Poor digestion and sleep apnea

Misterdux · Post by **Misterdux** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:57 pm

I have been a hosehead for only six weeks yet I am an old hand at suffering the effects of sleep apnea. I began having problems with food allergies and improper and insufficient digestion in the 1980s. In 1990 my wife had me go for a sleep study that showed I had moderate to severe sleep apnea and I was introduced to CPAP. I could not tolerate the machine and learned by experimentation that my apnea was lessened if I ate a light supper and nothing afterward until bedtime, avoided junk food and gluten, yeast, mold sugar and dairy, and avoided any alcohol after supper. I would sometimes take a Contac to keep my nose open.

Thenceforth for 17 years I just lived with the apnea and forgot about it essentially. I kept a food and symptom diary and was not true to my plans to eat lightly late in the day. Common complaint was that in the morning I felt like I was "run over by a truck". Had skipped heartbeats, or PVCs, all those years and they recently got worse.

Now for the past six months I have been in the "walking dead" category with frequent cardiac arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, night sweats, vertigo and exhaustion. Three hospital stays. Finally got a sleep study which said, surprise, that I still have the apnea. It still seems to me that if I eat a larger meal, and even though I take digestive enzymes it does not digest well and sits in my stomach like a bowling ball, then the apnea that night is worse. Also feel that certain foods give me allergic rhinitis and plug up my nose all night and give me apnea. I am 64 and a trim 175.

Has anyone else come across these kinds of food intake problems and made a connection with sleep apnea.

Misterdux

pedroski · Post by **pedroski** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:40 pm

Hi Misterdux,

Maybe with the help of this forum you may be able to get pap therapy working for you. Whatever conclusions you come to with regards your diet, pap therapy can only help you. OSA is an indicator for some of those conditions you mentioned so it's important that it is treated.

What were the issues that made you stop treating the OSA?

Peter

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:51 pm

You might want to check out this discussion;

viewtopic.php?p=137886&highlight=diet#137886

Brenda

Misterdux · Post by **Misterdux** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:55 pm

Thanks for the repy Peter. I guess I was just feeling "bulletproof" 17 years ago and the machine gave me a very dry, sore nose back then. I also felt that I looked like Darth Vader and somehow I could adjust my diet and fix the problem. Then it all receded into the background until recently when I turned 64 and found my "bulletproof' armor is getting old and thin. I am looking forward to a steady recovery - already switched from CPAP to APAP.

Misterdux

pedroski · Post by **pedroski** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:59 pm

I guess I was just feeling "bulletproof"

Ain't that the truth. My brother tried to tell me I had sleep apnoea a while back - I wish I'd listened then!

Peter

Misterdux · Post by **Misterdux** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:07 pm

Thanks Brenda. Interesting to find a discussion on the topic. Misterdux

JimW · Post by **JimW** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:45 pm

I can't speak with any certainty regarding foods affecting apnea. What I have noted following 6 weeks of treatment with APAP (and 2 to 3 weeks on CPAP prior to that) is that the acid stomach I had previously experienced at night is not nearly as severe. As to digestive problems, I had previously had difficulties with very loose bowels in the morning, not too long after eating, and would often need to make two to three trips to the toilet before going to work. (This would often not happen on days I waited several hours to eat.) At this point in time, this difficulty has been gone for several weeks. In view of what others have reported here regarding lessening of GERD, I would posit that apnea causes digestive difficulties, and that proper treatment can, at least in some instances, reduce/reverse this impact.

laurie2025 · Post by **laurie2025** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:55 pm

My doctor told me that often digestion / esophageal problems are lessened when you treat sleep apnea. I had horrible acid reflux; my doctor told me NOT to eat or drink anything within 2 hours of going to sleep. HE did feel there was a connection between the apnea and the reflux. Even though I am now on CPAP therapy and use my equipment every night, I still refrain from eating/drinking 2 hours before bed. My acid reflux has almost disappeared.
I have also read somewhere, along time ago, that digestion takes a lot of energy, and your body needs the time it's sleeping to do its repair/regeneration and not to have to worry about digesting food.
Good luck to you.

pedroski · Post by **pedroski** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 11:39 pm

your body needs the time it's sleeping to do its repair/regeneration and not to have to worry about digesting food.

Good point Laurie

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:42 am

Sounds to me like you might have GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) wherein your LES (esoph. sphincter - valve flap from stomach to eso.) becomes inefficient and allows food and acid back into your esophagus instead of going the other way to be digested, and there are new medicines (PPI's) available, and/or you could try taking a TUMS tab before bed which could allow you to sleep a lot better.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:47 am

Another point I wanted to make; my doctor also recommended I raise the head of my bed between 4-8 inches, which I did and this has also helped a lot with reflux.

