Hubby Has Apnea And It's Difficult!

[Miss_Miss]

He's told about this weakness to every doctor he's seen. In one sense, they blow it off or his primary will ask a bunch of questions to which she should know the answer (since she's sent him to all kinds of specialists). He has hypothyroidism but takes his med faithfully and labs are always good, etc. I know weakness, like fatigue, can accompany so many other diseases so just for one symptom it's difficult to pin down.

He says the weakness isn't plain old fatigue - he knows what that is. The weakness makes it hard for him to stand or to walk. He DOES do that but it's sheer willpower to do so. And the funny thing is, it comes and goes.

I'm HOPING it's a side effect from the apnea, but so far no doctor has ascertained that.

I'm sorry I can't explain better and this is the best that he describes it.

Thank you for your help and suggestions.

I'm no doctor but I wonder if the body weakness might come from his severe osteoporosis because his bones are weak. Is it hard for weak bones to support a six-foot tall frame at his age, etc? (no broken bones -yet- and you better believe that I pray that doesn't happen)

I don't know. It's just so frustrating.

[Pugsy]

Thank you for the clarification.

That sort of weakness is not a common symptom of sleep apnea....where the muscles and entire body just feel weak. I liken that sort of feeling to what I might feel after a severe bout of the flu or stomach bug stuff. The list of potential problems in general health that could have generalized weakness as a symptom is quite long.

Now bone tired fatigue is commonly a big symptom of sleep apnea because mainly it's the poor sleep quality not ever letting the body actually get good sound restorative sleep is a vary common symptom.

Is the fatigue manifesting itself in some way as weakness....wouldn't be impossible I suppose but I am more inclined to think it has more to do with his age and maybe the osteoporosis or other general health condition. He doesn't feel strong because he isn't strong kind of thing.

About the best we can do though is proceed with the ASV treatment and see if once that is well managed....see if things improve in the strength department and if it doesn't then really push the doctor for looking into that aspect of his complaints.
Other health problems are more likely to manifest as overall weakness than apnea.

Fix the sleep issues first.....they desperately need to be fixed anyway...and see what remains and then investigate further.

[nicholasjh1]

It's a shot in the dark, but many doctors only give T3 thyroid supplements for hypothyrodism, I know because my sister had this issue. The thinking is if you supplement with T3, the body converts that to t4, but some people have an issue converting, the problem is, some doctors are too uninformed to check for this. (I think this is correct, It's possible it's the other way around and T4 converts to T3. etc. ), but point being, after my sister started supplementing with T3 and T4, it was night and day and she's been doing great ever since then.

[Miss_Miss]

It's a shot in the dark, but many doctors only give T3 thyroid supplements for hypothyrodism, I know because my sister had this issue. The thinking is if you supplement with T3, the body converts that to t4, but some people have an issue converting, the problem is, some doctors are too uninformed to check for this. (I think this is correct, It's possible it's the other way around and T4 converts to T3. etc. ), but point being, after my sister started supplementing with T3 and T4, it was night and day and she's been doing great ever since then.

I'm sorry I haven't responded before now but I just saw this. Yes, I've heard of the T3 and T4 issue and when I ask after those on his labs, the doctor says they're fine. She only prescribes levothyroxine which, I think, is for the T4. If she doesn't believe he "needs" the other, she sure won't prescribe it and we've not yet found any doctor that will. They say, "this is all you need."

And then again, when he's having a good or better day with the apnea he says the weakness "isn't as bad." So...again...for him is it apnea related? Agh, it's just so hard watching him go through this and being unable to help.

Also, on the apnea issue - we took the SIM card to have his compliance run. Last time they ran it, for 2 months his AHI were lowered to 9.5. Today for a month, they were 8.4. So help me - since 9.5 was for two months, was that actually better? Or is the 8.4?

Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions. I've been reading a lot of threads and not sure I'm able to process all the information, but I'm trying.

[chunkyfrog]

Lower is better.
5 is the "official" cut-off, but most of us feel our best when it is 2 or smaller.
Baby steps.
Keep up the good fight.

[Miss_Miss]

Lower is better.
5 is the "official" cut-off, but most of us feel our best when it is 2 or smaller.
Baby steps.
Keep up the good fight.

Thank you so much, chunkyfrog.

[palerider]

Also, on the apnea issue - we took the SIM card to have his compliance run.

It's a "SD" card, not a "SIM" card. SIM cards are what go in your phone, "Subscriber Identity Module".

(An important distinction if you ever need to get another one.)

Last time they ran it, for 2 months his AHI were lowered to 9.5. Today for a month, they were 8.4. So help me - since 9.5 was for two months, was that actually better? Or is the 8.4?

8.4 is 'better' but still terrible, under 2 is what we strive for, as mentioned previously.

An 8.4 means he's getting waked up, *on average* every 7.14 minutes, all night long, which is terrible.

[Miss_Miss]

Also, on the apnea issue - we took the SIM card to have his compliance run.

It's a "SD" card, not a "SIM" card. SIM cards are what go in your phone, "Subscriber Identity Module".

(An important distinction if you ever need to get another one.)

Last time they ran it, for 2 months his AHI were lowered to 9.5. Today for a month, they were 8.4. So help me - since 9.5 was for two months, was that actually better? Or is the 8.4?

