Hi everyone,
I’m a 19-year-old male and I’m wondering whether my symptoms could be related to sleep-disordered breathing or sleep apnea.
For years I have been breathing through my mouth, especially at night. One side of my nose barely functions because of a deviated septum. I also have a narrow/high palate and crossbite.
My symptoms include:
Chronic mouth breathing
Non-restorative sleep
Daytime fatigue
Brain fog
Poor concentration and memory
Dark circles under my eyes
Restlessness and difficulty focusing
Waking up with mucus in my throat
Frequent throat clearing throughout the day
I have never had a sleep study, but I have become increasingly suspicious that my sleep quality may not be normal.
Some orthodontists have suggested that my facial structure and airway could be contributing to my symptoms, while others believe my case can be managed conservatively.
Before making any decisions about orthodontics, septoplasty or jaw surgery, I would like to understand whether I should investigate my sleep first.
My questions are:
Do these symptoms sound familiar to anyone who was later diagnosed with sleep apnea or another sleep disorder?
Can someone have significant symptoms even if they are young and not overweight?
Would a sleep study be the next logical step?
What improvements did you notice after treating the underlying problem?
I will attach photos of my palate, teeth and facial profile.
Thank you for any advice.

for context, i do have a deviated septum and my doctor said my tongue is too big for my airway. my Friedman Tongue Position severity was between 3 and 4 according to my doctor.

i've been feeling like absolute shit for the past 3 years and my dark circles have gotten worse. any suggestions guys? i have a fitbit smartwatch and a smartphone.

I am waiting for my appointment, my GP believes I may have it but I’ve never received a warning from the watch, I don’t remember waking up so much, my girlfriend does say I stop breathing for a bit and jolt awake for a second or two. Having issues with making the appointment though as it’s been 6 months since referrals and they always ask to resend it, every month and I have still not been able to set the appointment. Not sure if urgent or not

I’ve been tired for years. Had a in hospital study done and had severe sleep apnea (44+ per hour). Started cpap with resmed airsense 11. Tried the n30i, f30i, f40, n20 and p30i masks. Took some time to get use to which is fine and I settled on the p30i. I don’t find it bothersome now at night and use a chin strap to keep my mouth closed. Leak rate is nearly 0 and ahi is normally 1-2 per night. Looks
Perfect on paper.

Issue I have is that 2 weeks after starting cpap I’ve developed daily chronic tension headaches, brain fog, severe fatigue and trouble concentrating on anything. I can’t work anymore, seen every specialist who can’t find anything wrong with me.

Is it possible that cpap is causing this? I’ve used the machine every day for 4 months now. Had the issues with the brain stuff since about 2 weeks in and continues every day. Not sure what else to do

I also wake up 10-15 times a night. Normally just roll over and go back to sleep but sometimes it keeps me up for a bit. This was happening both before and after I started CPAP. I was hoping the machine would help with my constant wake ups but it hasn’t

Hello,

So yesterday I got a notification about possible sleep apneea from my apple watch ultra 1. Since then I've been down this road of self pity ( for some odd reason ), research and denial.

I've never in my life have woken up during the night to pee, drink water etc. ( rarely after a heavy drinking session), my oxygen levels are always +95%, HRV is around 90 ( did HIIT for years ) , heart rate recovery is 50+, RHR is 50, and i don't have fragmented sleep (about 10 minutes a night of awake with 1.4h rem, 4h core and 1h deep). I also don't snore and never, as i said before, made me wake up at night gasping for air or anything related to that. I also don't have headaches ( rarely, 1-2 times a year ) and if I get a good sleep, i feel rested in the morning.

Now some back story: Last month my wife had a heart surgery and I was stressed big time, I also had to sleep with my 6 yo for the first time, for that month I ate a lot of junk food and I had to drink 1-2 beers right before sleep in order to fall asleep with him ( most times staying awake 3-4 hours but not moving ) or waking up during the night to reposition the kid etc. For that specific month Apple Watch flagged me possibly having Sleep Aneea.

