I feel stupid, can no longer focus and my memory is simply terrible.

[Miss Emerita]

Your sleep study says you have moderate sleep apnea, with an AHI of 20. That is like having somebody poke at you 20 times an hour. You may not remember all these arousals, but they are disrupting your sleep all the same. They are probably preventing you from cycling through the normal sequence of sleep stages, including deep sleep and REM, which are both necessary for good health and normal functioning. So I honestly don’t have a clue why the neurologist was dismissive.

Like Chris, I’d be interested to know what additional testing or tentative diagnosis the neurologist provided, though since you’ll be seeing someone new, that is moot, I suppose.

Hang in there until your clinic sleep study. It should be able to tell you a lot more about your sleep “architecture.”

[Julie]

I think it's possible that anxiety over using Cpap - until you get it working well in most respects - could also be a factor and you could be 'awfulizing' any call on your brain as the whole Cpap business is being learned - sort of helping your fears to come true! You need to find some way to relax (meditate?) and go one step at a time... we've all been there to some extent, however small, and at least you're so much younger than most of us who may have had OSA our whole lives but never got diagnosed til recently. You're not losing your mind, so take a deep breath and maybe slow down trying to 'perform' some things until you get things sorted out.

[M.Caine]

Your sleep study says you have moderate sleep apnea, with an AHI of 20. That is like having somebody poke at you 20 times an hour. You may not remember all these arousals, but they are disrupting your sleep all the same. They are probably preventing you from cycling through the normal sequence of sleep stages, including deep sleep and REM, which are both necessary for good health and normal functioning. So I honestly don’t have a clue why the neurologist was dismissive.

Like Chris, I’d be interested to know what additional testing or tentative diagnosis the neurologist provided, though since you’ll be seeing someone new, that is moot, I suppose.

Hang in there until your clinic sleep study. It should be able to tell you a lot more about your sleep “architecture.”

If the neurologist said your symptoms are not related to sleep apnea - then what did he say? Did he order testing, such as a Brain MRI to rule out a physical, medical cause? Have you been to a general doctor for overall check-up? In addition to sleep apnea, maybe something else is also going on.

Sounds like you'll be getting a CPAP machine, stick around here & people will help you optimize your therapy. Once things are going well with that at least some of your symptoms will lessen, and hopefully go away completely.

Hang in there, there is hope!

Sorry for being this daft and not including the tests the neurologist sent me to do in my prior posts.

I've had a CT scan which revealed I have partial empty sella turcica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_sella_syndrome which according to him and my GP is quite common and shouldn't be responsible for my health issues or any health issue whatsoever, nevertheless due to this condition I've been sent to do multiple blood tests in order to see if my hormone levels are fine and see an endocrynologist in order for him to analyse the results of said blood tests.

Finally I'm also due to go see an ophtalmologist in order for me to get a funduscopic examination to find out whether or not my eyes are the origin or one of the origins of my health issues.

I think it's possible that anxiety over using Cpap - until you get it working well in most respects - could also be a factor and you could be 'awfulizing' any call on your brain as the whole Cpap business is being learned - sort of helping your fears to come true! You need to find some way to relax (meditate?) and go one step at a time... we've all been there to some extent, however small, and at least you're so much younger than most of us who may have had OSA our whole lives but never got diagnosed til recently. You're not losing your mind, so take a deep breath and maybe slow down trying to 'perform' some things until you get things sorted out.

Neurologist seems to agree with you and believes all of this is solely related to stress and prescribed me a sleeping pill, pneumologist believes sleep apnea can be the cause.

[chunkyfrog]

When my son had his stroke, he was seen by a neurologist.
That guy was a total moron.
Maybe you got his brother . . .

[Miss Emerita]

I'm glad to hear you'll be seeing an endocrinologist to assess the results of your blood tests. One difficulty with very general symptoms like exhaustion is that they can have several contributing causes. So even if you need treatment for pituitary insufficiency, you may *also* need treatment for apnea. I'll be eager to hear the results of the sleep test.

[squid13]

What medications are you taking, some will give you memory problems such as Lyrica.

[johnnyt]

I am 24 years old, weigh 103kg for a height of 191 cm.
...
I don't know what to do and am very scared for my future, I feel extremely stupid all the livelong day.

I can definitely relate, I've been dealing with concentration and memory problems for 4 years with every test coming back normal, am 30 now. I'm in the process of trying an apap and see if it can help my memory and concentration issues.

Try to stay calm and keep moving forward

[Jack Burton]

I’m scared and was wondering if these symptoms may or may not be linked to sleep apnea ?

Whatever the cause of your cognitive issues, CPAP treatment probably won't hurt and quite possibly could help.
Severe sleep apnea is no joke.

[nicholasjh1]

OP, I definitely had this issue and honestly it didn't get completely better untill 2 years after cpap start and also there was a dramatic change when I added certain supplements. noopept helped a lot, I took it for about 4 months, and the literature does show it can help rebuild the brain. I also take supportive 'nootropics' including Astaxathin, phosphatidyl choline (because I'm big brained and my liver doesn't create enough on it's own), Golden milk (tumeric, pepper, ashwaganda), gastrodia elata for sleep, pycnogenol(circulation), and black seed oil (to counteract metabolic syndrom). I can tell you my ability to code again and to visualize has skyrocketed. In fact I feel more clear headed then ever.

[nicholasjh1]

Nobody around me believes me...

According to him such low AHI couldn't possibly alter someone's cognitive functions. Here are my results if you wish to form an opinion on them - [

Well, your oxygen never get's very low, but personally I feel like shit if I have apnea of over 2 per hour. I find that If I'm having 2 per hour that's because I WAKE UP ENOUGH to STOP having Apneas meaning regardless of the # my sleep is effected.

[busymummy]

Hi there, I wish you well as you continue to investigate the source of your troubles. I am much older than you and have been experiencing issues with memory/feeling stupid coupled with difficulty sleeping. I have mild/moderate obstructive sleep apnea and have been on cpap since December 15, 2019. I have been fully compliant with therapy and am adjusting to the mask. I actually find the humidified air helpful for breathing in a maritime climate. I am slowly starting to feel better.

[chunkyfrog]

The loss of sleep affected me more, as my desats were not significant.