No sleepapnea

From a young I was constantly tired and getting enough sleep was extremely important to me. The tiredness increased, after 2 hours driving a car I had to take a nap at the side of the road. I also slept after work on a regular basis. I was a restless sleeper and woke up many nights with an increased heart rate. After my wife noted I stopped breathing at night I took the test and the result was 2-3 apnea events a night. Sorry: No sleep apnea. Nevertheless, I bought recently the latest Resmed CPAPP and the result is fantastic: clear thinking, awake during the day, no racing heart, I sleep like a baby and no sleepiness or head aches during the day. Moral of the story: for me, those apnea classification number are just that: numbers.

Your story is illustrative of a common problem. A significant segment of the population has UARS(upper airway resistance syndrome). These patients test with few or no frank apneas or hypopneas. Unfortunately, medical insurance will usually not pay for treatment under these circumstances and physicians may dismiss the patient as "O.K." medically. Well you are O.K. in the sense that you will not get a heart attack or a stroke like you might with obstructive sleep apnea, but these patients are often quite symptomatic. miserable, and non-functional. As a sleep dentist, I do get to see some of these people after they get cut loose by the physicians. It is a real gap in treatment coverage and a significant public health problem. Arthur B. Luisi, Jr., D.M.D.

Thank you for the reply, doc. Very helpful.