POLL: How long do you think you had SA before you 'knew'?

[ameriken]

Just curious how long you might have had the symptoms of sleep apnea before you realized it actually might be sleep apnea.

For me, I think it's been several years. The most significant symptom would be slowing down in energy, and taking longer and longer to wake up. I think that's gone on for 5 or 6 years. But it's been the last couple of years when it really started getting bad and I realized there was something more than just getting older going on. My old doctor was positive it was low-T and treated it. But even after it didn't change how I felt, he still never suspected it. It wasn't until I joined the VA (Veterans Admin) last year that someone got the idea it could be sleep apnea. I thank God and the VA for that.

[dsm]

Ameriken

Interesting theme - perhaps you could add one more question
to cover one more aspect ...

"Did not think/believe I had SDB at all until a sleep the study proved it "

Cheers

DSM

[jimnsc]

For 6 to 10 years my wife told me that I would often quit breathing while asleep. I already knew that I would sit up quickly on the side of the bed gasping for air at times - no idea why. She also told me I would snore while on my back (my side being my preferred sleeping position). I had several doctors ask if I had ever been tested for sleep apnea and I didn't connect any of those things to OSA because nothing else was offered or said after I answered "no." It wasn't even explained to me what OSA was and I never asked.

Finally, after being cardioverted (shocked) back into normal sinus rhythm for the third time from atrial fibrillation, my Cardiologist asked and followed through with asking me if I'd agree to a sleep study. She added that there was a good possibility that OSA might just be the trigger for A. Fib. I had the study and you know the rest of the story. Glad I did.

DSM, I didn't expect anything due to my unfamiliarity with OSA.

[kempo]

At lest 25-30 years.

[OutaSync]

At lest 25-30 years.

Ditto. Maybe 40 years.

[ameriken]

Damn, OutaSync and kempo, you two are both lucky and blessed to be alive!!!

[ozze_dollar]

Hi jimnsc...Thats almost my exact story. Except my problem was more tiredness.
Its interesting to note that I believe OSA got bad enough to be a problem over the last 5 or 6 years,also during that period I seem to have visibly aged a lot. Might be just a coincidence?

[AmIawake]

Over the years I've had many instances of my pillow getting soaked from perspiration. While not nearly as common, several times a year I will be rudely awakened by choking. Since I have occasional issues with the sinuses, I always assumed that was the cause. About 2 years ago the feeling began that I felt better before I went to bed than after waking up. But there were other issues that could cause that. Once those issues were resolved, that same feeling remained, and it finally occurred to me that maybe the problem was sleep apnea. So a few minutes from now, I will be an official hosehead.

[Mr Bill]

I really can't pinpoint a beginning. I recall my fathers field assistant being concerned enough to point out that I had a tendency to not breath for extended periods during the day hours. I don't recall if he mentioned it happening at night. But it was enough that he found it disturbing. I was probably around 16 years old, 1972. But I did not start having problems with bronchitis till some time after 1989 after I had had Hashimoto's thyroiditis for a few years. In 1994 I was diagnosed with asthma. I drank a lot of coffee. But I think this did not really take off for me till 2006 when I turned 50. That is when the foot pain started. I started drinking more coffee to overcome fatigue. Somewhere in there I was sent home with a pulse oximeter because I was complaining of feeling short of breath at night. Also, I was complaining about perception changes during the day. Vertigo and the impression that room dimensions were shifting. I now realize that was extreme fatigue but I did not know that then. I lost my girlfriend, my dog, my cat, and my little brother (heart attack and probably he had sleep apnea) in 2007. In 2008 I had my first serious loss of sleep for a couple months and my doctor put me on serious BP meds but managed to climb back out of that. The neurologist said my feelings of numbness all over were because I was not getting enough exercise. I now believe, that was also fatigue. 2009 was a bit of a blur and then in 2010 I crashed totally in July/August the heat, the humidity, being unable to breath at night. I took th initiative and bought a pulse oximeter found out I had a serious problem. My doctor took one look at the oximetry data and we scheduled a sleep study. So, I'll say 5 years.

[Breathe Jimbo]

My wife took a photo of me at the LA Zoo when I was 29, head on hand feeling dead in the middle of the day, pretending to be asleep behind sunglasses. That was 20 years before my sleep study and diagnosis, so I'm pretty sure I had OSA for at least 20 years before it was finally diagnosed. I suspect it was not as severe back then, and that it worsened as I packed on 100 pounds over the next 20 years. My wife told me, before my physical last summer, that I should ask my doctor for a sleep study because I stop breathing at night. I bet she finally put 2 and 2 together when she saw OSA discussed on Oprah.

[soridormi]

Hi all--

I started having wake up in the middle of the night panic attacks about 6 months ago. I'm not a snorer, so I never thought it might be apnea. I chalked it up to stress in my personal and professional life causing the panic. I started putting the clues together though...hard to lose weight, insomnia, extreme fatigue during the day at work. I guess I'll never really know how long I had it, but I suspect what exacerbated my apnea was that I had recently been diagnosed with some neck issues, and my chiropractor advised me not to sleep on my stomach, but flat on my back with 1 pillow. Doing this seemed to coincide with the panic attacks (and apnea episodes, unbeknownst to me). A trip to the sleep doc and a sleep study confirmed my suspicions and the rest was history!

[early2rise]

I think I have had some varying degrees of severity of OSA most of my life. I have always been a snorer. I had a hard time in college with roommates, falling asleep in class, having a hard time waking up which was all explained away by my allergy and sinus issues. It wasn't until I moved from NC to GA that I made the connection to OSA and requested a sleep study. In 2001-2002 the CPAP options were limited and I had zero tolerance for it. Opted for surgery, felt great for a several years. Now due to change in lifestyle, more work less activity and weight gain, I'm back where I started but with better coping mechanisms.

[SleepyT]

I chose 2-4 years on the poll....but who knows really?! OSA can be such a gradual thing. In retrospect, I may have been dealing with narrow airway issues for quite some time. It all really came to a head when I reached peri-menopause....things went quickly downhill after that...

[Starlette]

I knew something was wrong being a walking zombie along with the morning headaches since age 16. I never knew there was a name or condition for this. I just thought it was something I had to live with. Hubbs told me on and off for years that I would stop breathing in my sleep and should get it checked out. After a year at my job, I felt that I was working more to stay awake than actually doing my job. That brought me to my knees. It was then I decided to get it checked out. Glad I did, just wished I would have done it at 16 years of age. I could have been a doctor

Starlette

[dsm]

Good poll this - it is bringing out some very interesting points

For myself, can recall when in my 20s & 30s being in meetings and struggling to keep awake.
So hard in fact, that I would bite a finger to try to send myself a wake-up message. In
later years and before going on xPAP therapy, that would still happen, now it can happen but
usually for a short period but then passes. It doesn't bother me the way it did before.

DSM