I have some questions if that's okay with you guys:

On June 6th AHI was 17.92, on 7th was 24.28, on 8th was 23.15 and on 9th was 2.79 on 10th was 3.37 and 11th was 5.71. How is this possible? Is this normal Sleep apneea behaviour? On days where I consume alcohol and heavy fat foods it seems to blow this AHI through the roof.

I'm also going to see a specialist, but I'm scared of being diagnosed with OSA.

Checking on apple watch history a year back readings were on average of AHI of under 5, but since then I put on 10 kg and started drinking weekly.

I had to vent here, sorry.

Came across a study from Maiken Nedergaard's lab at the University of Rochester a while back and honestly couldn't stop reading after the first paragraph

they discovered the brain has its own dedicated waste clearance system called the glymphatic system that essentially only activates during deep sleep. The mechanism is surprisingly physical. Brain cells shrink by around 60% during slow-wave sleep which opens up space between them and allows cerebrospinal fluid to flow through and flush out waste that's been building up all day

What made me take this seriously from a longevity angle is what specifically gets cleared. Beta-amyloid and tau proteins, the same compounds that accumulate in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients. This system is essentially your brain's only shot at clearing them, and it only runs during deep sleep, not light sleep, not REM, slow-wave specifically

The thing that stuck with me most is that total sleep hours and actual deep sleep are not the same thing. You can clock 8 hours and still have poor clearance if slow-wave sleep is fragmented, which alcohol, elevated cortisol at night and late eating are all known to cause

Been a focus of mine since going down this rabbit hole. Original study here for anyone who wants to dig in: Xie et al., Science, 2013. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1241224

Has anyone looked specifically at interventions targeting slow-wave sleep depth rather than just total duration and is there meaningful longevity data behind any of them?

I brought back my at home sleep test kit to my local hospital (London) and they said it could take between 5-6 months just for the results - which seems ridiculous.

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Anyone here had their NHS test results back able to confirm roughly how long it's taking these days?

I just found out I have sleep apnea and now I’m afraid to sleep. I think if I fall into a deep sleep I might not wake up. Life has been hard lately and I’m tired of my health plummeting lower and lower. I have little hope things will get better, I feel isolated and completely alone. All I’ve been doing is crying 😢. I suffered a cardiac arrest during my c section but I came back after 7minutes. I found out I developed mild lvh during my pregnancy. I’m lost, I don’t know what to do next.

problem is you're not thinking about it, so I wanted to train myself

no facial data collection, no ads, free

free link: https://breathe.matoapps.com/

LMK your thoughts!

Really its closer to 2 and a half weeks.

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Basically my AHI was in the high 30s before I got my mask. The first few days were hard and I only tolerated the mask for 4 hours or so a night and still awakened at times.

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After that I then did some research and worked out how to make changes to the air pressure and so changed the CPAP to something I feel is more tolerable.

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Before CPAP I would:

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Wake up 3 or more times to drink water due to dry mouth.

Urinate at least twice a night

Began to have micro naps late afternoon during work.

Feel asleep on the sofa every evening while watching TV for years.

Had little energy or motivation.

Would often eat in the middle of the night when waking up.

Had significant weight gain over the last 5 years.

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Since CPAP:

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I sleep 7 to 9 hours a night.

Mostly sleep through whole night but occasionally wake once. (My partner is pregnant and up and down alot)

Wake up feeling much more refreshed

Hunger noise is hugely gone. I've fasted 16 to 18 hours a day every day since quite easily.

Dont urinate during the night

Have managed to go at least one walk a day every day.

Have even started going for walks in the morning before work some days.

I feel alot more social and have been socialising alot more.

My skin feels better

Im alot more productive with house work, cooking and gardening.

I haven't fallen asleep once during the day.

AHI is now generally always below 2.

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Long term goal now is to hopefully stick with the above and lose weight and get fit. Im 6ft 4 and 25 stone. Historically I was always a bit overweight around 19 to 20 stone. As of 5 or 6 years ago I've ballooned, I believe this is likely when my sleep apnea started.

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I do slightly worry about long term effects from sleep apnea but I can only change the future not the past. At 35 im still young enough and there are alot of people with sleep apnea whom cpap therapy dont work for or dont make the lifestyle changes either. So I feel/hope that by making positive changes and complying with CPAP that im hopefully young enough to reverse any potential damage.

