Migraine

I got a call from the nurse regarding my sleep study from a couple of weeks ago. She told me that the results came back abnormal. I wanted to say, "What else is new!"

Turns out I have the beginnings of sleep apnea. They suggest I lose about 10-15 pounds. I need to lose more than that! The nurse told me not to drink alcohol or take any sedatives before I got to sleep.

I was also told to see an ENT doctor. Guess I'll be making me an appointment. Not sure what the next steps will be. I guess the ENT dr. will let me know. I guess this explains why I'm not sleeping well at night.

I'm glad to hear you are starting to get some answers. Sounds like the first step toward improving your well-being.

Keep us updated, ok? Hope you get some more answers soon.

I'm so glad you got the sleep study done. Let us know what the ENT doctor says, k?

Take care!!

Sleep apnea, huh? Wow - wonder how that ultimately affects migraines...

Take care and I truly hope this works out for you!

Pam

Good luck in getting your issues treated.

Do you know why they recommended seeing an ENT over a sleep specialist/pulminologist? A pulmanologist who specialised is sleep disorders is usually the type of doctor that deals with apnea.

There are different types of apnea & different way that doctors read the reports. If you didn't get enough sleep or go through all the stages of sleep, the scoring could be different. You should request a copy of the full report, if you can to bring to a specialist appt. It sometimes is a long wait to see a specialist (can be 2, 3 months), so it's a good idea to get started on this.

I have moderate sleep apnea as well (within a year I went to being told I "didn't have apnea" to "moderate sleep apnea") which is yet not being treated. When I have an especially bad night of sleep, I wake up with a migraine (sometimes in the middle of the night), muscle aches/soreness on one side of my body, GERD, etc. Worser nights preview days that I have more paresthesias, dysthesias, tinnitus, various auras, sleep attacks, grogginess & more likely to have "seizuree-like" episodes, hemiplegic migraines, etc. It makes me wonder if I have a seizure disorder as well, but it seems I'll never get answer to that one.

It's a good thing my doctor didn't tell me to lose weight in my case, cause that won't help. And apparently I get apnea episodes sleeping on my side & even sitting up. I'll find out at my next appt. if I need a CPAP.

Be very careful about sedatives... Recently when I took OTC sleep aid because I had insomnia, I fell asleep & felt like I was choking. I probably should take those types of meds anymore as my apnea seems to be getting worse, but I have various other sleep problems on top of apnea which compounds my problem.

My DH has sleep apnea. His sleep study revealed 70 interruptions an hour. More than one a minute. He was getting NO REM sleep. No wonder he hadn't told me about dreams.

The CPAP has changed his life. He was feeling so bad that we were considering a trip to the Mayo Clinic for him to have a comprehensive assessment. He's now back to his old self, with energy, great attitude, and some fun dreams. The guy I fell in love with in 1979. Even his arthritis in his knees (he played catcher in his teens) is better.

He had a little trouble finding the right kind of mask. He tried several, but has found one that fits well and does what it's supposed to do.

I'd gotten used to his snoring, but now all I hear is the gentle whirr of the CPAP. He's going fishing in the Louisiana marshes this weekend, and the CPAP will go in the trunk before the fishing poles.

Homeland Security considers a CPAP one of your two carry-ons when you fly. I think that's unfair, and a CPAP should have a free ride!

FWIW, DH's sleep clinic is run by psychiatrists. It's at the state University Hospital and medical school. Pulmonologists often are sleep specialists as well.

Gretchen in Mississippi

Let us know what they say.

I'm not sure why the neurologist has my seeing my ENT doctor. I did get a copy of my sleep study. Not sure I understood a lot of what it said. I have an appointment on May 12 with my ENT doctor. I'll let you know what I find out. I'm hoping that if we get my sleep issues addresses that maybe this will help with some of my migraine issues.

Thanks for all the information.

I know that getting a better night's sleep has helped with my migraines. I hope the same holds true for you too!

You should take a look at this article:

Transformed Migraine Related to Sleep Problems

Please keep us posted, k?

quote:

I'm hoping that if we get my sleep issues addresses that maybe this will help with some of my migraine issues.

Well, I went to see my ENT doctor this morning. He looked over the results from my sleep study. He says that I don't have sleep apnea. That's good news.

At least, I don't have to have any more medication or devices.

That's great news Heather! Are you sleeping any better nowadays?

I don't know. Sometimes I think I am. I still wake up tired. And, I'm usually tired during the day, but I don't know if it's a side affect of the medication I'm on.

Right now, I'm exhausted. But, that's because I just got back from a weekend trip and didn't get much sleep. Had tons of fun! LOL

I'm glad to hear the news from the sleep study, Heather.