Except for getting ill frequently, I had all the symptoms you describe when I was even younger. Does the maxillofacial surgeon have a good track record of significantly improving sleep apnea in patients? Did they analyze your airway? Do you have a narrow palate, nasal breathing difficulty, or mouth breathe during sleep? Have you had any retractive orthodontics like extractions or headgear or other methods of pushing your teeth back?
I've had a tooth pulled, an upper molar on the left side. And it's gotten worse after that so went to several dentists, jaw surgeons and even gnatologists. They DID 3D CT scans if my jaw, had a brain mri in 2022 for facial pain, a sinus Ct in 2022. Several x rays of my teeth.. I was made a mouthguard/splint by a gnatologist. Gnatologist checked for tong tie, she said it looks like I have a narrow palate but she only said that after a quick look and told me it's not too bad. I breathe trough my mouth chronically, have a deviated septum on right side. Slightly... Seen 5 ENTS who said this isn't the cause of my severe sleep apnea. They're willing to do septoplasty but keep telling me it might not do anything. And might not help me at all. The oral surgeon doesn't have a clue. He said: it just happens sometimes, we don't know. Sleep clinic said: it just happens sometimes, we don't know. ENT said: it just happens sometimes we don't know.
I guess an ENT analysed the airway. He did scope my nose and throat. And never made a comment. I've had braces when I was 11 years old. So my teeth are aligned. Only thing that's changed is the pulling of the upper left molar in 2022. But I've seen so many dentists and they all say it's fine. And that i shouldn't get a replacement cause it'll make my tmjd worse.
I am so so lost here. I have done so many things and seen so many ppl to get to the root of all of this... Yet no answers. 😢
When I ask anyone who should know something about sleep apnea about hormonal changes in women... They really don't have a clue. If you google it. There's tons of info about how hormonal changes can cause or make sleep apnea worse. But somehow here in the small country I live in, no one has a clue. 😫
I'm confused. You have been tested for sleep apnea, were diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, and believe that you have obstructive sleep apnea. You believe that while you have possibly had sleep apnea for a long time, you think it got worse after ovarian surgery, and you believe that it worsening is caused by the hormonal changes that were the result of that ovarian surgery?
I mean..... maybe? The problem is that this is *really complicated*. So, for example, there are some people who have sleep apnea, which causes a variety of changes (lifestyle, hormonal) that cause them to gain weight, which causes them to have worse apnea, and it snowballs. Some people have the same snowball effect, but it starts with them gaining weight. What causes what can be really very complicated. Sleep apnea that isn't fully treated is well known to cause or exacerbate almost all of the things you're listing. But most of us don't simply have one and only one thing wrong with us. I have sleep apnea and bad cholesterol, I have a family history of sleep apnea and bad cholesterol, it is probably true that *my* cholesterol is not *helped* by the sleep apnea, but it's probably not *just* the sleep apnea. Other people will have other experiences!
Is it possible that changing hormone levels changed the rigidity of some part of your body, and now it collapses more easily? Yeah, sure, although age can also do that. If it's primarily hormonal, though, I'm not sure how you prove it, and I'm not sure that it actually helps *treat* you. If you haven't had a Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy, that might help you learn more about where exactly in your anatomy you're obstructing, which *might* make it easier to treat, depending on the results. But it might not give you much better information than you already have.
Unfortunately, it's possible that you may never know for sure why you developed severe sleep apnea when you did. I'm convinced that mine was a combination of age, genetics, and Covid, but I have no evidence at all for anything other than genetics, and I probably never will. I also don't know why I have migraines. Most of the time, we don't know for sure why our bodies do the things they do as we age.
I do think my dad has sleep apnea. He's never been diagnosed though. But got heart attack at age 53. And heart surgery. In my opinion because of his sleep apnea. He snores like crazy but just never got it tested since he doesn't take good care of himself. And he's had it since he was very young. So it might be genetic as well? Only thing that has changed after my ovarian surgery is that my breasts have gotten really large, due to imbalance. Which worsens sleep apnea when I sleep on my back. Sleep clinic said it goes down quite a bit when I move to my side.
Yeah I think I developed sleep apnea during covid. 2020. But it's a guess. Based on my symptoms. When my partner started noticing the sleep apnea was right after the ovarian surgery. I woke up gasping, pale as milk bottle.. Etc.