8.4 is 'better' but still terrible, under 2 is what we strive for, as mentioned previously.

An 8.4 means he's getting waked up, *on average* every 7.14 minutes, all night long, which is terrible.

Ah, SD. Okay. Thanks for clarifying. (What does SD stand for?)

I know. Waking up that often - I don't know how he functions, poor guy.

[Pugsy]

(What does SD stand for?)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card

[nicholasjh1]

It's a shot in the dark, but many doctors only give T3 thyroid supplements for hypothyrodism, I know because my sister had this issue. The thinking is if you supplement with T3, the body converts that to t4, but some people have an issue converting, the problem is, some doctors are too uninformed to check for this. (I think this is correct, It's possible it's the other way around and T4 converts to T3. etc. ), but point being, after my sister started supplementing with T3 and T4, it was night and day and she's been doing great ever since then.

I'm sorry I haven't responded before now but I just saw this. Yes, I've heard of the T3 and T4 issue and when I ask after those on his labs, the doctor says they're fine. She only prescribes levothyroxine which, I think, is for the T4. If she doesn't believe he "needs" the other, she sure won't prescribe it and we've not yet found any doctor that will. They say, "this is all you need."

And then again, when he's having a good or better day with the apnea he says the weakness "isn't as bad." So...again...for him is it apnea related? Agh, it's just so hard watching him go through this and being unable to help.

Also, on the apnea issue - we took the SIM card to have his compliance run. Last time they ran it, for 2 months his AHI were lowered to 9.5. Today for a month, they were 8.4. So help me - since 9.5 was for two months, was that actually better? Or is the 8.4?

Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions. I've been reading a lot of threads and not sure I'm able to process all the information, but I'm trying.

Glad I wasn't completely off base. (After what you said the full memory started flowing back) basically they see T4 as the main human use and prescribe T4. Normally T3 converts to T4, which is one reason to prescribe T4, but some people need more T3, either for unknown pathways or the conversion process. Her doctor says that he gets better results that way(to prescribe both), and that it's based on his research of conversion pathways. Sorry your doctors won't try. I know some are super into playing it by the book (and I get why do to lawsuits etc).

[Miss_Miss]

As you can see, I changed the name of my post because I downloaded Oscar today. I'm not sure if I've done things right because I'm not pc smart at all. Heck, I'm not smart enough for a smart phone. Seriously. I use a landline and flip phone.

But if I did it right, I just ran the SD card and am so disappointed by the AHI. (there really ought to be a sobbing face included here)

This seemed to be the only screen shot that came up. Again, not sure I did it right?

Changes: Hubby had used the F & P mask, but got a new F20 last week, and he likes it so much better. Has used it for 10 nights now.

Regarding last night: He slept for about 2 1/2 hours before needing a potty break. Said he was sleeping good, and I tiptoed in (from watching TV in living room) and looked at machine. Inhale varied but those few seconds I was there it didn't go to 25. Stayed around 14 to 17.

After his bathroom break, he slept another couple of hours which he said was good, but rest of night not good. He also has allergies and he woke up to remove mask, sneeze several times, blow nose, etc. Then we had a mouse or two making racket (caught one), neighbors making noise, etc.

But I can not tell you how dismayed I am at the AHI. Last week when we got the new mask, the girl ran his numbers and for the past 30 days his average was 8.5.

Is this enough info for anyone to see anything?

Thanks so much.

[Miss_Miss]

Oh, good grief. Now that I look again at Oscar I see that the arrow moves and more graphs show up. Should I make screen shots of all? Sorry to be a dunce.

[Miss Emerita]

You downloaded Oscar and imported data -- well done! You are right to be dismayed by your husband's AHI. The experts can help you see what changes might help.

To help them, could you fiddle with the daily chart a little and then repost it?

First, turn off the pie chart, because it gets in the way of some valuable information. To do that, click on File, then Preferences, then Appearance, and uncheck the pie chart box.

Next, stack these graphs at the top:

Events
Flow rate
Pressure
Leaks
Snores.

To fit all five into one screen shot, you can grab the horizontal grey bar that separates them and move it up to squish the height of the graphs a little.

For now, the experts don't need any other graphs.

[Miss_Miss]

You downloaded Oscar and imported data -- well done! You are right to be dismayed by your husband's AHI. The experts can help you see what changes might help.

To help them, could you fiddle with the daily chart a little and then repost it?

First, turn off the pie chart, because it gets in the way of some valuable information. To do that, click on File, then Preferences, then Appearance, and uncheck the pie chart box.

Next, stack these graphs at the top:

Events
Flow rate
Pressure
Leaks
Snores.

To fit all five into one screen shot, you can grab the horizontal grey bar that separates them and move it up to squish the height of the graphs a little.

For now, the experts don't need any other graphs.

Thanks, Miss Emerita.

Yes, I'm reading Pugsy's post about how to do the graphs. Not sure how well I'll do but I'll try. Hope everything saved after I closed it out. Thanks again.

[Miss_Miss]

I can't get to "pie chart". I unclick it but the "ok" button in lower right corner is at the very bottom of my screen and doesn't allow me to click it. (It's shadowed)