I was diagnosed with hypo in August, 2017 and right around that time started experiencing gasping during sleep which has gotten worse recently. My spouse says I sound like I’m choking and it’s quite distressing. I also suffer have a history of sinus problems use a breathing strip and allergy medication to help me breath during the night. I sleep on my side
and still wake up gasping for air. I am not
overweight and despite gaining weight as a result of my thyroid, I’m still considered to be a normal to trim sized woman.
I’ve been on Levothyroxine since mid August and my dose is now 137 mcg.
My doctor referred me to a sleep specialist for a sleep study.
I wonder if anyone here developed sleep apnea as a result of Hypothyroidism? I’m hoping as my thyroid medication is optimized this condition may improve. I’m exhausted when I wake up and have started dreading going to
sleep.
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Tsh123
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I cannot answer your question but have you had a recent Free T4 and Free T3? The reason I am asking is that they rarely test either which can cause us to have unpleasant symptoms.
If not ask for a new blood test and it has to be at the very earliest, fasting (yu can drink water and allow a gap of 24 hours between your last dose of levo the test and take afterwards.
If GP or lab wont do them we have private labs that will do so and it is pin-prick home blood tests. Excerpt from following link:
FT4 = FREE T4
Thyroid hormones not bound to proteins. FT4 lowers when the thyroid is struggling.
The approx. reference range for this test is 10 to 24
FT3 = FREE T3
T4 converts to T3 and is the only thyroid hormone actually used by the body's cells.
The approx. reference range for Free T3 is 4 to 8.3
We at Thyroid UK believe that you need to know your Free T3 level too because this will often show low if you are not converting, and high if you have blocked receptor cells. Even if you are converting, the body needs the extra T3 that a normal thyroid produces. There has been some research to show that people feel better on a mixture of Thyroxine (T4) and Triiodothyronine (T3). Effects of Thyroxine as Compared with Thyroxine plus Triiodothyronine in patients with hypothyroidism – The New England Journal of Medicine Feb.11, 99 Vol. 340. (Click here for this article).
With all of these tests, your results could be anywhere within the range and you would be classed as "normal". If you are at the very edge of the range, either at the bottom or at the top, you could be classed as "borderline". Neither you nor your doctor truly knows what your normal is, if you did not have a blood test done before you became ill. There are also particular reasons why the blood tests remain in the normal range. If you are not converting from T4 to T3 or if your cells are not taking up the T3 normally, your T4 levels and your TSH levels will still show as normal.
I’ve been hypothyroid for 30 years and it’s only this year after being referred to a rheumatologist for systemic auto immune issues that my T3 was ever tested. Even though it was in low mid range on levo 200mcg my TSH was still over 30 when upper range is 4. Things you learn!
As you have only recently been diagnosed, you are likely still increasing dose to get optimal medication level
How much Levothyroxine are you currently taking, what did you start on and what was latest blood test results
You should be retested 6 weeks after each dose increase
All Thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after, this gives highest TSH
Do you have high antibodies- this is Hashimoto's.
Extremely common to have low vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12. Have these been tested? Post results and ranges if you have them.
Best to avoid most multivitamins, especially if have iodine in unless an iodine specialist has done full evaluation for iodine deficiency. Iodine can make hypothyroidism worse
Hello SD, thank you for this. I posted my labs above and listed my supplements. I have painful carpal tunnel like symptoms right now so I have to limit my time on this keyboard or I’d repost them here.
I am taking 125 mcgs levo as of October 1. My most recent labs were mid August. The articles you linked are very helpful.
I appreciate you taking time to respond with this helpful information. I’ll share it with my doctor.
Carpal tunnel is most definitely a symptom of hypothyroid. This was the symptom which eventually got me diagnosed and it has returned twice at times when my dosage needed adjusting. Its likely you are undermedicated or failing to convert.
Before diagnosis I told medics I felt I had near-narcolepsy. After six months' treatment I mentioned to my GP the claims that non-thyroid causes including sleep apnoea were likely culprits for persisting symptoms. An eejit hospital doctor put me on a beta blocker, despite my low heart rate, which caused central sleep apnoea. I found the Epworth sleepiness questionnaire online and my GP couldn't ignore the result, perhaps due to having a student observer in the room, so a sleep study was arranged.
Now I have the blessing of a CPAP machine, my sleep hygiene is still a problem. I'm more likely to have events if I go to bed late and sleep during the day. These are recorded by the machine, and I found software on a forum to analyse the data stored on the memory card. Now I'm off the beta blocker, central sleep apnoea events are far less frequent and I doubt they're noticed at the annual visits to the clinic, where they check for compliance and that the machine is working OK. I never see a doctor at the clinic, and have had no help with rhinitis or whatever makes breathing through my nose very difficult from time to time, and is worsened by the CPAP mask. I can't sleep on my side without the mask leaking air, but I've adapted to that. I can't wear the mask with spectacles.
I don't see my obstructive sleep apnoea improving, but the machine allows much better sleep with a reduction of negative health impacts. Anyone needing to get up more than once in the night to urinate could well have sleep apnoea. During an event, oxygen decreases, carbon dioxide increases, the blood becomes more acidic, the heart rate drops and blood vessels in the lung constrict. The sleeper must wake enough to reopen the airway. By this time, the heart is racing and experiences a false signal of fluid overload. The heart excretes a hormone-like protein that tells the body to get rid of sodium and water, resulting in the need to urinate.
If I crash (sleep) during the afternoon or evening, I have a fitful sleep without the benefit of CPAP. This aspect could be improved by better treatment for my hypothyroidism i.e. T3 to meet the immediate need (I have only a fraction of the endurance I once had). I don't drive and risk causing an actual crash.
I find placing the machine near the foot end of the bed minimizes problems of entanglement with the air-hose. I can wrap my head in a soft blanket and be blissfully warm and comfortable, with nice fresh air being supplied from outside my cocoon.
You’ve been through it! I am glad you found a way to relieve your symptoms. I also have a very slow heart rate which I wonder contributes to these episodes along with a large septum that required surgery 30 years ago.
Thanks. The central sleep apnoea would've been frightening, if I wasn't so tired due to it and the hospital experience. It was completely new to me -- waking, wondering why I had no respiratory drive. Then I was kicked off the ward and trapped in the discharge ward, awaiting paperwork and meds, drifting in and out of sleep in the uncomfortable seating. Every time I visit a hospital I find myself redesigning the place and its processes!
The sleep clinic doctor checked my airways, but didn't ask if I felt I had a problem, so speak up, when you get the chance.
TSH, I've always looked into sleep apnea as well NOT being obese. I read the articles posted in this thread but I previously heard that it is due to a nerve which goes to the nose. Unfortunately they didn't expand any further but I have since been looking at the vagus nerve and decided that is where the problem may lie. It's a cranial nerve which goes to all the organs. I've decided TMJ, Tinnitus are both involved with it.
There are many offerings to stimulating of the vagus nerve, one being, yoga, but many other avenues which I am still discovering. I don't have TPO antibodies as one of the articles suggests. I have had HT for many years and feel damage may be irreversible but I think you should definitely look into reaching optimal levels of TSH, FT3, and FT4 by any means you can. There are wonderful links in this post if you wish to search further.
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