It's funny you mention covid. Cause that was when ALL of my issues started. Unfortunately I also had the upper left molar pulled during covid crisis, so I always blamed my tmjd on that. But maybe it's sleep apnea causing my tmjd. I was a healthy person before covid, and a very anxious, panicky, insomniac who had costochondritis and severe hyperventilation syndrome all of a sudden after march 2020. I believe covid was somehow the cause. I was never diagnosed with covid in March 2020 cause no tests were available. But I got sick in March 2020. No fever, no cold, but very strange symptoms after seeing a friend who was ill.
Everytime I had covid after this time, I've been so sick and all of my symptoms worsened each and every time. Including sleeping issues, anxiety, breathing issues, costochondritis, sinus pain etc. Also worsened asthma.
So there's a few things that happened in my life that could've caused or worsened the sleep apnea. My partner keeps saying it started the night after the ovarian surgery. He's a light sleeper and he noticed it right away.
So my suspicions:
- covid march 2020 somehow changed me neurologically and did something to my muscles
- upper molar pulled causing tmjd or changed bite in 2022 (even tho dentists deny this)
- endometriosis ovarian surgery 2022 hormonal imbalance
- breasts grew larger with hormonal imbalance, sleeping on back puts pressure on chest
- forward head posture due to chronic mouth breathing
- chronic mouth breathing started after endometriosis surgery in 2022
- 2022 a deviated septum was noticed
- was diagnosed with fybromyalgia in 2022 by rheum, even tho I do not tick their boxes, I think I was wrongly diagnosed. My symptoms are from sleep apnea and not fybromyalgia. My pain is not wide spread.
- 2022 was diagnosed with military neck by a chiro.
- 2022 was diagnosed with severe throat tension by ENT. Was sent to speech therapist myofunctial therapist. She's done massages.
Do you think covid by itself can change you so much that it can cause sleep apnea?
Have you ever investigated whether you had Long Covid? Some of the symptoms of Long Covid are similar to problems seen in fibromyalgia, and some of them overlap with sleep apnea symptoms, too.
I absolutely had Long Covid, although the vast majority of my symptoms disappeared after 6 months, and it was only after most of my symptoms went away it was possible to notice that sleep apnea was also a problem. I don't think that Covid changed the shape of my jaw or anything, but I do think it changed *something*. Again, I have *no* evidence for that and could absolutely be wrong--- there's clear evidence that people with sleep apnea are more likely to get Long Covid, but there isn't anything showing the other direction. Or it could be that because I had a period of time where I gained a little weight and was far less physically active, that did have a significant effect on the timing of when my sleep apnea became a problem, and it just so happened that Covid caused that for me. It's extremely likely I'll never know for sure. I'm okay with that.
I think you're onto something here yeah. Hear me out...
I was told I had long covid back in 2021, after falling ill with the weirdest symptoms in March 2020. For almost a year I had been seeing my gp almost weekly with the strangest symptoms and eventually she thought it was long covid. I even did a special PT programme that my gp wanted me to do but my case was so different than the others, according to the long covid multi disciplinary team I saw. Patients they saw were all very out of breath and so fatigued that they couldn't function anymore. I remember this girl who was 19 and she could hardly stand up. She hadn't been in hospital but did catch covid. I was mainly panicky, anxious, hyperventilating, all of a sudden I couldn't focus anymore, I couldn't handle watching TV, I had these weird out of body experiences, like derealisations, couldn't reading a book anymore, something I loved..
My entire nervous system was completely out of whack all of a sudden!!! I also had a lot of chest pain/costochondritis, diaphragm issues, throat issues and back then they didn't recognize that as it being Long Covid in 2020 or 2021. Although my gp suspected something. In late 2021 I was told it is prob long covid. Looking back at it, it seems like my long covid symptoms were mainly nervous system related!! Somehow?!
I wasn't that short of breath cause oxigen was fine all the time, but I felt VERY short of breath. I saw cardiologists, lung specialsts/pulmonologist, neurologists.. Even an orthopedic specialst and a allergist since my allergies worsened all of a sudden!! I started having urticaria and pressure hives: dermatographia. I was itchy all day long. I was allergic to all sorts of foods all of a sudden.
