Sleep apnea

[Rachel_W]

Hello,

I am a 38 y/o female.  About 20lbs or so overweight.  I have always snored quite loudly and my boyfriend has just told me that I stop breathing a lot during the night.  Apparently this has been going on for two years at least but he did not know what it was until recently.  He also said that it seemed to get better for a while.

I am going to get this checked out (I have other things going on at the moment but as this has been happening for two years I hope that it isn't related, unless sleep apnea itself can cause other symptoms such as limb stiffness).

To keep this simple, I was wondering that if I have sleep apnea, then why am I not that tired during the day?  Sometimes I only sleep 6 hours or less, get up at 5am, have an hour commute each way and am on my feet for up to 11 hours a day without sitting down.  Does this mean that it may be mild?  I also have really healthy blood pressure (110 over 70 approx.)

I have occasionally gone through stages where I have gotten sleepy driving for a few days straight and wonder whether I could have had sleep apnea therefore for longer than two years but no one noticed?  This has not happened for a while though.

Thanks for any ideas.  I am a little nervous of the idea of having to use anything mechanical to treat this possible ailment.

[Steven Y Park, MD]

You don't have to feel tired or sleepy to have sleep apnea. If you have it and it goes untreated, it can lead to or aggravate high blood pressure, weight gain, depression, anxiety, or heart disease. If one or both of your parents have any of these complications, then even more reason to get it checked out by a sleep doctor. Also, you don't have to be overweight to have significant sleep apnea. But the fact that you snore and are slightly overweight makes it likely that you have it. You could try to lose some weight and see how you feel, but if you're feeling drowsy at the wheel, definitely get it checked out.

[Rachel_W]

I also have OCD (since 17) and get anxious and irritable easily.