7 year old newly diagnosed with sleep apnea

[mopr]

Hi Mohana,
I disagree with much of what is being speculated on about Central Sleep Apnea.
His CA index is 1. There is no reason to start speculating about CSA. My CSA was 0.7 on my sleep test.  Most people have some Central events when transactioning between sleep and awake. If he was having a hard time staying asleep it would be easy to get those few Central events.
The 80 hypopneas are what is making up the majority of his AHI. Hypopneas can be either Obstructive or Central in nature. There is no way for any of us here to determine whether they were Obstructive or Central.
I had very few Obstructive events on my sleep study, a few centrals, and a lot of hypopneas. Very much like your son. I have OSA. There is a 98 to 99% chance that your son has OSA like the doctor diagnosed.
There is a very very small chance that he has Central sleep apnea. At this point I think we are doing you a disservice to be discussing it.

Hi Mogy,
    The numbers are just like my son's! The doc is going to review the video and data with me next week - I will ask him for more information about the hypopneas. Although the docs only literally have so little time 

I definitely appreciate the discussion because I really am completely uninformed about this and overwhelmed with it. All the different views and advise gives me a lot of questions to discuss with the doc and its pushing me to learn more about the machines as well. Although, I am still in denial.

Mo

[Hydrangea]

Others here are more knowledgeable about apnea, so I'll leave the apnea advice to them.

But I thought I'd give you something else to consider with regard to your son's jaw and teeth. I highly recommend the Myobrace. It's something that is worn in the mouth at night, and it helps to expand the jaw. It's instead of braces... and considerably cheaper. My child is using one now, and I'm excited about this way of helping the jaw and mouth, rather than going the route of braces. If you Google it, you can find more info. It was our dentist who recommended it for my child.

[SarcasticDave94]

Hi mopr



I don't have any advice to share because it looks like those more knowledgeable have given great advice already.

I will say this though, don't let the situation spoil the Easter holiday weekend for you and your entire family.

A sincere best wishes that whatever this issue is, would be found out and gotten under control ASAP.

Have a safe, sane, and happy Easter.

[CHanlon]

I definitely appreciate the discussion because I really am completely uninformed about this and overwhelmed with it. All the different views and advise gives me a lot of questions to discuss with the doc and its pushing me to learn more about the machines as well. Although, I am still in denial.

Mo

No reason to be in denial, or even apprehensive, at this point.  I'm 56, I've been a snorer as long as I can remember.  At least since my early teens.  I went 5 years with the certainty that I had sleep apnea before I ever went in to get tested for it - and that was 8 years ago.  I suspect I've needed treatment for it for *decades* before I did.

It's a scary thing to find that this might be something that is affecting your child... but! you've found out early.  You son is going to be a lot better off, for a lot longer in life if he starts treatment now.

[Hydrangea]

I totally agree with Chanlon. I've had symptoms of sleep apnea since my teens (at least), and didn't figure it out until my late 30s. Wish I would've known back then, and had a parent helping try to figure it out.

[mopr]

Thanks for the encouraging words, Hydrangea and Chalon. Better to find the problem than bury my head in the sand, for sure. Hydrangea - thanks for the info on the braces alternative. We have an orthodontic appt coming up and I will have to ask them for more info then.

[Hydrangea]

No problem. I'm glad to try to help.

I do, though, doubt the orthodontist will care to recommend the Myobrace. If he were to recommend a $500 preventative fix, he'd put himself out of business fast.

[mopr]

Thanks to all of you experts who chimed in! 

We had a follow-up yesterday and I thought I would post an update -

His Dr basically gave a 'wait and watch' verdict (you were spot-on, @sleeprider). He thinks my son's airway will catch up and grow more open (hopefully) and to proceed with the palate expansion. We will do a sleep test after the jaw expansion is done and check again. Also, because the oxygen saturation level was above 95% and his REM sleep seems to be of decent duration, he is not overly concerned. If we want, we could do the CPAP study and see if it helps apparently. 

For more technical details - he thinks the central apnea incidents are what he called 'post-arousal' events and not to be concerned. His apnea events were on average 15s long and the hypopnea were 18s long. The longest apnea was 24s and hypopnea was 42s. Not sure if these are okay numbers. 

One thing I noticed from his results is that he has respiratory events when he is on the back, right or left side or even upside down! We have been trying the cervical collar but he inevitably pulls it off sometime in the night

Unfortunately, the twitching that started us down this road had nothing to do with the respiratory events. And didn't even come through very well on the video. :  After pushing a bit, we were able to notice the small glitches in the leg and arm electrodes at the times I have seen him do the twitching but I guess the amplitude was smaller than their threshold for PLMS or RLS and didn't raise flags. 

After that long story, I have a question - has anybody tried taking sleep aids like melatonin, magnesium etc? He is a poor sleeper and will wake up a couple of times at night and I was debating supplements. Magnesium, esp if its spray form, the dr said is fine. He doesn't think it will help though. Any thoughts on supplements while having sleep apnea at all? 

Mo

[kiwii]

I haven't read the entire thread... but surprised that a search on iron and ferritin do not turn up anything.

Did the doctor check your son's levels of ferritin?

This topic came up during my very first visit with a sleep doctor -- did I have limb movements (I do not), and a test of my ferritin levels. Hubby (as a bystander during my visit) was given the advice to take supplements, as he does have twitchy legs. Similar experience for daughter, but with a different doctor. She did have limb movements, but they stopped after getting her levels up.

My doctors #2 & #3 have never asked about limb movements, nor about blood work.

[mopr]

Hi Kiwii,
     Yes, that did come up! His ferritin level although within limits were on the low end and while none of the other docs raised the issue - the sleep dr recommended iron supplements. 

He also had about 8 months of digestive issue and H-pylori and constipation (fun, fun!) last year so we are taking less than the iron dosage given by the dr. It will probably take us longer to boost his levels up but I am hopeful that will help. 

Thanks for sharing your experience with iron! 

Mo