Caffeine for sleep apnea

Has anyone heard of taking caffeine in some form to prevent sleep apnea in adults? My friend's newborn granddaughter is being given it because she stops breathing duing sleep.

It would definitely help my apnea. No sleep, no apnea.

My thoughts, exactly, Navyvet--there's a cure for apnea--never sleep again

Infants have depressed breathing, so there caffiene might be helpful. We are pretty good at breathing, but have mechanical obstructions either from narrowed airways, lax muscles, or excess weight. So I don't think caffiene will do anything much for adults with OSA rather than make them lie awake cursing the darn machine.

I was never one to pull all nighters in college except once. I drank a ton of coffee to stay awake, but when I finally finished about 3:30 a.m. I could NOT go to sleep AND I had to keep getting up to go to the bathroom which, in the dorm, was down a long corridor. I was in tears because I wanted to sleep, not pee anymore!

Jan is exactly right. Babies born prematurely often get "tired" of breathing, or breathe too shallowly for good gas exchange. One of the things that caffeine does is stimulate the autonomic system so that they breathe deeper and more regularly. Their brain is so immature that it the breathing center just shuts down and 'forgets' to breathe without stimulation. So for preemies, caffeine is necessary to keep them breathing.

Truly, preemies do not sleep that well. My grandson was born 12 weeks early and did not sleep that well for the first six month of his life. He slept, but never more than 1-2 hours at a time, waking frequently for feeding, changing, soothing, etc. Once he was off the caffeine, he gradually began sleeping better.