe keeping a diary would help for when you see the ent team? Wish I could suggest something to make it better!!