Sleep Apnea HELP! Im 26 & after explaining symptoms was told I should be checked for?
sleep apnea. For the last few years I have been sleep
walking. I do alot of different things in my sleep & appear to others as if Im awake, but I never have any recollection of it, others tell me.
Im tired all day I cant go to bed early because I will wake up every 2 hours. But even if I get 7 hours of sleep Im still tired all day. Then mid-day around 1 or 2, It is terribly hard for me to stay awake. In my last job I would start nodding out so I would just lay my head down & take a nap comfortably. With my new job, I cant do that. But that doesnt stop me from nodding out!
Ive been having to drive in the middle of the day for my job and even still, I nod out. Its getting worse, just on Thursday I had a 45 minutes drive and came way too close to having 6 or 7 different accidents. Its very scary, Ive been waking up just at the right time. And it doesnt matter what I do, I cant stay awake.
My memory has also been awful and I have a headache at least 5 days a week.
Please give me any information you can. And if you need more details let me know & i will post. Oh & I also have an overactive bladder. and often have very vivid dreams, i dont think they could be called nightmares, but sometimes scary. Oh and bad back pain, which probably has nothing to do with it, but thought id let u know.
THANKS SO MUCH,
MANDEE
do you wake up gasping for breath? Do you snore loudly? Do your feet swell, especially the tops? Are you overweight? Have you had your tonsils taken out? Do you smoke, and drink, or both? What is your blood pressure? Do you find that you sleep better sitting up?
No i dont gasp, I dont snore, im actually about 20lbs underweight, my feet dont swell, I do smoke , i drink but only occasionally , my blood pressure is around low 100's/80's or 90's. and i rarely try to sleep sitting up if so its only breifly after nodding out. A guy at work who has it told me this. he has 4 out of 7 factors?
Tagged with: accidents • back pain • blood pressure • breifly • different things • headache • hours of sleep • last job • memory • nap • new job • nightmares • overactive bladder • recollection • right time • sleep • tonsils • tops • vivid dreams
Filed under: Sleep Apnea Symptoms
I have had sleep apnea for 13 years. There are some questions that you need to answer before I can give you my opinion. When you wake up in the middle of the night, do you wake up gasping for breath? Do you snore loudly? Do your feet swell, especially the tops? Are you overweight? Have you had your tonsils taken out? Do you smoke, and drink, or both? What is your blood pressure? Do you find that you sleep better sitting up?
I know that I'm asking alot of questions, but these are some of the same questions the doctor will ask you.
Like I said, I have sleep apnea and I use a C-PAP. Within the first month I noticed a huge difference in the way I felt and how much better I was sleeping. Like you I was having headaches, and nodding off at inappropriate times. Please answer those questions and hopefully I'll be able to give you an informed answer. Please be honest!!! That will be the hardest thing to do. No one wants to admit that they are sick, but there are some things that can go wrong if you do have sleep apnea and you aren't under treatment. Some of the side affects are….congestive heart failure, kidney damage, high blood pressure, diabetes, low oxygen count in the blood, and these are just a few.
Sleep apnea would explain being extra tired during the day, but I'm not sure that that's your problem if you're a known sleepwalker. Sleep apnea usually happens to people who have some sort of pressure on their airway (overweight, dwarfism, lung problems, etc.) and throughout the night you actually stop breathing (it sounds like a severe snore kind of) and this causes you to wake up, though not wake up to the point you're aware, like in the morning, or if you had to go to the bathroom or something in the middle of the night. It just causes you to wake up enough to ruin your sleep and it happens frequently enough that your body doesn't get the REM sleep it needs, which results in the tiredness.
The test for it isn't invasive but I've had it done and it isn't the most pleasant experience. You have to have it ordered by a doctor and you spend a night in the hospital, in a special sleep center part, where they hook about 20-30 wires to your face and head and then monitor brain levels, etc. while you (try to) sleep. Based on this test, they can see if you do have sleep apnea and if you do they fit you with an apparatus that looks a lot like an oxygen mask that you wear while sleeping and ensures you're getting the proper amount of oxygen and, therefore, are able to get a good night's sleep.
Now I don't have it, so I don't know THAT much about the particulars, but they thought I did, so that's where the info is coming from. I would say you should get tested if someone credible, like a doctor or someone has suggested you could have sleep apnea, but that based on what you've said it sounds more like you have general sleeping problems – with the sleepwalking, vivid dreams, and overactive bladder combined you're probably just not sleeping like you should.
But, I'm not a doctor, so it probably wouldn't hurt to ask one. :)