Sleep Apnea Treatment

Question by : Do I have sleep apnea or seizures?
When I try to describe my symptoms, my parents don’t believe me. They sound kind of similar to sleep apnea, but with a few differences.

At least once a week, I wake up in the middle of the night and I can’t catch my breath. My body is having a “pins-and-needles” tingling sensation all over and sometimes my jaw is trembling violently. I can’t move any part of my entire body. I can’t open my eyes or yell for help or anything as hard as I try.

The scary part that nobody believes is: during all of this, I’m having nightmares/hallucinations that there are ghosts or a stranger in my room. The tingling sensation causes me to dream that there are bugs or sometimes rats crawling all over me. The dreams are like I can see through my closed eyelids, even though I can’t open them. I can see the room that I went to sleep in perfectly; it looks the same as it does when I open my eyes. The realness of it is very terrifying.

After I try long enough, my jaw stops shaking, and I start breathing normally again, I try to vocalize but usually all that comes out are very quiet screechy sounds.
After a few minutes I can open my eyes and blink and then eventually move my limbs again.

Any additional information that might be needed is that I am a 17 year old female. I am healthy; I have no major health problems that I know of. This has been happening since I was around 14, but it has been happening very, very often throughout the passed 6 months or so.

I’d really like to get an idea of what’s going on. I’m pretty sure it’s sleep apnea, but since my parents don’t seem to think so, it would be nice to get another opinion.

Oh, and 10 points to the most helpful answer (:

Best answer:

Answer by Honey
i have very similar problems and it started about the same age. I am now 26 and it doesn’t happen as often but it still happens now and then. I usually start off dreaming that im underwater and i hold my breath for so long that it causes me to wake up due to lack of oxygen. then ive been so long without oxygen that it causes all of the other symptoms that you describe. once you start breathing again then you will eventually go back to normal. I spoke to a dr about this and they did a sleep study on me but it was inconclusive because it didn’t happen the night they tested me. they said it was either sleep apnea or night terrors. he told me to elevate the front of my bed so that i wasn’t laying flat and to sleep with a fan on. i guess it helped a little since it doesn’t happen too often now. I would say that you for sure need to speak to a dr about this because it is a serious thing.

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Question by Kehaulani: What could cause seizures in my sleep?
I have been experiencing seizures in my sleep for the past year now. I lived alone, so I only knew because I had woken up to my tongue being very badly bitten, but ever since I moved in with my boyfriend, he has actually seen me seizure 3 times. So we know for sure it is a seizure. There isn’t a consistent pattern as to when they happen and I can’t figure out anything that would cause it to happen. I’ve had blood tests and an MRI done and everything has shown normal. I exercise normally and try to eat balanced meals most of the time. Does anyone know what could cause these? And how to prevent it? It’s a pretty scary thing.

I have read something about sleep apnea causing this and I am wondering what are other symptoms of seizure sleep apnea? Because I can sleep and sleep and never feel well rested. Isn’t that a symptom of sleep apnea?. And I’m not kidding…. I can sleep for litterally 20 hrs and continue sleeping becauase I still feel tired.

And I know this sounds funny, but my boyfriend also told me that this last time, right before I seizured, I said “no, not the midget” What the heck does that mean?! Are ailens controlling me in my sleep? LOL… But really, could it be possible that I am having very intense, stressful dreams and it is causing me to seizure?

If anyone has any real insight on this, I would very much appreciate it.
I am 22 years old female. I am about 5 foot 2 and weigh about 130 lbs and have consistently been that weight for years. I do not snore, but my boyfriend has told me that there was a time that it sounded like I stopped breathing and kind of got choked up. I do not have anyone else in my family with this sleep seizure condition that I know of. I also do not remember falling or hitting my head at all. I have not noticed any trouble with my vision either. I rarely drink alcohol and hardly ever take prescription drugs as I believe in taking natural medicine when available. All I have been told is that I should do a sleep study since they cannot find anything else yet. Since I do not have health insurance right now, I am just trying to find out more info until I can get the sleep study done.

I appreciate everyone’s inputs.

Best answer:

Answer by Alfred
Hello- and I apologize beforehand for trying to answer such a question this way- as I live abroad… Can I ask how old are you? And what is your weight? And height? Do you snor? Do you smoke? or drink alcohol more than occasionaly? Do you take any prescription drugs regularly? During the last year or so- did you ever fall and/ or lose consciousness? during the last year or so- did you notice any troubles of your vision- I mean- double or blurred vision? did you see a neurologist about these complaints during the last year? what does your Family Doctor know and/ or think about this topic? given normal blood tests results and a normal brain MRI- which was done when?-and according to your answers to the above and other questions- a decision has to be made- in real life -about further investigations to be performed- to a larger or lesser extent to establish a diagnosis… did they performed a sleep deprivation EEG- electroencephalogram- ever? are there any known cases of similar complaints in your family- siblings, parents etc.? Did you unintentionally lose weight lastly?
You are hereby asked NOT TO NEGLECT…I am a Family Doctor- yet living and working in Israel… May God bless you… good health…

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Question by giovanni d: Has anyone with children experienced sleep “seizures?”?
My child is 11 yrs. old. In the past ten months he has two episodes occur in his sleep that has scared me to death. My wife and I are awakened by his labored breathing. When we enter his room, he is lying in bed gasping for air. I turn him over,his body is partially limp. He is unresponsive. His eyes are partially open but he is not focusing on anything. He is breathing extremely heavy, as I said I can best decribe it as labored breathing, fighting for air. After one to two minutes he appears as though he is trying to wake up, but his can’t focus on anything and he appears to be having some type of seizure. After 5-10 minutes, he regains himself and is normal again, with no recollection of what transpired. At the emergency room they diagnosed him with “Benign Rolandic Epilepsy,” which they say is common, not harmful and children outgrow it by puberty. My son has slight asthma, I believe he has sleep apnea (though no doctor would test him for it) and he was 9 1/2 wks premature

Best answer:

Answer by Wanna.B.Pirate
Thats quite an Intesting story

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Question by InquiringMinds: Can sleep apnea cause seizures?
I have a 6 yr. old daughter who recently started having seizures in her sleep. (or recently that I know of) The first time I called 911, the second time I drove her to the hospital myself. They were 8 days apart and both were in the middle of the night. We went in and had a cat scan, mri and eeg. No signifacant results, which is good news, but I can’t live the rest of my life waking up every time she scratches an itch. She has always snored slightly and had to have her adnoids out at age 4 because of this. Does any one here have a sleep apnea and if so, have you ever had a seizure because of it?

Best answer:

Answer by furmanator1957
yes i have sleep apnea never had a seizure

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Question by June B: Does sleep apnea cause seizures?
At the age of 67 I had the first seizure. Now at age 73 the doctors have diagnosed sleep apnea. Since I’ve only had seizures during my sleep is it possible that I’ve had sleep apnea all along and was diagnosed improperly?

Best answer:

Answer by J B
That would be difficult to tell. In order to be diagnosed with seizures, most people have to have an abnormal EEG – hopefully you have had this done. If it was abnormal, this does not cause sleep apnea. Increasing weight, especially in the neck causes sleep apnea. But, it is not impossible to believe that low oxygen levels caused by the sleep apnea could bring on a seizure.

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