Firestormm
Senior Member
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- 5,055
- Location
- Cornwall England
Only read the first page - seems right up my street - will read the rest later. Thought others might be interested.
Sleep Apnea is a common enough missed diagnosis in patients with ME as it is others I think - though in a recent study from Newton she found it was one of the most common misdiagnoses. I have recently been diagnosed with chronic obstructive sleep apnea myself - after 10 years of asking for a sleep study. Am awaiting treatment to commence.
Of course the difficulty facing those of us with ME is that sleep disruption - too much, too little - and 'unrefeshing sleep' has been seen as part and parcel of the disease. There may be a cross-over with the reported effects of sleep apnea, or it may be that more of us meet the criteria (and testing) for apnea than we realise.
Treatment can involve I think two main avenues: one is a 'mouth guard' to open the airways at night, and the other is nighttime oxygen delivered through a mask (which is the treatment I am lined up for I believe) which attempts to force a constant supply of oxygen down the throat.
Sleep apnea is essentially oxygen starvation to the brain resulting in the brain telling the body to breathe, because the body - for several reasons - stops breathing for short periods within (for me) more significant periods during the night.
So it's often a case of 'snoring' to take a deep breath, and the lack of oxygen and resulting impulse to suddenly 'wake' can result in 'episodes' or interruptions to the extent that it is thought (in my case), I am experiencing seizures.
But they aren't really sure. It does 'interrupt' your sleep rhythms leading to feelings of 'fatigue' during the day, and as can be seen from the paper - cognitive difficulties and (it is speculated) degeneration.
The symptoms are obviously of interest to those with ME and to those working on research into the condition.
I need to read more about this one though:
Sleep Apnea is a common enough missed diagnosis in patients with ME as it is others I think - though in a recent study from Newton she found it was one of the most common misdiagnoses. I have recently been diagnosed with chronic obstructive sleep apnea myself - after 10 years of asking for a sleep study. Am awaiting treatment to commence.
Of course the difficulty facing those of us with ME is that sleep disruption - too much, too little - and 'unrefeshing sleep' has been seen as part and parcel of the disease. There may be a cross-over with the reported effects of sleep apnea, or it may be that more of us meet the criteria (and testing) for apnea than we realise.
Treatment can involve I think two main avenues: one is a 'mouth guard' to open the airways at night, and the other is nighttime oxygen delivered through a mask (which is the treatment I am lined up for I believe) which attempts to force a constant supply of oxygen down the throat.
Sleep apnea is essentially oxygen starvation to the brain resulting in the brain telling the body to breathe, because the body - for several reasons - stops breathing for short periods within (for me) more significant periods during the night.
So it's often a case of 'snoring' to take a deep breath, and the lack of oxygen and resulting impulse to suddenly 'wake' can result in 'episodes' or interruptions to the extent that it is thought (in my case), I am experiencing seizures.
But they aren't really sure. It does 'interrupt' your sleep rhythms leading to feelings of 'fatigue' during the day, and as can be seen from the paper - cognitive difficulties and (it is speculated) degeneration.
The symptoms are obviously of interest to those with ME and to those working on research into the condition.
I need to read more about this one though:
