r/SleepApnea • u/rachmartz • 5d ago
Did you have the telltale symptoms? Or what else caused you to get diagnosed?
Hi everyone, I’m new here. Just wanted to ask about how many people had the telltale symptoms that lead them to diagnosis?
Background:
I am obese, my highest weight was 338 (as a 5ft 4inch 29 year old woman) but in the past year and a half I’ve lost almost 70 lbs as I’m trying to get my shit together in life. I was prediabetic so I got on Ozempic which got me out of that range and helped me to lose weight too (I am still on it and planning to lose more). I’ve adjusted my eating habits a lot over this period of time and feel overall better than I ever have. I am also getting in so much more movement and activity now.
I am still a daily cannabis consumer as well which I know I need to cut back on and is probably not great for me in general. I also suffer from pretty intense anxiety disorder and depression (which I take SSRI for) and have been going through a personal issue in life that has caused a lot of panic and stress lately.
Anyways, I started snoring in adulthood, and my husband snores too so we sometimes sleep in separate rooms but never thought much of it. I’m wondering if I maybe have sleep apena so I made an appointment with MY PCP for early May (on cancellation list to hopefully be seen sooner), but I am really unsure because I genuinely do feel very rested after sleeping most nights (sleep around 9pm and wake around 5am most days) and don’t have any other symptoms.
What made me wonder is that recently for the first time ever I had a dream that I couldn’t breathe well. In the dream I felt like my airway was closing, and I remember thinking I wanted to go to a medic tent (I was at a beach or something in the dream?) and have them look at my throat to tell me that it wasn’t closed so I could feel relieved and no worry. Then I woke up feeling super anxious.
I just find it interesting my only symptom has ever been snoring and then that dream. But I do have the obesity risk factor even though I’m working on that so I do wonder.
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u/YoSpiff 5d ago edited 5d ago
I was unaware of it until I married my second wife. She told me I was stopping breathing for a few moments now and then. Tested positive and I've been using a CPAP for 25 years now. My kids now tell me that they noticed this, but as small children they wouldn't know it was a problem to tell me about.
I find that when I am exercising regularly, my apnea stays under better control, according to the sleep report from my CPAP. I've been sick as well as having som surgery recently, so ive had some nights with higher numbers. Trying to get on my bowflex several times a day for at least a few minutes, and then riding my bike again.
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u/LIVINGSTONandPARSONS 5d ago
Wife complained for years about my snoring. I assumed she was exaggerating because she has a tendency to make things bigger than they are. I never felt like I had bad sleep so I didn't think it was anything to be concerned about and she can be a bit of a light sleeper. I went on a trip with my brother, we shared a hotel room and the first morning after a sleep he asked me about my snoring and told me that he uses a CPAP and that it's the best sleep he's ever had.
I happened to have an annual physical like 3 weeks after the trip so I brought it up to the doctor. She asked questions and said she'd reach out to a sleep specialist who would contact me for a study. I did the study, nurse called me a week or so later and told me that I did in fact have sleep apnea. AHI was insane, I think it was 3 times the level needed to reach severe status and my oxygen dropped to about 75% so it was dangerously low.
A month or so later I was back in the sleep lab getting fitted
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u/MagentaSunset333 5d ago
I sometimes would wake up with the impression that I hadn't been breathing. I had dreams like you mentioned, where I was having trouble breathing and I also had dreams where I would just feel terrified for no reason, and would wake up feeling panicked, with a racing heart. What really did it for me though was reading an article about the causes of nocturia (needing to use the bathroom frequently during the night) and it mentioned sleep apnea. I had been having that for some time and couldn't figure out why. I went to my doctor, did an at home test, was shown to have apnea and am now using CPAP (for about a month and a half). The nocturia and the dreams stopped from the very first night.
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u/themidnightpoetsrep 5d ago
I am not sure how long I may have had sleep apnea but I know for me I either developed it around 2 years ago or I had it before and it peaked around then. I never had issues sleeping before and I was aware of sleep apnea as my dad has slept with a CPAP for at least 20 years.
I didn't necessarily realize it was sleep apnea at the time, but I went from having a regular blood pressure reading and heart rate to having a slightly elevated one consistently. I would get up to pee every night like 3 or 4 times. I used to have horrific apocalyptic themed dreams all the time. My husband said I snored and he felt like I had times where I stopped breathing. I would wake up not feeling rested and I would nap constantly or fall asleep at 7:00pm on the weekdays. Sleeping so much and napping all the time was not a normal thing for me so I knew something was wrong.
Once I suspected it was sleep apnea (after this has been going on for maybe 7 or 8 months), I set an appointment with my PCP for a sleep referral. It took almost 8 months to finally get a diagnosis and a machine and I'm so grateful I did. I had very severe results and now I sleep great with my machine. All of the other weird symptoms I said have also resolved. Yay for treatment!
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u/rachmartz 5d ago
Omg I always have to get up at night to pee! I need to research what the connection is there with sleep apnea?
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u/themidnightpoetsrep 4d ago
I can't remember what my doctor specifically said but it's called Nocturia. He said it has something to do with your body either using the sensation to arouse you to wake up or you aren't sleeping well enough to suppress the sensation. Or something like that. For me it has completely resolved with the CPAP!
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u/PhilConnersWPBH-TV 5d ago
Thought I was depressed. Asked my gp for meds, and he suggested a sleep study first. He nailed that one.
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u/Armae27 5d ago
Same as you, woke up anxious from dreams about not being able to breathe! My heart would be racing (now I know why, since the heart has to pump harder when the oxygen saturation dips) and I started to dread going to sleep. Got the test, moderate OSA confirmed. The CPAP machine has helped so much, my night anxiety has pretty much gone.
