I had my first study done last night and even with all the wires/probes I actually slept more soundly and moved very little which is unusual.  The week preceding my study I was on vacation, and was only back to work for two days before the study.  I also did not bring my electronic leashes (cell phone/pager) to the study.  

Which makes me wonder is or can Apnea be stress induced? or become more severe when stressed?

Anyone have any like experences, thoughts, or know of studies?

stress can tighten up your muscles, promoting rapid shallow panting


_________________
resmed S6 lightweight, respironics comfort gell mask using CPAP since 1995, no humidifier
during my many years of severe fatigue, no doctor ever asked me if I snored

Lynn,  So do you agree that stress could increase the number of apnea events?

What I do know is a lot of my military friends are getting checked and coming back with positive results for Sleep Apnea,  They are mostly young <35 physically fit, and did not suffer from sleep disorders prior to service.  The military is a very stressful place where they are always doing more with less, having more stress and longer hours.  So why are they having so many potential Apnea cases?  

In my own case, my wife reports stronger snoring, snorting, and other events during my rest periods when I work longer hours, are under more stress, and have a lot more going on at work.  So she finally talked me in to getting a study done.   Just makes me wonder, can apnea be stress influenced?

v/r
Walli

Stress is continually activating a part of the brain that is otherwise used for sleep.

Im not sure how this would play into being a risk factor for OSA. Id be interested to see a few theories on this.

--


WESTCHESTER, Ill.— People who suffer from anxiety from stressful life situations may be more likely to experience sleep disturbances for at least the first six months after the event, according to a study published in the November 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

The study, authored by Jussi Vahtera, MD, of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki, Finland, focused on a population sample of 16,627 men and women with undisturbed sleep and 2,572 with disturbed sleep, all of whom participated in a five-year longitudinal observational cohort study.

A measurement of each person’s liability to anxiety, as determined by a general feeling of stressfulness and symptoms of hyperactivity, was assessed at the onset. The occurrence of post-onset life events (i.e., death or illness in the family, divorce, financial difficulty and violence) and sleep disturbances was measured at follow-up five years later.

According to the results, both liability to anxiety and exposure to negative life events were strongly associated with sleep disturbances. Among the men liable to anxiety, the odds of sleep disturbances were 3.11 times higher for those who had experienced a severe life event within six months than for the others. The men not liable to anxiety had odds of only 1.13 for sleep disturbances. For the men and women liable to anxiety, the odds ratio for sleep disturbance zero to six months after divorce was 2.05, with the corresponding ratio being 1.47 for those not liable to anxiety.

“This five-year follow-up showed that exposure to severe stressful events can trigger sleep disturbances in people with undisturbed sleep before the event. Those liable to anxiety before the event seemed to be at a higher risk of post-event sleep disturbances compared with those not liable to anxiety. The strength of this study is a study design that allowed the timing of pre-event predisposing traits and the occurrence of specific stressful events precipitating the onset of sleep disturbances. Control for a large number of potential confounding factors suggest that the observed associations were not explained by socioeconomic position, obesity, high alcohol intake or chronic medical conditions at study entry,” said Dr. Vahtera.

Experts recommend that adults get seven to eight hours of sleep each night for good health and optimum performance. Adolescents should sleep about nine hours a night, school-aged children between 10-11 hours a night and children in pre-school between 11-13 hours a night.

Ram,

Thank you for the article.  It is an interesting read and I could fully understand how stress could cause sleep disturbances such as insomnia, nightmares, etc.  

As you said not sure how stress affects OSA or snoring?  If it exacerbates snoring within a slightly overweight person into OSA?

v/r
Walli

Walli,

Personally, I do not believe that stress can increase the incidence of OSA.  OSA, is caused by a collapse of throat tissue.  The only relationship I can muster is if the muscle tone is improved in one state over another leading to decreases in the AHI.  I agree with you that stress induced sleep disturbances are more in line with mental manifestations.

BTW, it is a common fallacy that one has to be middle aged, male, overweight even a snorer to have sleep apnea.  We have people here of all shapes and sizes.  Unfortunately, that erroneous stereotype keeps many people from properly being diagnosed.

Vicki


_________________
That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

I'm 25, and I have severe sleep apnea. I do believe that it does have something to do with stress. I used to have a VERY high level of anxiety, and I still am under much stress and anxiety, even when I don't clearly feel it. And there is a vicious circle - sleep apnea causes even more stress and intensifies anxiety. I've had sleep apnea since 23.

leloup wrote:

I'm 25, and I have severe sleep apnea. I do believe that it does have something to do with stress. I used to have a VERY high level of anxiety, and I still am under much stress and anxiety, even when I don't clearly feel it. And there is a vicious circle - sleep apnea causes even more stress and intensifies anxiety. I've had sleep apnea since 23.

