Sleep Apnoea: a common cause for fatigue and general tiredness

Sleep apnoea is also known as Mr Pickwickian syndrome. This is because Charles Dickens wrote about Mr Pickwick who had sleep apnoea and he is well known for falling asleep while eating his soup.

We see sleep apnoea today in so many different types of people I've seen it in women in their late to mid 50s often with Raised blood pressure and usually giving the history of feeling unrefreshed on waking, snoring at night, and if they have a partner, the partner describes them holding their breath at times while sleeping

. Many people do carry extra weight around her abdomen which again pushes on the lower diaphragm and the lungs stopping us take a full breath at night however not everybody who has sleep apnoea is overweight .

Some people who are slim may have sleep apnoea and so it is really important to think of it in your diagnosis when somebody comes in just not feeling themselves and worried that there is something going on.

We use two questionnaires in the clinic one is the well-known Epworth score where the patient fills this out themselves and the second is a sleep score which includes their blood pressure and the circumference of the patient's neck.

I have found the later very accurate in the clinic at diagnosing sleep apnoea, but the gold standard for making the diagnosis is to see a respiratory consultant and have sleep studies carried out.

The maion thing is to think of sleep apnoea as a potential diagnosis.

The good news is that when you diagnose someone with sleep apnoea there is treatment.

This involves usually wearing a small mask around the face at night. This mask is attached to a machine that helps push air into the lungs and keep the airways open in order for oxygen and other gases to diffuse across the lung and blood barrier. Because of this people improve their general well-being because their oxygen levels normalise and the other gas called carbon dioxide does not build up in the lungs.

For some people wearing the mask can be cumbersome however with technology these have become smaller and much less noisy.

Masks and machines aside weight loss is essential if you are carrying extra weight as you may find that you no longer need to use the machine. Some people will also try wearing a backpack at night in bed to prevent them lying on their back. As in this position they're more likely to breath hold and not clear the air from their lungs.

This means they are trying their best to sleep on their side which allows the lungs to expand and decompress much more easily.

If you think you might have sleep up here, why not come and see one of her doctors today we can do a full assessment and then refer you either into the NHS to a respiratory sleep clinic or privately to see a respiratory physician.

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