Sudden Onset of Symptoms at 76?

[PerChancetoDream]

Hi,

Now that I have the diagnosis,  I am seeing OSA everywhere. (Or am I?)

My 76 year old Mother has, for the past 4 weeks been sleeping A LOT and waking up tired. She lives in another state, but I noticed she kept texting me about being very tired.  U talked her into going to her Dr. And he ordered some labs, an EKG, & a chest cray  EKG results are that it is all looking good; the others are pending  

She seemed insulted when I suggested a sleep study because she said she sleeps "fine" & doesn't get up in the middle of the night.  But, I think I busted thru.  She was asking about a sudden onset of sleep apnea at her age.

Has anyone had or heard of something like this?  I would really like her to get a sleep study.

TIA!

[Mogy]

Hi Tia,
I have started to see OSA in people now, whereas before my diagnosis I was totally blind to it. I have convinced a couple of my colleagues to go for a test because I saw how tired they were. Both have OSA and are feeling somewhat better now they are dealing with it.
I don't know about sudden onset OSA. I think with most cases it slowly gets worse, then it gets to a threshold where the person starts to have mild symptoms that can easily be dismissed as old age. Then it slowly gets worse from there, until you go to the doctor about some symptoms. If you have a good doctor he sees it early on.

[PaulaO2]

I sincerely doubt it is sudden. It has probably been happening for a long time and just now getting to the point the side symptoms are strong.

[SarcasticDave94]

Hi PerChancetoDream,

Yes it can sneak up on one like that. IMO one of the possible problems sleep apnea has is that unless you've got a sleep partner that makes you aware of it's symptoms, it can remain undetected for years without revealing itself.

That was exactly my situation for quite a while. Honestly, I'd say I suffered some apnea symptoms about ten years before diagnosis. But when it got extreme enough to not be ignored, there was the apnea diagnosis. Then the path to CPAP and on to eventually an ASV machine for me was begun.

Here's to hoping you and your mom get her the medical treatment she needs.

[PerChancetoDream]

Thank you all, I really think this is what she has. She is in otherwise really good health. I guess her dr ordered a cardiac stress test (one I am not super familiar with), and maybe then he will do a sleep study. She did, at least, take seriously and go to the Dr and he isn't blowing her off like my former dr did last fall.

I almost also "diagnosed" a coworker, but she is young and parties a lot, so I think she is just hungover often.

[JesseLee]

I'm skeptical of any sudden onset sleep apnea but I'm not going to say it never happens. I would say that she has had sleep apnea for some time but she has managed or just gotten by. I think people normalize to feeling bad.

I'm not surprised that she probably has sleep apnea, it can and does run in families.

[GrammaBear]

I was 64 years old when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2009. My husband had commented for a very long time that I 'snored' loudly. We even joked about it as he said he could hear me clear across the other side of the house. I had originally consulted with an Endocrinologist for my type 1 diabetes. It was the Endocrinologist that whipped out a trusty tape measure from his lab coat and said "stand up, I want to measure your neck circumference." It was his opinion that persons with a certain size neck were more prone to sleep apnea. He strongly advised me to get a referral to a sleep doctor which I did. The rest is history. I no longer feel the overwhelming fatigue unless I am sick or over tired.

[PerChancetoDream]

Reviving my old thread. It took me until two weeks ago, but she DID get a sleep apnea diagnosis--& from the at home sleep study. She is not a good reporter, but is getting something beyond a CPAP.

I kept myself from doing the "I told you so" song, but just barely! I hope she gets her machine soon and adjusts well.

[Gideon]

Most of us visited Egypt, the 'de Nial region.
From the Wiki article New to CPAP – The Process

Denial
Why is denial first? Simply because this is where many of us started. What we have is mostly “normal” for us, we don’t know any other way because it is the way it has always been. Occasionaly the root cause is something else and OSA sneaks in, but more often than not we have had it for a very long time. If you have any doubt, get a sleep test. My story: Like many here I did NOT have sleep apnea, I didn't stop breathing in my sleep, I didn't snore. Sound familiar. JUST to tell her "I TOLD YOU SO" I took a sleep study. I had 90 events per hour, an AHI of 90!! Go figure.
I didn't have a problem, I was driving off freeways at exits because I was driving to stay on the road. It was the rumble strips on the side of the city road that woke me up, rumble strips you ask, most know them as driveways, I was driving across driveways, and scared to admit it. 2nd sleep study, the titration study, and I woke at 5:30am actually feeling awake and refreshed, I was stunned! My DME told me 6-8 weeks to get a CPAP device and I said no way. I said find one elsewhere and I'll travel as far as it takes to get it. End result was about 1.5 weeks to get an appointment and the device, and I've never looked back. My Rx was CPAP at 18 cmH2O and I took to it like a duck to water. I was lucky, I was immediately feeling better. That was in 2003.

[OpalRose]

Reviving my old thread. It took me until two weeks ago, but she DID get a sleep apnea diagnosis--& from the at home sleep study.  She is not a good reporter, but is getting something beyond a CPAP.

I kept myself from doing the "I told you so" song, but just barely!  I hope she gets her machine soon and adjusts well.

Thanks for keeping us updated.