Suspected inattentive ADHD, diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea

[AutumnFlowers18]

My 6 year old has just been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, after us looking at her tonsils and noticing they were huge after reading that sleep apnea has a link to ADHD on here (I can't find the thread now).

She has many traits matching inattentive ADHD, practically all the ones on the list. She is going to have her tonsils out and I'm hoping it will help. She's exhausted every morning despite having a full nights sleep, prone to meltdowns, goes hyper often. I've thought for years that it may be ASD/ADHD.

I don't know if it will help many, but just wanted to post this in case it helps anyone else. There was a doctor (Christian Guilleminault) who specialised in obstructive sleep apnea.

Hi. Have personal experience of this.

Ds has adhd & autism he’s 7 in January.

He was diagnosed with sleep apnea when he was 4, he had his tonsils & adenoids out just before his 5th birthday. He had the sleep study and his sats were dipping to the 80’s over night he also had coughs / croup all of the time sometimes needing hospital treatment for the croup (he never got tonsillitis weirdly enough) it was a&e were the ent said he has OSA and referred us to her clinic.

It hasn’t cured anything if I’m going to be completely honest, he’s still as hyperactive as he was before and I pinned my hopes on him settling as I read the same things you did, BUT he made progress developmentally afterwards (he’s also 2-3 years behind developmentally) I don’t know how much would of happened anyway but we had been making really slow progress prior to that - he started reception on par with a 2yr old, but after the operation (and not immediately) he stated to understand instructions and speech progressed etc. So I’m not sure if it was the op iyswim but I figure it must of helped in some way as he’s no longer gasping all night long interrupting his sleep or constantly coughing his lungs up.

It did definitely do wonders for his coughs and colds though, he gets about 1-2 a year now opposed to 1 a month, he once had a cough for 5 months and needed inhalers and steroids to clear it.

Regardless of the outcome it will be good for your dd’s health to have them removed.

Good luck x

Thanks @danni0509. I'm glad it has helped your little boy developmentally and stopped the constant coughs and colds. I'm sorry it didn't help with the hyperactivity.

I'm hoping it will help, will have to wait and see. I think the ADHD is mild but it's still very disruptive for her, it is better at school but worse at home. I don't think she would get an ECHP or support, the meltdowns etc do make life difficult sometimes.

This is interesting. My DS is 7 and had his tonsils abs adonids removed last year because of sleep apnea. I'm expecting him to be diagnosed with adhd tomorrow. (he has had all his assessments and has an appointment tomorrow)

I can't really reply properly right now but I'll be back tomorrow. I would like to look into this more.

Please can I ask how you came to look at sleep apnea ? My DC does look tired in the morning and we have wondering about ADHD too
Thank you

@NeedHelpDs How did your son's assessment go?

@montlieu She was pausing breathing occasionally for ten seconds during her sleep and snored. She was always exhausted in the morning and looked very tired with dark circles under her eyes, despite having what would be considered a good nights sleep.

She had large tonsils, I'd suggest getting your DC to open their mouths wide and have a look with a torch. Hers were huge.

She had the operation a couple of months ago. It has helped a lot with the tiredness and she sleeps much more soundly. DH still wonders if she does have ADHD, there are still signs, as it is only a couple of months it is early days.

I think her teacher recognises there might be an issue as I spoke to them a couple of weeks into this term about how we had been struggling and she was able to get a school place. I know she has been very lucky as there are children with ECHPs who aren't getting places, it is a postcode lottery at the moment.

@AutumnFlowers18 @danni0509 @NeedHelpDs @montlieu

Hey everyone, just checking in to see if any of you were able to update me in how your kids are getting on now, going through something similar.

@ENTnightmare
It did help, she sleeps much better and you can hear the difference in her breathing at night. The pauses in breathing are gone as well and she breathes more quietly when asleep. She looks less tired in the morning. There are still signs of inattentive ADHD and I do think she has it.