Sleep Apnea and MS

[Squirrel1270]

Morning Fam,

Just curious, anyone out there been diagnosed with sleep apnea due to their MS? I have an appointment with a pulminologist/sleep doc today to discuss sleep issues and was just curious how frequent, if at all, this is.

Thanks

[Frances_B]

Causes of/ contributing factors to sleep apnoea can be multiple, and making a definite connection between sleep apnoea and MS is difficult in individual patients - some people can have lesions in parts of their brain (e.g. brain stem) which may contribute to sleep apnoea developing - even if they do not have risk factors such as obesity, heart disease, respiratory disiease (e.g COPD). You should be able to discuss with the doctor you are going to see whether your MS might be a contributing factor in your case or not..

neurologyadvisor.com/confer...

msfocus.org/Magazine/Magazi...

[Squirrel1270 in reply to Frances_B]

I plan on bring my MS diagnosis up at my appointment. I don't suffer from any of the other risk factors but I was just curious. It seems like whenever I bring up something to my doctors and even mention something about MS, their immediate response is that it's not MS related. Thanks for your advice.

[Frances_B in reply to Squirrel1270]

If you have sleep apnoea, then regardless of whether it's related to your MS or not, it needs to be appropriately managed to mitigate the negative effects it can have on you and your general health.

[NorasMom]

Sleep apnea runs in my family (and my kids get it from the other side, too), but I'm the only one with MS. I've never thought of the two as being related.

It takes time to adjust to the CPAP, and the testing is a major PIA, but my son and I both love ours. I wish I could turn back time and get one for my late grandfather.

[Squirrel1270 in reply to NorasMom]

As far as I know, no one else in my family has sleep apnea or MS. The doc says I need to do the sleep study so I’ll be scheduling that tomorrow. I asked about a link to MS and he said it’s quite possible as sleep apnea can be linked to just about anything. But he’s going to do some research. More to come…

[Peruzzot]

I too have sleep apnea, but it runs on my dad's side of the family. My dad's was really bad and accompanied by very loud snoring. My dad however claimed that he didn't snore. His snoring made the windows in the house rattle worse than the freight trains going by a block away! He was diagnosed with sleep blocked apnea. Mine is a little different. The doctor doing my sleep test told me that my breathing isn't getting blocked while I sleep, but I have a tendency to forget to breathe while I sleep. She said that is definitely contributing to my MS fatigue throughout the day, but MS is probably not the cause of the sleep apnea given the family history.

[Squirrel1270]

I don't snore either, at least I never hear it. My wife would tell a different story though... 😁

[Amore55]

I have sleep apnea, but it is not related to my MS. I’m definitely not overweight, but I do snore. I used a c-pap machine for a few years, but during my divorce it somehow disappeared. I have never gotten a new one. Good luck with it!

[NorasMom in reply to Amore55]

I never want it to be said that I don't share. I will gladly send you 70-100 pounds if you'd like. 😆

[Amore55 in reply to NorasMom]

You are so generous! But I think I will pass on this offer, I don’t want to deprive someone else of the opportunity! 😂🤣

[cassielynn71]

Yes, I have both obstructive and central apnea. The obstructive is from recent weight gain and age in combo with muscle relaxers. The central came on first from the MS before the weight gain & relaxers.

[hairbrain4]

I have Sleep Apnea but I doubt it's MS related. I come from a long line of loud snorers who probably had it also but was never tested. My neuro picked up on it due to me not sleeping very well & sent me to the sleep center. That was about 12 years ago. Once I started using my CPAP machine I feel so much more rested even if I only get 6 hrs of sleep. It does help me think a little more clearly too.

[ByeByeMS]

Hi, I have Sleep Apnea but I never associated it with me having MS. Hmmm