A little desperate, nothing seems to work

Hi all,

I have moderate sleep apnea (17/22 hour + a little more hypopneas), both obstructive and central which isn't that much but for some reason it has a very big impact on my life, and some days I just can't think correctly , terrible headaches, feeling very bad, we all know what it is ...

I have tested dental device, CPAP machine, but they all come with terrible side effects and so I can't use any of them because of this. I used the CPAP machine for months, but I have terrible gut issues with it and also don't feel that well with it.

I found that some activities like sport do seem to make my sleep apneas worse, which is strange, as wel as anything that helps with sleep. I don't use medicines, but I use some amino acids for my anxiety issues, don't know if it's the anxiety that gave me sleep apnea or the other way, I have the impression that the stress from work (had a burnout two years ago, but couldn't afford to stop working for financial reasons) and family life is what causes my sleep apneas, as I seem to have more when I work too much and have stress at work and do tend to sleep better in weekends and vacation. For now I stopped to use the CPAP machine as it actually made things worse and after a few months I monitored more and more sleep apneas, so I don't like that.

Now I tried most things, recently bought a small device to strengthen inspiration, but nothing seems to work except low doses of CBD oil or Gaba from time to time and also blowing up balloons a few times a day, which strange enough has a positive impact on my apneas.

I'm not far to go to go the chirurgical route as I can't continue like this anymore, the last two years have been really hell for me and I have the impression I don't live anymore but rather surviving and am very worried as sometimes I have pain in thorax so I'm not sure I can keep it any longer like this.

I'm very healthy otherwise, do sport a few times a week, eat healthy, don't drink or occasionally, but I need some advice please what other I have ?

Thanks so much, kind regards, Hans

Hi Hans01,

The way you quote your AHI is a little confusing but even 17 events an hour is enough to have a large impact on both your health and quality of life. If your events increased when you are on CPAP it sounds very much like you may have central apnoea which would require some sort of Bilevel device for treatment (BiPAP, ASV, etc). Did you have a proper monitored sleep study with your CPAP on?

I have been told GABA takes Oxygen away from your Brain. After some research I have found B-12 and B-complex can cause Anxiety. You can research this information. I had complete blood work done and I no longer take B-12 or B-complex and my Anxiety has calmed done. Good Luck