"You Don't Look Like You Have Sleep Apnea!"

Sleep Apnea Pathfinders

Are you one of those who only think sleep apnea is something that only people who are overweight can develop? Well, sleep apnea can be found in people with all body types.
I interview John Dortch, a thin person with sleep apnea. His body mass index is 24, which is normal weight for his height, according the a BMI calculator from the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute of the National Institute of Health.
John is someone whose physician would not think he fit the typical profile of someone who could have sleep apnea. In this episode, we talk about his path he's traveled to get diagnosed and how he adapted quickly to CPAP.
John had classic symptoms of sleep apnea-snoring, gasping for breath at night, needing to nap daily, and wanting to go back to sleep after a night of 7 hours . His wife complained of his snoring for years. There are millions of people who snore out there, and sometimes it leads to a sleep divorce. This is where a bed partner goes to sleep in another room. Well, John talks about his wife doing jus that one night when his snoring got too loud.
In this episode, he also discusses experiencing cluster headaches which occur suddenly and the pain is over one eye and can be debilitating. After being evaluated by a physician in the office, he was admitted to the hospital due to the concern that it could be a brain tumor. It would later be diagnosed as cluster headaches. In trying to soothe his cluster headaches, John found himself taking deep breaths. This alleviated some of the pain, and he would later conclude after being diagnosed with sleep apnea that lack of oxygen was a major contributing factor causing his cluster headaches.
Another thing John had adapted to over the years was going to the bathroom up to 2 times a night. He attributed it to aging and much to his surprise, once starting cpap he was sleeping through the night more .
John was not open to an in lab study and he felt (like many people) that it would be too uncomfortable. When he heard about how easy a home sleep study would be, he was more open to the idea of a sleep study.
We discuss his adjustment to cpap being easy and how for some people its not that easy. Since starting cpap, John has been cluster headache free, he doesn't need naps during the day, and his bathroom trips are all but eliminated. His sleep doctor explained that he was never able to sleep at night and his body was not able to suppress the function of needing to go the bathroom.
John shared that in thinking back to his father, he snored and had a host of medical issues. He speculated that his father potentially had sleep apnea and it was untreated.
This interview with John about his sleep apnea showed that those stereotypes that this sleep disorder is only for someone who is overweight is false.
If you or someone you know is thin, but they snore and you've witnessed them gasping for air at night, please suggest they see a sleep physician.