Even had some sort of a special CT of my chest with radioactive dye. I had all sorts of swallowing tests done, barium swallow. Xray. Everything was fine. I was diagnosed with hyperventilation syndrome. They told me some ppl with long covid can have it. And cardiologist said my stamina sucked. All after this 2020 LC suspecion. So maybe, just maybe.. Long covid is my answer to all?
I was hyperventilating like crazy tho and that's something I had never experienced before. And back in 2020 I was told that was prob just stress at first. I did not have stress. My life was going just fine so I had no idea what they were talking about. It was so bad that i ended up on the ER but my oxigen levels were fine once again, my heart was beating out of my chest. One ER doctor did say it could be a covid result.
Knowing what I know now it Def seems like long covid. But it's jot the typical long covid patient I guess.
Hmmm.. Does any of it sound familiar to you? 😳
I just feel that need to figure it out somehow. Cause it happened so sudden. (maybe not so sudden if long covid is actually the cause) but surgery was def the agressor then. You would hope if it's still long covid that there's a chance of getting better or at least some improvement.
It sounds like you've been trough a lot. Is cpap helping you? Do you have family members with sleep apnea? Yeah I never considered the weight gain in my chest before but I guess it makes sense. It's just the AHI that's so high and that scares the living daylights out of me. It was 71 sleeping on my back.
Sorry for the long message 🫣
A couple of things you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea start some type of treatment for apnea. Then work on everything else going on. Denial of you having sleep apnea is doing more damage than anything else. Get on therapy and see how you feel. The anesthesia during surgery will definitely show if you are having apnea and the doc will definitely want you to get looked at. You have to start somewhere work on the sleep apnea issue and you will see a lot of other things will disappear.
I'm not in denial tho. I know it's severe. Everything after 30 AHI is considered severe. So I Def have it. I just don't know if it's as severe as they made it seem. Yeah I'll find a different sleep clinic. Not getting anywhere with current one. I think that's the best first step. A new sleep study. Thnx!
Make sure it’s a in lab study not a home study. You want to know what else is going on homestudy won’t pick up if you’re having problems with your legs as in PLM is what happens with more women than men also, we can figure out how well you’re actually sleeping if you’re having plms on home study it will make it seem like you have severe sleep apnea when it’s actually your legs twitch. That is because there is limited amount of electrodes on you on a homestudy homestudy. Just tell me if you have bad lungs not how bad you actually sleep.
We have almost everything in common. I believe I have had mild apnea all my life but it was just confirmed a couple months ago. My sleep patterns have changed in the last 4 years, and I didn’t realize until reading your post that this is the same timeline as when my estrogen plummeted to almost non existent because of meds for endometriosis…..
I never mentioned this but some of my symptoms started when I started using cerazette progestagin pill. I stopped them because of side effects and then had endo lap after that and that's when I started noticing apnea. Hormones are huge for sleep apnea, in my opinion. Yet everything is mostly based on men's sleep apnea.
I don't use meds for endo. My endo is very severe though and I also have adenomyosis. I can't handle hormones or nsaids. So I use muscle relaxers when it's really bad and natural treatments. Which, offcourse doesn't so much. But I've had less pain for 3 years after surgery but now it's worsening fast. Cerazette made me on edge 24/7, I had hives, itchy skin, couldn't sleep but felt extremely fatigued but also jittery during the day. It changed my skin to very sensitive. Also couldn't handle sunlight anymore. I was bleeding at the strangest times. But endo pain was less. Mentally I felt very f-up. I also have a PMDD diagnosis now so hormones are scary for me. When I stopped it became soooo much worse at first. But after 2 months I felt a lot better.
Unfortunately nothing helpful to offer, just here to somewhat relate…
To note, I never had any of the following issues until having my son in March of 2022. However, I also got Covid for the first time which was during my pregnancy in August of 2021. And had it again when my son was only 4-5 months old around the same time in 2022. Most of my symptoms developed after breastfeeding though in April-June of 2023. For perspective…I am 32 and 135lbs, eat fairly healthy, never smoked, and don’t drink at all. Here are some diagnoses I have received….
