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Do i have sleep apnea?

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Luneks +0 points · almost 5 years ago Original Poster

Hey So my name is Lune and i am 19 years old recently i started feeling super bad and lazy all the time everyday i started sleeping a lot. feeling tired all the time and falling asleep without realizing i fell asleep at work 2 times without knowing got fired so i knew something is wrong people complain about my snoring a lot. i had to get my own room i never travel again because of my snoring

I did a test in a sleep clinic and i got answers 2 days ago what's written on the paper is: i slept for 6:10 hours 87% of the time there was a very loud snoring 70 DB of snoring (idk what that means) i stopped breathing 557 times/ 90 times an hour 391 times there was Decrease in oxygen levels - 63 times an hour max of 100% min of 51% (don't know what that means)

this got me really scared im still young for this.. but i don't know what all of that means and my next time in the clinic is in a month i can't wait this much knowing that this might be dangerous and i know that getting a machine here takes a hella long time what should i do? do i even have sleep apnea? any advice?

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Sierra +0 points · almost 5 years ago Sleep Patron

During the sleep test they monitor snoring either with a microphone, or by measuring the vibration in the air flow. Since they reported it in dB that is a sound level, so it must have been with a microphone. Stopping breathing is an apnea. It is measured in the number of events per hour, so you had 90 per hour of sleep. This is normally called the AHI score, or apnea hypopnea index. Oxygen goes down when breathing stops, and you had oxygen go down almost as many times as you had apnea events. Normally oxygen should not go down below about 90% and it looks like you hit 51%. That would indicate at least some of your apnea events are quite long. They have to be 10 seconds minimum to be counted, but could go on for minutes.

Those are all the standard numbers reported for a sleep test, so it look quite credible and it looks quite certain that you have sleep apnea. An AHI of 5 to 15 is considered mild apnea. From 15 to 30 is moderate apnea, and anything above 30 is severe apnea. Your apnea is at the high end of the severe range, so there is little doubt you have sleep apnea.

What is missing from your numbers is the type of apnea events. They are normally broken down into obstructive apnea, central apnea, and hypopnea. Obstructive apnea (airway getting blocked) as well as hypopnea and snoring are all obstructive issues. These can all be reduced with a CPAP machine. Central apnea is different. It is when the airway is not blocked, but your body simply decides to not breathe. This type of apnea is not corrected well with a CPAP machine, and it in fact may make it worse. So, before you go to the next step it would be important to clarify what type of apnea events you are having. Central apnea can be associated with heart issues, and certain medications, especially opioids.

If you have more questions just ask,

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