DS Has Severe Sleep Apnea

[happymomma]

Hi All:

DS is about 6 1/2 years old right now. We've found out through his sleep study that he has severe sleep apnea. We've tried Nasonex before but it didn't work. We've also had his tonsils and adenoids taken out but we suspect maybe his adenoids have grown back. The pulmonologist didn't recommend using the cpap b/c he is so young. I was wondering if anyone has had kids diagnosed this young. We've always suspected that something was wrong b/c his sleep has always been so interrupted.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks....

[rlu]

I don't have any BTDT advice, but am sending you sympathy thoughts as DH has severe apnea but didn't give in to using a cpap for many years. Now things are much better. What advice did the ENT have if not using a cpap?

[nov04]

Hope everything settles down soon and glad you got some answers.

I suspect the pulm. doesn't think ds will tolerate the cpap and that's why he doesn't recommend it. I would try a very gradual intro and see what happens.

dd1 has moderate apnea dx'd via pulse ox readings during 3 nights. We're doing a full sleep study in January. We started investigating because I noticed that there was 15 seconds between exhale and inhale when she had a cold. Doctors were stunned I was able to actually time the gap. I told them it wasn't the worst I'd ever seen and knew she was okay, just needed some help.

Our respirologist believes that dd1 takes more time than usual because her brain must work harder to coordinate all processes. Her neurologist looked at the readings and said that while she does have moderate apnea, it's not urgent to do the sleep study (we've waited almost 2 years) because her sats don't decrease too much over the night.

Just keep following up and asking questions, sometimes they need some prompting to find a solution.

[HIU8]

DS has sleep apnea. It is moderate I suppose. Nasonex has been helping. He still wakes up in the morning like he didn't get any sleep the night before though. We are about to have his tonsils and adenoids out in 2 weeks to see if that makes a difference. DS has never been through a sleep study as the ENT didn't think it was necessary since Nasonex did help some. DS is 5 and we have been watching his sleep for the past 2 years. I used to time the duration between breaths and it was 5 seconds on a regular basis -sometimes longer (used to freak me out). The ENT had told me that 5 seconds or longer gap warrented looking into.

DD is also suspected of having sleep apea and allergies that have been causing a constant runny nose and cough--she is 2 and is having the surgery with DS (in addition to having tubes due to fluid in her ears that caused a hearing loss).

[LexyLou]

I'm so sorry.

My DD also had sleep apnea but she had her tonsils and adenoids removed in Febuary and knock on wood, she seems to be doing so much better.

What other options are there at this point besides the CPAC machine? Can they go in and remove the adenoids again?

[Andi98989]

Perhaps something to ask the ENT about - my dad had his uvula removed because it was causing his horrible snoring and sleep issues. It was a pretty simple procedure and definitely solved the problem for him. His was apparently several times larger than it should have been and was blocking his throat during the night.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatine_uvula

[happymomma]

The doctor thinks that since he is young, a cpap machine might not work b/c it's hard to get kids that young to use it. In addition, since his nose is still growing, the face cpap (which he will need since he breathes through his mouth) might change his formation of the face. We are trying singular and flonex for now. I am hoping that this will help some. We are also looking to see if his adenoids has grown back and if so, we would have to do another surgery. Not what I am looking forward to. Unfortunately, we need to get this done either way before us leaving for Singapore in February or else do it after we get back. But then he is going to miss a lot more of school as is. The pulmonologist also recommended an orthodontist that might be able to help to find a way to open more air passage way for him.

It's just so scary b/c he is so young.

[HIU8]

Our ped dentist is very concerned b/c DS is a mouth breather and it has started affecting the growth of his jaw (in addition to the other stuff I already mentioned previously). DS's jaw is becoming narrow and he is getting an underbite (lower teeth in front of upper teeth). That in itself will require surgery when DS is a teenager--which is much more invasive than having his tonsils and adenoids out now.

I hope things work out for your DS.