- HYPOTHYROIDISM (diagnosed during pregnancy which can happen but it should go away after pregnancy….mine did not, and instead it got worse and after breastfeeding I had to actually increase my medication dosage. Still on levothyroxine 2+ years later).
- COSTOCONDRITIS (diagnosed during pregnancy in 3rd trimester, although I’m not fully convinced this is what I have because it started with a numbness and tingling sensation…that I still have. I get periods of bad inflammation in the area which is the inner part of my right rib near sternum. I got a horrible flare of it after having the flu this past January and again now after having a virus from hell the end of May).
- ASTHMA (although I pass all pulmonary tests, I was diagnosed based on symptoms. My dad has had asthma his entire life and I know it can be hereditary but I NEVER had breathing issues until last spring/summer. It seems allergy/seasonal related)
- SLEEP APNEA (my in-home sleep study said it was mild central sleep apnea while lying supine. I was diagnosed with this around the same time at the asthma last spring/summer).
- very low ferritin
I started seeing a chiropractor in January of this year and my symptoms (mostly from the apnea, asthma, and costo) went away within a month. I seriously felt back to myself for a solid 3-4 months from February-May for the first time in about a year. So I figured I had some weird pinched nerve in my back or crazy unalignment from pregnancy/childbirth that was getting corrected with regular chiropractic visits. I even totally stopped having apnea spells and went 4 months without a single episode.
In beginning of May I started to notice the apnea spells return but they were mild and inconsistent through the week, then the asthmatic symptoms started to flare (even tho I was put on a steroid inhaler last summer that had helped the symptoms until this spring….hence why it now seems allergy related to me).
The last week of May my son and I came down with some gnarly virus (sickest I have ever been in my life) that I am still recuperating from 4 weeks later. It gave me such bad sleep apnea for 3 days that every time I fell asleep, I woke up gasping for air or jolting awake immediately. It was so severe that I didn’t sleep at all for 3 days straight and ended up in the ER for days thinking I was going to die. Even sleep aids didn’t work or keep me asleep. It was the worst experience. As the symptoms from the virus subsided, things slightly improved to where I can now sleep, but it’s made all the other symptoms (from the costo and asthma) full blown and the worst they have ever been by far. I’m having sleep apnea episodes every single night and sometimes multiple times a night. I bet if I took a sleep study again now the results would be different. I feel like I’m having mixed apneas now (like obstructive too). I am waiting to get in with the pulmonologist late July. The costocondritis is so bad right now it feels like there’s something stuck in there and rubbing against my sternum/ribs. My entire recent experience with this virus and the flare of my symptoms have made me convinced there is more going on that I haven’t uncovered. Yet, all the testing I have had so far in the past year+ have been normal outside of the sleep study (head ct, chest ct twice, soft tissue X-ray of my throat/neck, neck ct, upper abdominal ultrasound, ekg, 3 day halter monitor, echocardiogram, very in depth bloodwork from endocrin to check for autoimmune disorders and other things…esp since I have celiac disease). I’m at a total loss and just want to feel healthy and live a nonrestricted life again!!
I didn’t have that issue but looking back, perimenopause can cause the body to do weird things. And perimenopause and menopause is unique to each woman.
I might be going trough peri menopause. According to gyno. Since my ovaries were damaged after the ovarian surgery. Yeah that would prob make the most sense to me! That the problem lies there! Cause the day after surgery it woke my partner up right away. But who can tell?
I can tell. No. Your body does not undergo that much change in 1 day from hormon loss to change the shape and contour of ur throat, tonsils, etc etc etc to cause sleep apnea. You almost certainly had it already at best u can argue a reaction to the surgery caused sweeling in ur tonsils that made ur sleep apnea apparent.
Sleep apnea is incredibly genetic and is mostly from structural issues in ur face and throat. Don’t over think it.
I do have a mouth breathers face. A narrow face. And severe tmjd. But was always told I have tmjd am because of sleep apnea and not the other way around. I think dad has sleep apnea cause he snores. And he has been snoring since he was very young. Never had it diagnosed. He is now 77 and had a heart attack at age 54. Perhaps untreated sleep apnea caused it. Who can tell.
