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I have always been a light sleeper and was surprised when my Dr said I needed to have a sleep study. I was shocked when I was told that I have central sleep apnea the Dr said it was caused by the lesions on my brain! I have been dx for 5 years but with symptoms for 20. AS ANYONE ELSE HEARD OF SUCH A THING?

Hi Teach-
Yup, I read up on this when my hubby was diagnosed, because he was an insomniac and would stop breathing and snore. Wondered if it was related to his brain lesions and one on his cervical spine. Has your doctor recommended any treatment? Oxygen or CPAP?

My husband never had the sleep test, and sometimes I check him to make sure he's still breathing. Scary stuff, huh?
AC

hi teach-

there are two main types of sleep apnea...obstructive and central...sleep apnea occurs when someone has multiple, brief episodes where they stop breathing when sleeping...obstructive is more based on structural interference, from things such as the weight of the neck on our airway...central is neurological...the lungs are not receiving the proper message from the central nervous system...

hope this helps,

TOL

I too was diasgnosed with apnea following my MS diagnosis. I had commented to my neuro that I had been having difficulty sleeping. He did not find this surprising and sent me for the sleep study.
I have now been using CPCP for several years. I sleep much better BUT if you do go the CPAP route, watch out for the dreams - it is an odd side effect some people experience - dreams in technicolour, panavision, sorround sound - the works.

Hi All- I did get a VPAP machine. I haven't had any crazy dreams yet. I only manage about 5 hours of the mask a night. We shall see how I feel in a few weeks.

Teach...
I wanted to let you know in my research on endothelial dysfunction (blood vessel/nitric oxide disturbances) I found out sleep apnea related to this. A good antioxidant/nutritional program can help.
Check out regimens section if you're interested.
Hope you feel better with the oxygen.
AC

I've often wondered if oxygen deprivation caused by sleep apnea is a primary factor in some cases of MS – certainly blood flow and oxygen delivery are different in MS brains, (sorry: can't remember where I read that, but I know I posted an article some time ago).

Oreo,
I've just got a brand new plasma TV, surround system, Blu-ray: the works. Are you telling me I've wasted my money?!