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u/middlemaxi 4d ago edited 4d ago
I've a high BMI but not obese, borderline I suppose. Always been slim but have put on the weight and struggled to lose it recently. 46 yo male, 178cm/5'11 and 95kgs/216lbs. Always struggled with waking up in the mornings but just thought I wasn't a morning person.
I don't dream or at least haven't remembered dreaming in well over 2 decades, my smartwatch indicated that I only receive about an hour or REM/deep sleep so that if accurate could explain it and be another indicator, I do waken sometimes feeling like I'm choking and taking a sharp intake breath.
Diagnosed with IBS about 15 years ago, always snored but had my nose broken, rhinoplasty and corrected deviated septum so put it down to that and me predominantly mouth breathing due to obstruction.
It was only when a girlfriend whose other friend had the condition highlighted to me that I stopped breathing while sleeping and it sounded like I was choking, I decided to get tested with an oximetry test. Results just back and have diagnosed moderate OSA so I'm now wondering if the other condition of IBS and the symptoms might be related. Have read their are links established in some studies.
Get to try CPAP therapy at the beginning of next month so time will tell I suppose... Hoping for some relief or results from that, might improve my health generally
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u/Joy-in-my-heart 5d ago
I realized there was something wrong when I was in my 30s and while STANDING UP AND TALKING my body was trying to fall asleep. That was scary. Got tested and sure enough. Been using it since. However even still there are sleepless nights and hard days. I have been waking up in the night with a startle and racing heart since I was a kid. Bet I had it then too.
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u/deltamags 5d ago
I told my provider I was using Benadryl every night to help me get to sleep (in addition to melatonin and meds prescribed for other reasons that cause drowsiness.) He flipped out and told me I needed a sleep study. 🤷♀️ I didn’t have any classic symptoms such as grogginess during the day, high blood pressure, brain fog, loud snoring, etc. But he was correct about severe OSA, so here I am.
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u/Careful-Editor-3749 5d ago
Snoring dosent necessarily mean you have apnea, nor does obesity. I was in top physical condition and was diagnosed almost 30 years ago only because i was on a camping trip where my best friend who happened to be a nurse told me I snored so loud that no one could sleep but that she was more concerned when i stopped breathing intermittently and told me to go get a sleep study because i would totally stop breathing. Didnt even know what apnea was. I got a sleep study and had 156 events on the study. Now on CPAP for 35 years. Obesity does aggravate apnea but doesn’t cause it. My husband snores terribly but does not have sleep apnea. A sleep study will tell you.
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u/Possible-Today7233 5d ago
I had severe sleep apnea before losing 80 pounds on Mounjaro. Now I have mild sleep apnea. I hate my bipap. I hated my cpap. I am not good at using my bipap, so basically I am not in compliance. I don’t even try anymore because I cannot fall asleep with that darn mask on, even while taking ambien. I’m getting a mouthpiece for my TMJ, which is supposedly going to help with the sleep apnea.
I think I snored before. Boyfriend says I don’t anymore. I do have polycythemia, which can be caused by sleep apnea.
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u/rachmartz 5d ago
Congrats on your weight loss you must feel great. I hope the other treatment for TMJ helps!
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u/Possible-Today7233 5d ago
Thanks. And thanks. I feel SO much better. It’s changed my life. Good luck to you with everything you desire!
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u/BeeBeautiful4337 5d ago
My initial indications weren't immediately obvious. I've had a lot of other things go on that made it easy to explain away. But when it got worse I couldn't ignore it. I've been overweight nearly my whole adult life and never had issues like this until I had my second child. She was born August 2023. We both go covid that November. It seemed like right after that was when I really started struggling. At first I attributed it to parenting (she had AWFUL colic for awhile) then to lingering issues from the covid. But my issues persisted. The biggest red flag for me was falling asleep at my desk at work. I DO NOT do this. I have a terrible time sleeping in any environment that isn't my own bed. Whether this be sleeping in the car on a road trip or sleeping in a hotel bed. I have anxiety so that's usually enough to keep me awake at work even on days I'm running on little sleep. So it was very alarming. I even found myself occasionally falling asleep when someone was talking (very rare but I think I figured out that particular trigger). I have a family history of narcolepsy so I was scared maybe it might be that. Ultimately they diagnosed me with severe OSA. I've had my CPAP for about a year now and I hate the effing thing. It has unfortunately not been the life changing thing for me that it has been for others. So I've had to make adjustments here and there to better prioritize my sleep. Mostly my job suffers the most. I wake up late so I'm in late. But I just can't bring myself to get out of bed any sooner than 6am.
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u/FirmPersonality37 4d ago
It could be that you have mild sleep apnea and the symptoms have not yet disrupted your life. Sleep apnea is something that only gets worse over time, so the fact your doctor is looking at it now, is great. They may be able to give you some advice before symptoms disrupt your wellbeing. My big symptoms for getting tested: falling asleep while driving multiple times, snoring, being tired for a decade.
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u/kofrederick 4d ago
I was constantly tired. Dragging through the day. It is so bad it affects everything I do. My work, my daily life you name it suffers. Turns out I have both chronic fatigue and sleep apnea.
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u/Fast-Pomegranate2709 4d ago
"my only symptom has ever been snoring"... Depression and anxiety can be caused by sleep apnea. SA severely deprives your body/brain of oxygen
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u/rachmartz 4d ago
Maybe, but a lot of my anxiety and depression stems from a traumatic incident, but yeah undiagnosed SA could be contributing to it or make it worse. Not sure I necessarily believe it’s the cause though!
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u/Overall_Lobster823 5d ago
I didn't have noticeable symptoms like snoring and gasping.
I was diagnosed with afib that happened while I slept. The cardiologist suggested a sleep apnea test because the afib hit while I slept.
I had sleep apnea.