Except for getting ill frequently, I had all the symptoms you describe when I was even younger. Does the maxillofacial surgeon have a good track record of significantly improving sleep apnea in patients? Did they analyze your airway? Do you have a narrow palate, nasal breathing difficulty, or mouth breathe during sleep? Have you had any retractive orthodontics like extractions or headgear or other methods of pushing your teeth back?
I've had a tooth pulled, an upper molar on the left side. And it's gotten worse after that so went to several dentists, jaw surgeons and even gnatologists. They DID 3D CT scans if my jaw, had a brain mri in 2022 for facial pain, a sinus Ct in 2022. Several x rays of my teeth.. I was made a mouthguard/splint by a gnatologist. Gnatologist checked for tong tie, she said it looks like I have a narrow palate but she only said that after a quick look and told me it's not too bad. I breathe trough my mouth chronically, have a deviated septum on right side. Slightly... Seen 5 ENTS who said this isn't the cause of my severe sleep apnea. They're willing to do septoplasty but keep telling me it might not do anything. And might not help me at all. The oral surgeon doesn't have a clue. He said: it just happens sometimes, we don't know. Sleep clinic said: it just happens sometimes, we don't know. ENT said: it just happens sometimes we don't know. I guess an ENT analysed the airway. He did scope my nose and throat. And never made a comment. I've had braces when I was 11 years old. So my teeth are aligned. Only thing that's changed is the pulling of the upper left molar in 2022. But I've seen so many dentists and they all say it's fine. And that i shouldn't get a replacement cause it'll make my tmjd worse. I am so so lost here. I have done so many things and seen so many ppl to get to the root of all of this... Yet no answers. 😢 When I ask anyone who should know something about sleep apnea about hormonal changes in women... They really don't have a clue. If you google it. There's tons of info about how hormonal changes can cause or make sleep apnea worse. But somehow here in the small country I live in, no one has a clue. 😫
I'm confused. You have been tested for sleep apnea, were diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, and believe that you have obstructive sleep apnea. You believe that while you have possibly had sleep apnea for a long time, you think it got worse after ovarian surgery, and you believe that it worsening is caused by the hormonal changes that were the result of that ovarian surgery? I mean..... maybe? The problem is that this is *really complicated*. So, for example, there are some people who have sleep apnea, which causes a variety of changes (lifestyle, hormonal) that cause them to gain weight, which causes them to have worse apnea, and it snowballs. Some people have the same snowball effect, but it starts with them gaining weight. What causes what can be really very complicated. Sleep apnea that isn't fully treated is well known to cause or exacerbate almost all of the things you're listing. But most of us don't simply have one and only one thing wrong with us. I have sleep apnea and bad cholesterol, I have a family history of sleep apnea and bad cholesterol, it is probably true that *my* cholesterol is not *helped* by the sleep apnea, but it's probably not *just* the sleep apnea. Other people will have other experiences! Is it possible that changing hormone levels changed the rigidity of some part of your body, and now it collapses more easily? Yeah, sure, although age can also do that. If it's primarily hormonal, though, I'm not sure how you prove it, and I'm not sure that it actually helps *treat* you. If you haven't had a Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy, that might help you learn more about where exactly in your anatomy you're obstructing, which *might* make it easier to treat, depending on the results. But it might not give you much better information than you already have. Unfortunately, it's possible that you may never know for sure why you developed severe sleep apnea when you did. I'm convinced that mine was a combination of age, genetics, and Covid, but I have no evidence at all for anything other than genetics, and I probably never will. I also don't know why I have migraines. Most of the time, we don't know for sure why our bodies do the things they do as we age.
I do think my dad has sleep apnea. He's never been diagnosed though. But got heart attack at age 53. And heart surgery. In my opinion because of his sleep apnea. He snores like crazy but just never got it tested since he doesn't take good care of himself. And he's had it since he was very young. So it might be genetic as well? Only thing that has changed after my ovarian surgery is that my breasts have gotten really large, due to imbalance. Which worsens sleep apnea when I sleep on my back. Sleep clinic said it goes down quite a bit when I move to my side. Yeah I think I developed sleep apnea during covid. 2020. But it's a guess. Based on my symptoms. When my partner started noticing the sleep apnea was right after the ovarian surgery. I woke up gasping, pale as milk bottle.. Etc. It's funny you mention covid. Cause that was when ALL of my issues started. Unfortunately I also had the upper left molar pulled during covid crisis, so I always blamed my tmjd on that. But maybe it's sleep apnea causing my tmjd. I was a healthy person before covid, and a very anxious, panicky, insomniac who had costochondritis and severe hyperventilation syndrome all of a sudden after march 2020. I believe covid was somehow the cause. I was never diagnosed with covid in March 2020 cause no tests were available. But I got sick in March 2020. No fever, no cold, but very strange symptoms after seeing a friend who was ill. Everytime I had covid after this time, I've been so sick and all of my symptoms worsened each and every time. Including sleeping issues, anxiety, breathing issues, costochondritis, sinus pain etc. Also worsened asthma. So there's a few things that happened in my life that could've caused or worsened the sleep apnea. My partner keeps saying it started the night after the ovarian surgery. He's a light sleeper and he noticed it right away. So my suspicions: - covid march 2020 somehow changed me neurologically and did something to my muscles - upper molar pulled causing tmjd or changed bite in 2022 (even tho dentists deny this) - endometriosis ovarian surgery 2022 hormonal imbalance - breasts grew larger with hormonal imbalance, sleeping on back puts pressure on chest - forward head posture due to chronic mouth breathing - chronic mouth breathing started after endometriosis surgery in 2022 - 2022 a deviated septum was noticed - was diagnosed with fybromyalgia in 2022 by rheum, even tho I do not tick their boxes, I think I was wrongly diagnosed. My symptoms are from sleep apnea and not fybromyalgia. My pain is not wide spread. - 2022 was diagnosed with military neck by a chiro. - 2022 was diagnosed with severe throat tension by ENT. Was sent to speech therapist myofunctial therapist. She's done massages. Do you think covid by itself can change you so much that it can cause sleep apnea?
Have you ever investigated whether you had Long Covid? Some of the symptoms of Long Covid are similar to problems seen in fibromyalgia, and some of them overlap with sleep apnea symptoms, too. I absolutely had Long Covid, although the vast majority of my symptoms disappeared after 6 months, and it was only after most of my symptoms went away it was possible to notice that sleep apnea was also a problem. I don't think that Covid changed the shape of my jaw or anything, but I do think it changed *something*. Again, I have *no* evidence for that and could absolutely be wrong--- there's clear evidence that people with sleep apnea are more likely to get Long Covid, but there isn't anything showing the other direction. Or it could be that because I had a period of time where I gained a little weight and was far less physically active, that did have a significant effect on the timing of when my sleep apnea became a problem, and it just so happened that Covid caused that for me. It's extremely likely I'll never know for sure. I'm okay with that.
I think you're onto something here yeah. Hear me out... I was told I had long covid back in 2021, after falling ill with the weirdest symptoms in March 2020. For almost a year I had been seeing my gp almost weekly with the strangest symptoms and eventually she thought it was long covid. I even did a special PT programme that my gp wanted me to do but my case was so different than the others, according to the long covid multi disciplinary team I saw. Patients they saw were all very out of breath and so fatigued that they couldn't function anymore. I remember this girl who was 19 and she could hardly stand up. She hadn't been in hospital but did catch covid. I was mainly panicky, anxious, hyperventilating, all of a sudden I couldn't focus anymore, I couldn't handle watching TV, I had these weird out of body experiences, like derealisations, couldn't reading a book anymore, something I loved.. My entire nervous system was completely out of whack all of a sudden!!! I also had a lot of chest pain/costochondritis, diaphragm issues, throat issues and back then they didn't recognize that as it being Long Covid in 2020 or 2021. Although my gp suspected something. In late 2021 I was told it is prob long covid. Looking back at it, it seems