Obstructed airway apnea issues

Been having issues sleeping or staying asleep. Wake up multiple times, feel fatigued during the day.

Apparently my turbinates are inflammed so there is an airway obstruction issue.

Apparently my apnea is mild and doesn't warrant a machine.

Also have anxiety and take citalopram.

Is the apnea the cause, the medicine, the inflammed turbinates in my nose, some other issue contributing to the fatigue?

Suggestions on what to do?

Hi whebert228,

Did you have a sleep study to determine the level of apnea? How long ago was that? Is your doctor a sleep specialist, a pulmonologist or your GP? Are you seeing an ear, nose and throat doctor to see after the inflamed turbinates? Are anxious thoughts keeping you from getting to sleep at night or waking you up through the night? Have you brought up the fatigue issue with your doctor/s? What did he/they say in reply? Have you seen a therapist or psychiatric specialist to address your anxiety? All of these are things you can do to address your fatigue and find out for sure what is going on. The best any of us can do on this forum is to guess (and it may or may not be an educated guess). Such an answer from this forum would likely do you a disservice.

Go for the jugular, do your own homework and then let your medical team help you to sort this out. Good luck to you and take care.

I am a dentist working in dental sleep medicine. I am assuming that you have been properly tested and diagnosed with mild sleep apnea. It is a fairly typical response for sleep physicians to forego prescribing CPAP for mild OSA. Their thinking is that mild OSA does not have the same serious medical consequences as moderate to severe and most milds won't stay compliant on CPAP anyway(possibly true). However, it is quite possible not to sleep well and not to feel well with only mild OSA. In fact, patients with UARS have no apneas at all and typically feel miserable. It may be a good strategy to investigate an oral sleep apnea appliance, which typically works well for mild OSA and can clear up your symptoms. Arthur B. Luisi, Jr.,D.M.D.