Sleep apnoea - do I have it?

briskbeats

GP rang me earlier today about my abnormal blood test of thyroid antibody count. My thyroid TSH is fine. She has given me a questionnaire about sleeping and tiredness as I may have sleep apnoea. I live alone so difficult to know if I stop breathing in the middle of the night, as got nobody to comment about it. I remember a couple of times I have woken up in the middle of the night by catching myself snoring. Then wake up with a dry mouth.

How do I know if I snore or have periods of not breathing? I do wake up with a dry mouth. Though I am extremely tired in the day - fall asleep in front of the TV, feel light headed on times

Other things about me.
. I'm 40
. Non smoker
. Drink 15 units a week of alcohol
. Work at a supermarket 34 hours a week. Doing a mixture of tills, putting out delivery, move trolleys etc.
. Need to lose 3st. Though at my heaviest - almost 3 stone heavier than I am now, I had no issues with tiredness. Though I was in my late 20s
. Asthmatic

GP gave me a questionnaire and I score badly on the Berlin Questionnaire https://www.sleepapnea.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/berlin-questionnaire.pdf as got 2 groups positive BMI and category 2.

Floss

Take your questionnaire back to the GP.

Mojisola

Definitely follow it up with your GP.

If you have sleep apnea, you will have a sleep deficit - you can check this by doing the spoon test, described here -

https://fast-asleep.com/are-you-getting-enough-sleep/

Spoonie_Turtle

Keep an eye on the thyroid antibodies and, if they are higher than the normal range, keep an eye on your thyroid hormone levels too.  Antibodies attack it and can lead to real thyroid problems.  If you don't already know the actual values of your blood tests, ask for a copy of the results.  That way you can see if they are indeed normal, or are actually out of range but not enough for the NHS to bother doing anything about it.  If you have copies of your blood tests then you can also see any trends over time.

As for sleep apnoea, definitely follow that up.  Your GP should be able to refer you.  Two family members have it, they had a sleep study at home which identified how many times they stopped breathing and for how long, then they were treated accordingly (CPAP machines, in their cases).

unforeseen

Definitely need to get referred by your GP to a sleep clinic. They can arrange an overnight test and if necessary issue a CPAP machine. They work very well. I no longer wake in the mornings with a 'muzzy' head and drop off during the day. 

briskbeats

unforeseen said:

Definitely need to get referred by your GP to a sleep clinic. They can arrange an overnight test and if necessary issue a CPAP machine. They work very well. I no longer wake in the mornings with a 'muzzy' head and drop off during the day. 

How do you cope with the CPAP mouthpiece etc on your face? As I couldn’t copy with an eye mask when I worked nights.

unforeseen

briskbeats said:

unforeseen said:

Definitely need to get referred by your GP to a sleep clinic. They can arrange an overnight test and if necessary issue a CPAP machine. They work very well. I no longer wake in the mornings with a 'muzzy' head and drop off during the day. 

How do you cope with the CPAP mouthpiece etc on your face? As I couldn’t copy with an eye mask when I worked nights.

Not a problem, you just get used to it. It only covers mouth & nose

coffeehound

unforeseen said:

briskbeats said:

unforeseen said:

Definitely need to get referred by your GP to a sleep clinic. They can arrange an overnight test and if necessary issue a CPAP machine. They work very well. I no longer wake in the mornings with a 'muzzy' head and drop off during the day. 

How do you cope with the CPAP mouthpiece etc on your face? As I couldn’t copy with an eye mask when I worked nights.

Not a problem, you just get used to it. It only covers mouth & nose

Some even just cover the nose.  The specialist takes the decision which is right for the particular cause of the snoring

unforeseen

coffeehound said:

unforeseen said:

briskbeats said:

unforeseen said:

Definitely need to get referred by your GP to a sleep clinic. They can arrange an overnight test and if necessary issue a CPAP machine. They work very well. I no longer wake in the mornings with a 'muzzy' head and drop off during the day. 

How do you cope with the CPAP mouthpiece etc on your face? As I couldn’t copy with an eye mask when I worked nights.

Not a problem, you just get used to it. It only covers mouth & nose

Some even just cover the nose.  The specialist takes the decision which is right for the particular cause of the snoring

I went for mouth and nose as I am often a mouth breather as my nose blocks regularly