flutter led to discovery
Question:
Found out I have Apena this week (just got my C-PAP today) and I wanted to share what led to my suspecting I had Apena, since its a bit different than the typical – falling-asleep-at-the wheel symptoms. Hopefully, this will help others who are suspecting they have Apena. Two months ago I caught the flu that had been going around work — nothing out of the ordinary, but some light congestion and a sore throat/high-temp.. but almost immediately I developed an inability to fall asleep due to a FLUTTER I began to feel? hear? in my throat as it relaxed… I could have sworn that I was in a very mild near-sleep and the NOISE coupled w/the flutter would wake me. time-after-time-after-time… but how can I be hearing this? I was constantly on the edge of sleep and hearing/feeling noise/movement in my head? throat… I started to think I was just hyper-fixated on this strange occurrence. The conditions became so bad that I went 40 hours w/out sleep in which I became increasingly anxious and irrational… I finally feel asleep and awoke reasonably refreshed — or so I thought — my congestion cleared and I blew this off as just some bad-cold related snoring.. although, I suspected something was amuck and checked out the apena symptoms on the web… I just assumed my inflamed throat was more swollen than usual and this was just a temporary symptom.. I went back to my normal routine…my sleep seemed better -except for the nagging inconstancy of my sleep… Ive never been awaken by my alarm.. almost always wake up many times before it goes off… just chalked this up to an obsessive impulse of mine to check the clock –just my anxiety and my sub-conscious waking me up. Thought I was a nervouse-lite-sleeper. After all, there were days I felt refreshed — I thought– and the days I was exhausted I NEVER feel asleep anywhere or at the wheel. If anything the times I felt bad..I couldnt drift off cause I had that quirky kinda gag-sinus? reflex… But than the chronic stuffiness started –my mouth open and gaping. One stuffy nose after the other…tell the Dr. he checks blood pressure and sends me to sleep lab… I keep telling myself that Im ok — just a chronic cold season –maybe allergies? even feel ok, till I get sleep test and than all hell breaks lose… the day prior I develop a severe head-cold that everyone at work had developed.. I go in for test and intense fluttering/snorting/noises in my head start night of test.. chalk it up to my head-cold, but am told that a cold wont mask apena.. Im told I should be able to breath through my mouth even if I have a head-cold. My night mirrors flu-night… goes terrible and I end up getting 0 stage 4 REM sleep.. still write it off as a reflection of seasonal colds/flus. Have 2 weeks to wait for results — go back to normal sleep.. and start to notice the wild sleep inconstancy and gaping mouth… irritability seems out of control –write if off as stress-related due to testing etc… Finally, Dr. call w/results… 40 events per hour… longest 55 seconds. Cold shouldnt have been a factor regardless.. so I went in Mon night tested C-PAP… and I slept. The most noticeable part was the ease in which I DRIFTED OFF — that was always my main problem the nagging twitches — would arouse me to the point where I would become more and more awake… this went away. I awoke in the morning feeling like I had never felt before — not the typical hyper-energy mode, that some say they experience the first time they use C-PAP, but as though I had just came out of a deep coma — I was disorientated and groggy as though I came out of surgery. Let me add — this was NOT a bad- fatigue – feeling like I experienced before..my mood was great.. my typical sleep deprivation would manifest in a strange combo of acute-exhaustion coupled w.hyperness… sounds like a contradiction? — it was almost as if I would be in a bit of a fog, but my moods would fluctuate wildly and there was a certain hyper-edge to my personality…after the CPAP I felt calm.. the disorientation was chalked up as my still suffering from a bit of sleep deprivation (I only had 7 hours in the prior 2 days). And there was even some good news amidst all of this.. I found out I only need pressure of 6 so I hoping that some weight loss will bring this down… I brought the machine home today and tried a nap which I never was able to do before… and the biggest difference I felt was how I didnt have to struggle w/my throat in the early sleep stage… I didnt sleep much, but when I did awake.. I felt refreshed. So if your out there and not nodding off at the wheel or rationalizing your sleep problems as being something its not — lite sleeper, compulsive behavior, allergies…etc. Get it checked it out. My experience has taught me that this disorder can be subtler than one thinks. Chris
Response:
Chris; Glad to hear things are working out for you! I never had problems falling asleep during the day, either. My symptoms were the gagging, choking events that would wake me up during the night, and feeling achy and exhausted in the morning. Also, I had high blood pressure without any obvious cause (diet etc.), and after doing some research on sleep apnea, found that this was a possible symptom of apnea as well, due to the increased load on the cardio-vascular system. – Dave — remove "nospamplease" from address to send email