I was reading a study regarding sleep labs and anxiety last night. The conclusion boiled down to anxiety can cause poor sleep efficiency, but regardless of the anxiety, the respiratory events should not be affected.

Im not saying that this is the concrete proof that there isnt a link, but moreso that research is starting to get done regarding the issue. If I can find it again, then I will post it.

It is very well known that if you do not sleep well, then anxiety, depression, etc. is intensified.  If your sleep ir disturbed because your apnea is not being successfully treated, then your feelings of stress and anxiety will increase.  Maybe we are all saying the same thing.

I am saying that I do not believe that stress and anxiety physically causes your throat to collapse when you sleep.  I am saying that disturbed sleep or not enough sleep, for whatever reason, increases perceived stress and anxiety.  For example, I only slept 4 hours last night and I am an anxiety basket case today.  I know that if I get less than 6 hours of sleep, then my mental health suffers.

Vicki


_________________
That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

Let's wait for the studies to be done. But at this time I do believe that such thing as OSA or CSA are most definitely related to stress and anxiety. There is an opinion that most illnesses, including cancer are nervous system related.

leloup wrote:

Let's wait for the studies to be done. But at this time I do believe that such thing as OSA or CSA are most definitely related to stress and anxiety. There is an opinion that most illnesses, including cancer are nervous system related.

One thing to check on is whether or not organizations are using stress/anxiety as risk factors for sleep apnea.

RAM_Sleep wrote:

leloup wrote:

I'm 25, and I have severe sleep apnea. I do believe that it does have something to do with stress. I used to have a VERY high level of anxiety, and I still am under much stress and anxiety, even when I don't clearly feel it. And there is a vicious circle - sleep apnea causes even more stress and intensifies anxiety. I've had sleep apnea since 23.

I was reading a study regarding sleep labs and anxiety last night. The conclusion boiled down to anxiety can cause poor sleep efficiency, but regardless of the anxiety, the respiratory events should not be affected.

Im not saying that this is the concrete proof that there isnt a link, but moreso that research is starting to get done regarding the issue. If I can find it again, then I will post it.

Hi RAM_Sleep and leloup,

I believe that stress increases the tendency for tissue to swell and depletes neurotransmitter resources.  So there would be more tension needed to keep the airway passage open and less tonus from the brain with which to open it.

What I notice in fact is that two days of work brings back considerable daytime sleepiness.  As well, using a bit of cold medicine for the two days seems to make this effect less.   I am suspicious that stress does worsen sleep apnea as well.

I hope too the future research goes to looking into this.  For me it is a very real issue since I seem to be able to handle so little of it!!

Thanks for the quesion!

Todzo

RAM_Sleep wrote:

leloup wrote:

I'm 25, and I have severe sleep apnea. I do believe that it does have something to do with stress. I used to have a VERY high level of anxiety, and I still am under much stress and anxiety, even when I don't clearly feel it. And there is a vicious circle - sleep apnea causes even more stress and intensifies anxiety. I've had sleep apnea since 23.

I was reading a study regarding sleep labs and anxiety last night. The conclusion boiled down to anxiety can cause poor sleep efficiency, but regardless of the anxiety, the respiratory events should not be affected.

Im not saying that this is the concrete proof that there isnt a link, but moreso that research is starting to get done regarding the issue. If I can find it again, then I will post it.

Hi RAM_Sleep and leloup,

I believe that stress increases the tendency for tissue to swell and depletes neurotransmitter resources.  So there would be more tension needed to keep the airway passage open and less tonus from the brain with which to open it.

What I notice in fact is that two days of work brings back considerable daytime sleepiness.  As well, using a bit of cold medicine for the two days seems to make this effect less.   I am suspicious that stress does worsen sleep apnea as well.

I hope too the future research goes to looking into this.  For me it is a very real issue since I seem to be able to handle so little of it!!

Thanks for the quesion!

Todzo

Its been awhile since I followed up.  I finally had my second study and results deliverd, my lab is kind of slow.  Before my second race I ensured that I had a couple of Normal work weeks and was on call the day prior to the study.  If you remember back to first post, my first study was just coming off vacation, when I was well rested and had low stress.  Well, this was not the case leading up to the second study, it was an exciting time at work with lots of stress and priods of long days (18+ hours).  Followed up by being on call.

The results of the second study found I had minor Apena with 65 events and a total time of low O2 levels of 40 minutes.

Now I know that is not as bad as some others on the board, but it goes to the orginal question of can stress cause Apnea.  I am just one person, but in my case I think it does.

My third study is tommorw night when I will be fitted for a CPAP device, I am hoping that it will help me get better quanity sleep all the time.  

i also wonder about stress.  all of this is frightening & overwhelming - & i have had a major increase in symptoms in the past 2 weeks as i began trying CPAP.