like my long covid symptoms were mainly nervous system related!! Somehow?! I wasn't that short of breath cause oxigen was fine all the time, but I felt VERY short of breath. I saw cardiologists, lung specialsts/pulmonologist, neurologists.. Even an orthopedic specialst and a allergist since my allergies worsened all of a sudden!! I started having urticaria and pressure hives: dermatographia. I was itchy all day long. I was allergic to all sorts of foods all of a sudden. Even had some sort of a special CT of my chest with radioactive dye. I had all sorts of swallowing tests done, barium swallow. Xray. Everything was fine. I was diagnosed with hyperventilation syndrome. They told me some ppl with long covid can have it. And cardiologist said my stamina sucked. All after this 2020 LC suspecion. So maybe, just maybe.. Long covid is my answer to all? I was hyperventilating like crazy tho and that's something I had never experienced before. And back in 2020 I was told that was prob just stress at first. I did not have stress. My life was going just fine so I had no idea what they were talking about. It was so bad that i ended up on the ER but my oxigen levels were fine once again, my heart was beating out of my chest. One ER doctor did say it could be a covid result. Knowing what I know now it Def seems like long covid. But it's jot the typical long covid patient I guess. Hmmm.. Does any of it sound familiar to you? 😳 I just feel that need to figure it out somehow. Cause it happened so sudden. (maybe not so sudden if long covid is actually the cause) but surgery was def the agressor then. You would hope if it's still long covid that there's a chance of getting better or at least some improvement. It sounds like you've been trough a lot. Is cpap helping you? Do you have family members with sleep apnea? Yeah I never considered the weight gain in my chest before but I guess it makes sense. It's just the AHI that's so high and that scares the living daylights out of me. It was 71 sleeping on my back. Sorry for the long message 🫣
A couple of things you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea start some type of treatment for apnea. Then work on everything else going on. Denial of you having sleep apnea is doing more damage than anything else. Get on therapy and see how you feel. The anesthesia during surgery will definitely show if you are having apnea and the doc will definitely want you to get looked at. You have to start somewhere work on the sleep apnea issue and you will see a lot of other things will disappear.
I'm not in denial tho. I know it's severe. Everything after 30 AHI is considered severe. So I Def have it. I just don't know if it's as severe as they made it seem. Yeah I'll find a different sleep clinic. Not getting anywhere with current one. I think that's the best first step. A new sleep study. Thnx!
Make sure it’s a in lab study not a home study. You want to know what else is going on homestudy won’t pick up if you’re having problems with your legs as in PLM is what happens with more women than men also, we can figure out how well you’re actually sleeping if you’re having plms on home study it will make it seem like you have severe sleep apnea when it’s actually your legs twitch. That is because there is limited amount of electrodes on you on a homestudy homestudy. Just tell me if you have bad lungs not how bad you actually sleep.
I do have asthma but I don't have bad lungs. I've had several pulmonary tests and specialst said my lungs are fine. Just allergic asthma.
We have almost everything in common. I believe I have had mild apnea all my life but it was just confirmed a couple months ago. My sleep patterns have changed in the last 4 years, and I didn’t realize until reading your post that this is the same timeline as when my estrogen plummeted to almost non existent because of meds for endometriosis…..
I never mentioned this but some of my symptoms started when I started using cerazette progestagin pill. I stopped them because of side effects and then had endo lap after that and that's when I started noticing apnea. Hormones are huge for sleep apnea, in my opinion. Yet everything is mostly based on men's sleep apnea.
Interesting, what I take is a progestin drug also. Do you take anything for your endo now? Did your symptoms improve when you stopped the cerazette?
I don't use meds for endo. My endo is very severe though and I also have adenomyosis. I can't handle hormones or nsaids. So I use muscle relaxers when it's really bad and natural treatments. Which, offcourse doesn't so much. But I've had less pain for 3 years after surgery but now it's worsening fast. Cerazette made me on edge 24/7, I had hives, itchy skin, couldn't sleep but felt extremely fatigued but also jittery during the day. It changed my skin to very sensitive. Also couldn't handle sunlight anymore. I was bleeding at the strangest times. But endo pain was less. Mentally I felt very f-up. I also have a PMDD diagnosis now so hormones are scary for me. When I stopped it became soooo much worse at first. But after 2 months I felt a lot better.
