Sleep apnea

[raine-wager]

I went to see a cardiologist yesterday, he was very informative, he told me sleep apnea causes fluid retention and is a severe problem. I was unaware of its severity, did anyone else know this?

[greygoose]

Or, does fluid retention cause sleep apnea?

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Certainly hypothyroidism can cause both.

[raine-wager in reply to greygoose]

There's alot there to take in thankyou.

[greygoose in reply to raine-wager]

There is indeed!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Sleep apnea is linked to being hypothyroid, especially with Hashimoto's

verywellhealth.com/thyroid-...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

Have you had FULL Thyroid testing yet.

Last results were only TSH and FT4 which is inadequate

You need FT3 and thyroid antibodies tested

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also extremely important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if Thyroid antibodies are raised

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw). This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

Driving and sleep apnea

sleep-apnoea-trust.org/driv...

[raine-wager in reply to SlowDragon]

Hi Slowdragon, thankyou for your interest, I have added my last results requested by a another endocrinologist, I'm also under cardiologist for my heart I had a pacemaker fitted in July. Consultultans and my Dr still don't think I have hypothyroidism. I am prescribed vit d and supplement with b complex the were top of range on previous test...

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Looking at your previous posts, you are on 75mcg Levothyroxine?

These results suggest your FT3 is possibly too low. On Levothyroxine we often need high FT4 in order to have high enough FT3

Have you ever had BOTH TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested?

You need folate, ferritin and vitamin D tested obviously

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw). This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Is this how you do your tests?

Suggest get full private testing

[raine-wager]

Yes I took Levo after test. Last result, Thyroid peroxidase ab's 10 ku/L [< 60.0]

Antibody screen negative.

I just don't know what to think anymore.

[Treepie]

Sleep apnoea can have seious effects on the heart if I recall correctly. I had it before diagnosed hypo. I suspect you need an increase in levo or maybe some T3 as your FT3 is low.

[kindred7]

Yes, I knew that sleep apnea was dangerous. It can cause severe heart problems, hypertension, arrhythmia and such.

I m trying to get a diagnosis, for what I believe are thyroid problems. I was diagnosed with hashi's 10+ years back, but synthroid was discontinued after i developed hyperthyroid symptoms. My TSH is normal, so t3 and t4 weren't tested. i'll push for these tests. TPO was normal but TG wasn't tested. ferritin, b12 and D are low. my hair is falling out clumps.

I have noticed that when I take a nap, I wake up with palpitations and feeling like I can't get enough air. But it doesn't happen at night. I am getting sleep testing done right now. If I am not aware of sleep apnea at night, hopefully the machine will pick it up. Waking up at night with shortness of breath helps with heart problems too, and thankfully I am not experiencing any issues at night. Last night, I didn't use pillows so I could lie flat and see if it causes issues. I also had the sleep testing machine on (which tracks heart rate and oxygen levels). I didn't feel anything at night and woke up after a good 6-7 hours of sleep.

I am concerned about the nap thing, where I wake up in less than an hour with palpitations and feeling like I can't breathe though I don't wake up gasping ..more so breathing faster. Just a whole bunch of weird things going on. If anyone else has experienced this during naps, please share.

p.s. I don't think it's related to my meals, because I eat light low carb meals.