Comments on: Sleeping Beauty

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 23:28:09 +0000

So I am here because I am procrastinating on putting together materials for a meeting about an advocacy program for my own group of people with a disability- narcolepsy. And I just finished doing a handout on the medical and intellectual consequences of disrupted nighttime sleep, which people with narcolepsy (PWNs) and folks with sleep apnea both have.
A quick run down:
Increased risk of heart problems and related health issues
Decreased concentration and focus
Higher risk of obesity and diabetes
Impaired memory and problem solving ability
Higher risk of high blood pressure and stroke
Impaired growth (this one gets an asterisk- connection is a little more tenuous, but growth hormones are released during slow wave sleep, so when you get less of it…)
Impaired judgement
Higher mortality
Clumsiness

Of course, all these things apply to me as well as to anyone else with a sleep disorder. I know this is a very old post, but if anyone sees this comment- PLEASE consider getting anyone you know with apnea or another sleep disorder to talk to a doctor about their quality of sleep. It doesn’t have to mean a clunky CPAP. Sometimes something as simple as having your tonsils removed or getting a special pillow can improve matters significantly. Also, the CPAPs out there today are much less cumbersome than they used to be. It can make a huge difference.

By: Jaida

Jaida — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:06:13 +0000

The T&A was also a total game-changer for us. Health and sleep both improved dramatically.

Please keep us posted. The new AAP guidelines for children with Ds recommend a sleep study for all kids before age 4. We declined since we’d already done the surgery and seen such improvement, but I do wonder sometimes if we should do it anyway…

By: Krlr

Krlr — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:27:33 +0000

I also just heard a bit on npr about lack of sleep & weight. Originally thought they were talking about me, but I wonder if that contributes to the pounds in adults with Ds?

By: Amysilverman

Amysilverman — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 23:03:06 +0000

Jennifer — We’ll have to compare notes in a couple months!

By: Amysilverman

Amysilverman — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:55:13 +0000

oh yes, the abbreviations make me giggle! sophie does still have her tonsils/adenoids — we haven’t had any of the other problems associated with those, so it hasn’t come up as an issue…. but maybe it should. sigh. good to know it helped you guys!

By: Jennifer Miller

Jennifer Miller — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:25:08 +0000

Very interesting. There are some things that apply to my son here. We didn’t do the doc band and I regret it. He also has low muscle tone and I’ve been concerned about his sleep. While he also doesn’t have vocab deficits, his aspie characteristics are higher when he has a bad night’s sleep. And he snores. A lot. This info is going to finally get me to talk with his doctor about it. Thanks!

By: krlr

krlr — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:11:42 +0000

I know how I get without enough sleep – functioning like that for 10+ years has got to take it’s toll. We had a sleep study done earlier this year as a pro forma thing but it was actually pretty bad – ended up getting her adenoids out (along w/some other stuff), which had the huge bonus of clearing up her nose (adenoids are apparently like little petri dishes. who knew?).
Does Sophie still have her tonsils/adenoids? I think that’s the usual first stop before the c-pap.
[Does the T/A abbreviation make you giggle too, or am I the only juvenile here? ]