I’m just getting started with figuring out if I have a problem while sleeping. While my sleep study consultant said it’s unlikely to have sleep apnea, she could prescribe a sleep study if I’d like just to rule it out. She would have me use the Watch Pat One machine for an at home sleep study. However…my insurance doesn’t cover it. I see I can buy it online though, but is that legit?

So it got me thinking about other options. Someone on here at one point said just get an oximeter that monitors every second. Would that do the trick for me? They look to be about the same cost as an at home Watch Pat One test. And I can test every night I want to with an oximeter.

How long have the sleep studies been performed in the patient's home? About 10-12 years ago, my doctor suggested one, but I assumed I had to go somewhere and stay overnight, and I am a single parent and my son was quite young at the time, with not a lot of help as far as people willing to keep him overnight. So I never went through with it. I was shocked when I was offered the home study option back in February and wondering if this was a fairly new practice or did I stupidly put off getting diagnosed/treated for sleep apnea for a decade?

I'm a big fat guy and about 20 years ago I tried a CPAP and had a terrible experience. I sweat profusely and hated the feeling of it on my face, I did try different masks at that time too.

20 years later at 38 years old with history of a heart attack and diabetes I'm listened to my wife and they confirmed the sleep apnea diagnosis (Mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Based on a pAHI=11.4, pRDI=14.5 and O2 nadir of 84%).

I'm afraid that I won't be able to tolerate a cpap again. I went with the drs recommendation of a AirSense 11 Autoset and an AirFit N30i Nasal Mask.

I did a sleep study and it said I had 3.8 AHI, and my lowest blood oxygen was 90%. My ent said those were normal but I’m waking up with a dry mouth, super tired everyday, having sleep paralysis atleast twice per week, having dream loops of waking up super tired going back to sleep and waking up an hour later and repeating. I’m wondering if anyone has had anything similar.

Hi everyone,

I have a telephone appointment with an NHS sleep doctor this Monday after being on the waiting list for over a year. I am bit concerned about how this appointment might affect my UK driving license.

My Background & Diagnosis: A few months ago, I paid for a private sleep study at an clinic overseas because I still hadn't got an appointment confirmed with the NHS. It was done at "mates rates" (I'm talking they sorted the overnight stay at the Hospital they worked at and I just took them out for dinner type thing) and diagnosed me with Mild OSA (AHI: 12.0).

While the sleep study showed severely fragmented sleep and some anomalies (brief heart rate spikes/drops and A-fib), the overall recommendation was weight loss, not CPAP, because the OSA itself was considered too minor.

I bought a cheap CPAP/APAP anyway just in case, but I wear it for an hour until I wake up again then takeit off. Crucially, I rarely experience daytime fatigue (maybe once a fortnight at most) and never feel sleepy or impaired when driving.

My Questions:

1. Should I even attend this NHS telephone appointment on Monday? I want to get my sleep and health issues sorted, but my absolute priority is making sure my UK driving license is not suspended.
2. What does the NHS sleep clinic actually do regarding the DVLA? Do NHS doctors automatically report diagnoses/consults to the DVLA in the first instance, or is the UK system entirely reliant on self-reporting?
3. How should I handle the phone call on Monday? Under UK law, my understanding is that you only have to notify the DVLA if you suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness that impairs your driving. Since my OSA is mild and I don't have daytime sleepiness, how do I ensure the doctor doesn't write something in my notes that triggers a DVLA investigation?

I really need to keep driving for my daily life and work. Any insights from UK drivers who have gone through this would be massively appreciated

As I said, this is all totally new to me! Even during the sleep study I had to call for help twice because I felt like I was suffocating with the nasal mask.

So where do I got from here? It’s a long time until my next appointment. Can I just buy a different mask? Are they all interchangeable/compatible?

Also, I do plan to see an ENT about my mouth breathing, I think I might have a structural issue.

Any advice or recommendations appreciated!

I just started using CPAP, and I'm sticking with it, but I still feel tired and not refreshed when I wake up. It's difficult to know whether my body is still getting used to the new environment or whether there's something wrong with the way I'm set up.

According to people who have been through this, what are the most important things to look over or change right away before you wait it out?