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Sleep apnea and GCA
My husband was diagnosed when PMR May 2023 and GCA Feb 2024. He’s been on very high doses of prednisone that has resulted in osteoporosis.
While he was in the hospital I noticed he was gasping for air during sleep. He would stop breathing for a while then gasp. This kept happening so now we’re going to do a home sleep study.
Has anyone else had experience with GCA and sleep apnea? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
He was so healthy before he got PMR. Never spent a day in a hospital and was on no prescription meds. Now he’s on a number of drugs and he’s been through so much. He’s very upset about having to do this sleep study and even more upset with the thought of using a c-pap machine. But I worry so much that the sleep apnea could make the GCA worse or put him at higher risk of stroke, aneurism, heart attack etc.
He is finally down to 20 mg of prednisone. When he developed GCA he was on 80 and we’ve been tapering with the help of Actemra injections.
During CT scans they found narrowing by his bladder so he’s going in next week for another CT scan of the bladder area. They also found a thyroid nodule big enough to want to do a needle biopsy. He’s not happy. It’s been one thing after the other.
Can someone reassure me that once we get through all of this, that he can be healthy again? He’s 75.
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One other, perhaps most important change:
If you are fat (like me), lose 10-15% of your body weight and the results will be dramatic. There are plenty of reliable sources for this advice.
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4 ReactionsI have just been diagnosed with sleep apnea as a part of trying to find the cause of my AFib. My sleep study showed 500 instances of desaturation in an eight-hour period of sleep. My pulmonologist has referred me to a sleep apnea specialist with no intervening treatment or prescripton for a CP device. It may be two months until I see the specialist. I am afraid to go to sleep for fear that I could pass away in my sleep. Should I get my PCP to order me a CPap machine or just wait patiently for the apnea specialist?
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1 ReactionI had sleep apnea when I was taking Prednisone. My sleep apnea was probably caused by a redistribution of fat in the facial area and neck due to prednisone use.. I had a C-PAP device after my first sleep study. There was a second sleep study done soon after the first to see if there was any improvement.
I'm used to wearing a C-PAP device now but I don't think I need it anymore since I'm off prednisone. My C-PAP machine didn't prevent all my sleep apnea spells but they were reduced. Most of my problem was when I slept on my back. When I slept on my side, I didn't have that much of a problem. I had "obstructive" sleep apnea rather than "central" sleep apnea.
I would contact my primary care doctor with some questions.
"Central sleep apnea (CSA) is a sleep disorder that causes breathing to repeatedly stop and start during sleep. It occurs when the brain doesn't send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. CSA is different from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is caused by a blocked airway."
At the very least, you should be told what type of sleep apnea you have. It is unlikely you will pass away in your sleep but the problem needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/central-sleep-apnea/symptoms-causes/syc-20352109
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