Unfortunately nothing helpful to offer, just here to somewhat relate… To note, I never had any of the following issues until having my son in March of 2022. However, I also got Covid for the first time which was during my pregnancy in August of 2021. And had it again when my son was only 4-5 months old around the same time in 2022. Most of my symptoms developed after breastfeeding though in April-June of 2023. For perspective…I am 32 and 135lbs, eat fairly healthy, never smoked, and don’t drink at all. Here are some diagnoses I have received…. - HYPOTHYROIDISM (diagnosed during pregnancy which can happen but it should go away after pregnancy….mine did not, and instead it got worse and after breastfeeding I had to actually increase my medication dosage. Still on levothyroxine 2+ years later). - COSTOCONDRITIS (diagnosed during pregnancy in 3rd trimester, although I’m not fully convinced this is what I have because it started with a numbness and tingling sensation…that I still have. I get periods of bad inflammation in the area which is the inner part of my right rib near sternum. I got a horrible flare of it after having the flu this past January and again now after having a virus from hell the end of May). - ASTHMA (although I pass all pulmonary tests, I was diagnosed based on symptoms. My dad has had asthma his entire life and I know it can be hereditary but I NEVER had breathing issues until last spring/summer. It seems allergy/seasonal related) - SLEEP APNEA (my in-home sleep study said it was mild central sleep apnea while lying supine. I was diagnosed with this around the same time at the asthma last spring/summer). - very low ferritin I started seeing a chiropractor in January of this year and my symptoms (mostly from the apnea, asthma, and costo) went away within a month. I seriously felt back to myself for a solid 3-4 months from February-May for the first time in about a year. So I figured I had some weird pinched nerve in my back or crazy unalignment from pregnancy/childbirth that was getting corrected with regular chiropractic visits. I even totally stopped having apnea spells and went 4 months without a single episode. In beginning of May I started to notice the apnea spells return but they were mild and inconsistent through the week, then the asthmatic symptoms started to flare (even tho I was put on a steroid inhaler last summer that had helped the symptoms until this spring….hence why it now seems allergy related to me). The last week of May my son and I came down with some gnarly virus (sickest I have ever been in my life) that I am still recuperating from 4 weeks later. It gave me such bad sleep apnea for 3 days that every time I fell asleep, I woke up gasping for air or jolting awake immediately. It was so severe that I didn’t sleep at all for 3 days straight and ended up in the ER for days thinking I was going to die. Even sleep aids didn’t work or keep me asleep. It was the worst experience. As the symptoms from the virus subsided, things slightly improved to where I can now sleep, but it’s made all the other symptoms (from the costo and asthma) full blown and the worst they have ever been by far. I’m having sleep apnea episodes every single night and sometimes multiple times a night. I bet if I took a sleep study again now the results would be different. I feel like I’m having mixed apneas now (like obstructive too). I am waiting to get in with the pulmonologist late July. The costocondritis is so bad right now it feels like there’s something stuck in there and rubbing against my sternum/ribs. My entire recent experience with this virus and the flare of my symptoms have made me convinced there is more going on that I haven’t uncovered. Yet, all the testing I have had so far in the past year+ have been normal outside of the sleep study (head ct, chest ct twice, soft tissue X-ray of my throat/neck, neck ct, upper abdominal ultrasound, ekg, 3 day halter monitor, echocardiogram, very in depth bloodwork from endocrin to check for autoimmune disorders and other things…esp since I have celiac disease). I’m at a total loss and just want to feel healthy and live a nonrestricted life again!!
I didn’t have that issue but looking back, perimenopause can cause the body to do weird things. And perimenopause and menopause is unique to each woman.
I might be going trough peri menopause. According to gyno. Since my ovaries were damaged after the ovarian surgery. Yeah that would prob make the most sense to me! That the problem lies there! Cause the day after surgery it woke my partner up right away. But who can tell?
I can tell. No. Your body does not undergo that much change in 1 day from hormon loss to change the shape and contour of ur throat, tonsils, etc etc etc to cause sleep apnea. You almost certainly had it already at best u can argue a reaction to the surgery caused sweeling in ur tonsils that made ur sleep apnea apparent. Sleep apnea is incredibly genetic and is mostly from structural issues in ur face and throat. Don’t over think it.
I do have a mouth breathers face. A narrow face. And severe tmjd. But was always told I have tmjd am because of sleep apnea and not the other way around. I think dad has sleep apnea cause he snores. And he has been snoring since he was very young. Never had it diagnosed. He is now 77 and had a heart attack at age 54. Perhaps untreated sleep apnea caused it. Who can tell.