My son recently had his tonsils and adenoids removed after being diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea thru a sleep study.   Prior to the study, I had noticed that he seemed tired all the time, irritable, etc.   He is not a snorer, but is very restless at night and I witnessed his breathing pausing for 10-15 sec when he slept.  I was hopeful that after the surgery that his problems would be resolved (because of the high success rate with the surgery).

It was been two months since the surgery and he is still tired during the day and very restless at night.   He feel asleep in my lap and during the 30 minutes, he "paused" his breathing three times.  

Has anyone had this experience?  and what did you do?   I want to monitor him a little more before I go running back to the doctor and have him go through more test.

Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks

Hi there,

My 8yo had her adenoids out because of OSA (AHI of 28).  After her adenoids were removed her AHI dropped to 8  6 weeks later and she was put on cpap.  4 months later (after a change in doc's) she was re-tested and her AHI is 1.8 and she is on cpap again.  That was last June.....if she were to be retested now it would be at least 5 and probably higher.  Even with cpap she is still 2.

In Chris's case some of the AHI is due to the inability of the testing to completely distinguish between her leg movements from RLS/PLMD and those that are kick starting her breathing again.  Cpap calmed down her legs quite a bit, but she still has RLS/PLMD.

I just took Chris to the ENT friday to see if there is any structural issue causing her apnea.  He said that she is not a typical apnea patient and he has no idea why she does this.  His best guess is to keep her on cpap and let her grow and see if things improve.  Our pedi pulmo sleep doc also has no idea why she still has apnea, he was fooled by her sleep study for 6 months and then he looked again and said "OOPS she still has apnea and needs to be back on cpap".  She has a medic alert bracelet for the OSA because she is such an unlikely apnea patient.

What was your son's original sleep study like?  Does he have anyother contributing factors (downs syndrome, weight issues, neurological issues, craniofacial anomalies)?  Mom's have a tendency to be right, and you need to trust yourself.  If you think there is still a problem talk to his doctors and let them know about your concerns.  What type of doc does your son see?  Is he board certified in pedi sleep medicine?  

I hope this helps.  Please ask any questions you can think of

Susanne and her mini-hosehead Chris (diary of a mini-hosehead)

I don't have much tangible advice to offer, as my son has central sleep apnea. Which is a completely different beast than obstructive. However, I would say this: Momma's instincts and hunches are almost always right. If  you don't have a doc that believes that, find a new one. If you are convinced that she has apnea again, then be firm and insistent, but careful not to alienate your docs either. I found that to be my biggest challenge.

Best of luck. Depending on what hospital you get care at and what area you live in, neurology is sometimes the primary doctor for apnea; regardless of whether it is obstructive or central. My mom recently discovered this with my younger brother in Texas. He won't ever see a pulmonologist because in their neck of the woods neurology handles all of the sleep disorders. They even have a sleep lab in their office.

Tiffany, mom to a scary smart 2 year old who can't seem to remember to breathe when he sleeps....