Okay I never really snored when I was thin. Maybe I would on a rare occassion and only then I would have had to be exhausted. But since the weight crept on I have been snoring so badly that my husband can't sleep. He worries about sleep apneia. My dad has it, his dad has it, and his uncle died from it.
Sometimes I wake myself up when I snore, and I don't know if its because I'm a light sleeper, sometimes I try hard to fight sleeping because I dont' want the snore to wake my husband. Other times I wake myself up from snoring.
So anyway a lot of times I go to bed very tired...and wake up around 3 or 4am and seem wide awake for an hour or longer. I am so tired of that -so lately I take Tylenol PM to help me sleep...my husband worries that at least before my snoring would wake me up....and he thinks what if I sleep so heavy with sleeping aids that I don't EVER wake up.
I did not intend for a long post. Just curious if any of you have considered or would consider a sleep study for sleep apneia even though you probably would not snore after weight loss. I am considering having it done ...although I had it done after my first child was born 5 yrs ago and they said no sleep apneia, although I felt their test failed...because I was awake almost the whole night. They said no, you were REM, here are the test strips...and I'm thinking, yeah my eyes were MOVING because I was awake and looking around in the dark, that is not REM....and I would know if I was awake or not. So I felt that study failed me. We live in a new area so I am thinking of trying it again.
Please post your thoughts on sleep studies / snoring and sleep apnia.
THANK YOU!
Hve your Internist refer you to a good Pulmonary doctor who will determine if you need a sleep study....don't hesitate to tell them what happened the last time you underwent a test. Of course losing wt. is the best thing you can do, but you may also have another problem that could best be dx'd by a specialist. good luck!
A friend's son died at age 34 from sleep apnea....it was a shocker.
OMG, at 34?!?!?!?! WOW!!!!
I know that losing the baby weight is the most important thing I can do. I just was thinking this website of all places ....with people trying to lose weight, that I might find others that snore because of their weight.
I never thought to see a Pulmonary Doctor. I do have my appt with the sleep clinic. I'm anxious to see what they say, and am now of course worried about sleep apneia.
If you think you have sleep apnea, you might benefit from seeing a sleep specialist. My husband has it, and is NOT overweight, and has NO risk factors for it. I probably have it too, from being overweight, and should take my own advice. They tried my husband on a CPap machine, but he could not get used to it. I seem to do ok if I sleep on my side, but if I get on my back, I can't breathe.
Thanks for all the advice. Would a pulmonologist schedule a sleep study? Or just give me a breathing thingy withouta sleep study? I don't look forward to going to some strange room and trying to get a good nights sleep. But at the same time, I'm sick of snoring, sick of it bothering my husband and sick of feeling tired all the time. My husband says that I should be well rested from the sounds of my snores, and I tried to tell him that people who snore generally are TIRED the next day...isn't that a medical fact now? I do not sleep straight thru...wake up, toss and turn....stay awake...Being over weight is one thing, but having the lack of sleep on top of that, I feel like a slug.
Hmmm, maybe I should change my screen name.
A pulmonary doc. would hopefully give you a full exam and write a scrip for the sleep study, get results before prescribing any meds or a machine to help you breathe properly while sleeping. But there may be other medical or psych. factors as to why you have trouble sleeping too, (that are unrelated to wt.).
The important thing is that you feel rested to be able to work through the day and be energetic enough to motivate yourself to lose.
good luck and let me know how things turn out, I hope you feel better soon.
One thing I'd like to add from the prospective of a wife of a snorer with sleep apnea - what you are describing is keeping your husband from normal sleep. He is worrying at different times through the night. He hears you not breathing - the person he loves and wants to protect - and wonders if he should wake you, wonders when that next breath is EVER going to come and his own adrenaline starts flowing when he should be at rest. When you do snore/breathe again it's probably loud and explosive, especially if you are on your back. Then his adrenaline really pumps. You seem to be sleeping fine, while he is being awakened and expected to just deal with the noise, so there's a good chance he could start to resent how tired he feels. The noise is not just noise, it's a reverberation and I can tell you, positioned just right it can hurt my ears.
I'm very grateful to my husband for researching snoring and seeing his doctor.
So I wanted to commend you for listening to your spouse's opinions and for considering your options in helping your whole household rest.
I haven't been on this thread before... and I am grateful that post-cancer, post chemo, etc. etc. my husband wouldn't tolerate how tired I was. Had a cardiovascular stress test (heart fine, lungs taxed), lung function tests... and now I have CPAP mask. I am ashamed still that I "need it"... but boy does it help. It sounds like a white noise machine, prevents my apnea, and allows HIM to sleep better, too.
Snoring and Sleep Apneia
