Teenager with Sleep Apnea

My 15 yr old son has been watching me start my cpap regimine over the last few weeks. I was explaining to him about the symptoms that I have been feeling for the last year or two. One of the things that I told him was that many times I would wake up more tired that when I went to sleep. He told me that he also feels that way at times. He usually goes to bed about 10 and gets up at 5:30 every week day to get to school early. On the weekends he will sometimes (if i let him) sleep untl 3-4 in the afternoon. He is not overweight at all and says he doesn't snore (but who knows that you do unless someone tells you?) Anyway my question is : How common or uncommon is it for a teenager to have sleep apnea especially one that is not obese and in basic good health? By the way my parents and older brother and myself all are on cpap therapy.

I can't tell you how common it is, but I can tell you that I had apnea as a teenager. It certainly couldn't hurt to get him tested - or at the very least try to tape him in some way or have someone sleep in the room with him to see if he stops breathing at all. If it's not apnea, it could just be that he (like the rest of America's teens) is not getting enough sleep. Teenagers need an average of 9 hours of sleep per night.

Ditto. I just turned 24. Please please PLEASE let him go in for a PSG. I used to do EXACTLY what you describe.

I was, too. And then my junior and senior years of high school came, and I started sleeping more and more, and started sleeping through school altogether. I'd really suggest not waiting on this - if it is apnea, the effects will probably only get worse.

Yeah, I even got yelled at a number of times for being lazy and not getting out of bed. I snoozed on my alarm clock without even knowing that I was doing it, or half knowing and not caring. I always got up at code red time to wake up in order to make it to school at exactly the time I needed to be there. I always had grey circles under my eyes and thought that was just normal for me.

Really, get him in if he's willing, and after your saga, it sounds like he is.

I just called the doctor to get the test scheduled. My son wasn't overly excited about it but then actually wanted to do the test after I talked more to him. (Who wants to have sleep apnea?)
Thanks for all your help

The machine you show in your profile doesn't show any useful data but you are also saying you have the software. I would get the APAP and software, and try it on your son to see if he had a problem, and after the test I would have a APAP and at least be able to see how it was helping my problem. Just a idea, it might be cheaper than a PSG.

If he did have it he could be treated without a medical trail on his records. Jim

[quote="painterman"]My 15 yr old son has been watching me start my cpap regimine over the last few weeks. I was explaining to him about the symptoms that I have been feeling for the last year or two. One of the things that I told him was that many times I would wake up more tired that when I went to sleep. He told me that he also feels that way at times. He usually goes to bed about 10 and gets up at 5:30 every week day to get to school early. On the weekends he will sometimes (if i let him) sleep untl 3-4 in the afternoon. He is not overweight at all and says he doesn't snore (but who knows that you do unless someone tells you?) Anyway my question is : How common or uncommon is it for a teenager to have sleep apnea especially one that is not obese and in basic good health? By the way my parents and older brother and myself all are on cpap therapy.

painterman wrote:I just called the doctor to get the test scheduled. My son wasn't overly excited about it but then actually wanted to do the test after I talked more to him. (Who wants to have sleep apnea?)
Thanks for all your help

Only thing I would caution you on: Obtaining the diagnosis is sometimes worse than the disorder itself, especially if you are young with a long life ahead of you. Once he has a sleep study and diagnosis, he is then "tagged" for life with the disorder, a stigma that can easily impact his life going forward.

That may mean he will have difficulty in the future obtaining medical insurance on his own, getting life insurance, accepting some jobs, etc., etc. It could also impact his driving privilege ability and even place him at risk of law suits. It could impact his life in a negative way before he even reached adulthood. Why would you want to tag your son with that stigma?

Unfortunately, that is the way it is with this disorder. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. If it were my son, I'd let him try the autopap see if his sleep improves and pull the report. If he doesn't have OSA it should remain on low pressure and not record very much. He could have an AHI=5 and that doesn't mean he has OSA. Go have an offical sleep test, he could be screwed for life from some lab trying to peddle machines for a profit.

If he has a few events it will show up on the report and you can decide at that point what to do from there. One option is if he sleeps better, giving him your machine to sleep with and buying another. That would only cost you about $500-$600. You improve his sleep and keep him more healthy going forward. If he fails to keep up with therapy, you have a back-up machine. Then he can decide for himself later on if he wants to go forward with obtaining the official diagnosis and stigma that goes along with it.

Teenage kids sleeping in on the weekend is completely normal. They stay up way too late watching TV, using the computer then getting up early for school. They simply don't get the needed 9 or 10 hours straight sleep they need during the week, so they make up for the work-week deprivation on the weekend by sleeping in for 12hrs at a time.

[quote="Goofproof"]The machine you show in your profile doesn't show any useful data but you are also saying you have the software. I would get the APAP and software, and try it on your son to see if he had a problem, and after the test I would have a APAP and at least be able to see how it was helping my problem. Just a idea, it might be cheaper than a PSG.

If he did have it he could be treated without a medical trail on his records. Jim

[quote="painterman"]......... He usually goes to bed about 10 and gets up at 5:30 every week day to get to school early. On the weekends he will sometimes (if i let him) sleep untl 3-4 in the afternoon. ............

Using a APAP for the test will not register as high as a sleep test because during a sleep test you are using no pressure so all events are seen.

Using a APAP you will only see the events that happen over your lowest pressure. 4 cm, for most would be too low to handle, so I would try 5 to 7 cm for the test night. You might try that range while awake to see how he reacts to the mask, and you need to use a FF mask, so mouthbreathing problems won't be in the results. At least he won't have all the wires to contend with. Jim

At 5cm to 7 cm, you will be missing the event that happen at 0 cm to 4cm, but it should give you a good idea of if he needs treatment.

You aren't trying to see the number he needs, you are trying to see if he needs treatment.

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): APAP

rooster wrote:However, 10-5:30 on weekdays is only 7.5 hours per night and this is almost certainly not enough sleep for a teenager. Before you have a sleep study done, get him to sleeping 10 hours per night for a few weeks and see if things improve. Most teenagers are drinking much caffeine and sugar in sodas so stop that also.

I agree with your statement on caffeine, but it's highly unrealistic to get teenagers to actually sleep 10 hours a night.

Yes, he's not getting enough sleep, but if he's sleeping in until 4 on the weekends, it's worth having a look see. Is he a heavy sleeper?

If they want teenagers to actually get enough sleep, then they need to stop having 6:30AM Calculus classes. It just wasn't realistic for me to do everything I needed to do in the day and then sleep 10 hours. It doesn't mean I didn't have sleep apnea though.

Oh Blarg how I agree with you.

I am suffering right along with my two teenagers. However we are lucky, the Calculas tests are 6th period so they are around noon, not 8 AM.

I let my poor kids sleep until 6am and drive them to school, otherwise they would have a 1/2 mile walk to a bus with no sidewalks and hills and curves in the middle of the winter for a bus that comes 1/2 hour before we leave the house in the car. So the net is an extra hour of sleep for the 4 mile drive (8 round trip).

They are out of classes before 2pm. How crazy is that for teenagers who are generally night people anyway?

snoregirl wrote:I am suffering right along with my two teenagers. However we are lucky, the Calculas tests are 6th period so they are around noon, not 8 AM.

The ONLY time they ever offer 4th term multivariable and vector calculus at my college is 6:30am during WINTER Term. It's not even nice weather and half the time the instructor wasn't awake much less the students.