Misterdux · Post by **Misterdux** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:25 pm

Thanks to all you responders. Julie and Laurie - I went to a gastroenterologist and he started me on Protonix. I realize now that I have GERD and have had it for quite awhile. I had considered it four years ago but an exam of my esophagus was OK. Now I realize that eating any kind of a heavy meal gives me chest pain and skipped heartbeats. Somehow I wonder if the GERD, and also a hiatal hernia, interfere with my vagus nerve and give me PVCs in my heartbeat. I do know that the GERD gives me a tight, knotted stomach and that my apnea is usually worse that night. I actually had an apnea diagnosis 17 years ago and just tried not to eat heavy late in the day and that helped. I just lived with it.

Last week, after starting Protonix, and eating very carefully, I had an amazing three days where I had virtually no PVCs and Thursday night my AHI went down to 8.5. I am on CPAP 10 cm but currently switching to VPAP ASV as I have many centrals.

On Saturday my PVCs were back along with chest discomfort but I had some tomatoes for lunch and an apple later on - both acidic. And my AHI went up. I am learning about this - I have food allergies too - especially gluten and grains which send my numbers up. I am keeping a food diary and will be testing my numbers going forward. Dave

SleepGuy · Post by **SleepGuy** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:52 pm

According to our resident doctor (Doctor Bandage), there is no stronger stimulus to the body than oxygen deprivation. The brain gets first dibs and the rest of the body has to fend for itself all night. OSA has much more to do with chronic oxygen deprivation than it actually does with sleep distruption (which is bad enoug).

It's no small wonder that GERD and other digestive problems are common with OSA victims. Your body is not getting enough oxygen to function and your digestive system is not high on the list. Nor is your heart. Without oxygen during the night, your body has a hard time digesting food and doing other things it normally should do at night, on top of the cascade of stress hormones your body releases all night because it is being suffocated.

I think it's important for people to understand that OSA causes these conditions. It's not very effective to treat the other conditions without treating the OSA.

Please feel free to read this article for more information: cpaptalk-articles/sleep-apnea-prevalenc ... enemy.html

I agree with the others on this thread: you'd be well advised to do everything you can to figure out how to treat your OSA, first and foremost.

Good Luck!

SleepGuy · Post by **SleepGuy** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:00 pm

I started a new thread on this but it's certainly worth posting here, too (this thread is what got me thinking about all of this again!).

Since participating in the Sleeping with the Enemy article (posted under Our Collective Wisdom under Sleep Apnea Awareness), I have come across some additional published studies and reports that flesh out in much more detail some of the facts and figures. When I get some time I might revise the article to include this information---I think everyone deserves to know. I am not making this up--these are mainstream, published reports (PM me for references).

In a nutshell, the reports conclude that due to nighttime oxygen deprivation and sleep disruption, along with exposure to panic-related hormones released by the sympathetic nervous system, OSA victims manifest the following as compared to control groups (non-OSA):

40% increase in daytime sleepiness

Twice as many traffic accidents per mile traveled

3 fold increase in risk of occupational accidents

1.3 to 2.5 times more hypertension

2.2 times increased risk of nocturnal cardiac arrhythmia

3.9 times more likely to have congestive heart failure

1.6 times increased chance of stroke

1.4 to 2.3 times greater risk of heart attack

40% increased risk for depression

200% more physician claims

1.9 times more cardiovascular medication

2.7 times more hypertension medication

50% more hospital stays

2.6 times more work absenteeism

20% reduction in work performance

OSA is much, much more than a “sleep disorder.” It’s a killer. As hard as xPAP therapy is, it’s far, far better than treatment for any one of these conditions, in my opinion.

Therapy is most definitely worth the hassle!

Misterdux · Post by **Misterdux** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:51 pm

Very important points. I feel like I am looking in a mirror. I don't know which came first - my apnea or my GERD and food allergies which definitely aggravate my apnea. My AHI really goes up if I have any gluten. However you nailed the cardiac irregularities, poor digestion, exhaustion, vertigo, and cardiac failure that ruled my life the past three years and more intensely the past six months - with six ER visits and three hospitalizations. I have always been a steady, rational man but starting in the fall I developed a generalized anxiety disorder that has me feeling "numb" all over with heavy limbs and the shakes and a couple of panic attacks. One of my docs says that depression and anxiety are a very large result of sleep disorders. I'm now on an SSRI trying to cope. I put my mask on at night with several small shaving, washing and taping my nose rituals and then say a prayer for a good night's sleep. If I eat lightly and avoid allergic foods it seems to be coming around. Dave

Poor digestion and sleep apnea