apnea?

HI all,
I have another question , hope I don't make a pain ...out of myself.
-I ended up in the ER yesterday ( monday). I had been having dizzy and near fainting spells for 6 days and I just could not take it anymore. I also wake up in the morning as if in a panick , it feels like I had a bad dream or something, but I never remember anything.
Nothing showed up on any of the tests. They even had my pacemaker interrogated and I did not have any episodes of SVT at all since the last interrogation in July and the whole 5 months my heart rate did never go over 101. Go figure !! One intesting thing though was the monitor at the hospital. It continued to show a low respiratory rate of 8, sometimes lower and then the alarm went off. One time I fell asleep , the monitor started beeping and a message on it read "apnea for 22 seconds. Action required.-I called the nurses several times to inform them of this, but they said not to pay attention to the monitor.
Now I'm wondering if I have sleep apnea, which would explain my morning experiences. Should I pursue this ? or just ignore it like the nurses recommended.
thanks
Elke

5 Comments

study

by Elke - 2008-12-16 10:12:51

Forgot to mention that there is a study suggesting that pacemaker patients have a higher incident of sleep apnea. A study in France showed that 2/3 of us have undiagnosed sleep apnea. They don't know if the sleep apnea caused the heart problem or if it occured as a result of the pacemaker. Just do a search on "sleep apnea pacemaker patients" . The researchers suggested that everybody should have a sleep study done, before pacemaker implantation. Ha, I don't think it's that easy to get done here in the US.
Elke

Worth Checking

by janetinak - 2008-12-17 02:12:40

I had a couple of episodes in about a 6 month period of waking up gasping for breath so I had a sleep study & I have a mild case of sleep apnea. I wear the mask & use a CPAP machine & most nights I sleep longer & better than I have in the last 15 years. I got the PM for Afib in 2000 so who knows which came 1st. I thought it was the "big M" (menopause) as sleep problems started about that time. But I would suggest you get the sleep study done & see.

Good luck,

Janet

Apnea

by debbie54 - 2008-12-17 10:12:48

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2000. I stop breathing 17 times an hour for various lengths of time. I have a cpac and can tell the difference in my sleep pattern when i don't use it. I received my pm in June. I asked the doctor if the sleep apnea caused the heart problem and he said "its the chicken and the egg". Before the cpac i would wake up from sleep gasping for breath and in the morning felt like i never went to bed. I was very tired (would fall asleep talking to people). My advice, get a sleep study test, its simple and you would know for sure what is happening. Its really no big deal once you get use to the mask. Good luck, stay possitive. Debbie

appointment tomorrow

by Elke - 2008-12-17 12:12:47

thanks everybody!
I happen to have an appointment with my neurotologist tomorrow afternoon for an ungoing ear problem. He is also specializing in sleep apnea, so I will bring it up and see what he has to say. I'll let you know of the outcome.
Frank-do all pacemakers do that daily check you're talking about? Nobody ever mentioned it to me.
Elke

Apnea

by ElectricFrank - 2008-12-17 12:12:52

A respiratory rate of 8 is no problem. I breath at around 6 when I am very relaxed. Using my biofeedback equipment I have spent as much as 15 minutes breathing at 3 and my blood oxygen stays in the 97% range. I usually set off the monitors.

A pause of 22 seconds could be the beginnings of apnea, but not enough for concern. The hospital monitoring likely included the oximeter and would have shown any pauses long enough to affect your body. The same is true of the pacemaker interrogation. If you are having any periods of extended apnea it should affect your heart.

I would tend to go with your thoughts about dreaming and panic.

By the way do you know what time your pacemaker does its daily self check? (be sure the pacemakers internal clock is set to your local time) If the time is set near wakeup time it could be triggering a dream.

frank

You know you're wired when...

You participate in the Pacer Olympics.

Member Quotes

It's much better to live with a pacemaker than to risk your life without one.