Sleep Apnea, UARS. I bend my knees at night for some reason.

Posted by warpedtrekker @warpedtrekker, Dec 26, 2018

I am 47yo male, 6'2" 220lbs. I have history of DVT and PE and AFIB. Use a ResMed AirCurve 10 bipap and ResMed Dental appliance to move jaw forward. Even though my AHI is well controlled under 1.

I sometimes raise my knees up in the air like I'm sitting in a chair. They stay like that for hours sometimes. My bipap machine will show no obstructions but raises pressure during this time.

I'm thinking I may still have upper airway resistance, UARS and making heavier effort to breathe. But I can't tell. I started to use a Webcam to record myself. It showed me raising my knees last night. My machine showed it raised pressure. Sometimes I get night sweats when this happens.

Does anyone know why I would raise knees up in air?
Could I have UARS still on bipap therapy?
Or is this medicine related?

I take Multaq, Bystolic and Xarelto. I'm wondering if Multaq is causing me to breathe heavier while laying down. My cardiologist says it is not likely but their is a warning on the label saying to let cardiologist know if you have issues breathing at night laying down.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Sleep Health Support Group.

Lisa Lucier | @lisalucier | Dec 27, 2018

Hi, @warpedtrekker - interesting observation about the raised knees and the corresponding raised pressure and occasional night sweats.

I'd like to bring in some other members who have talked about similar topics to offer some thoughts on your questions about why the raised knees, if you could have upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) while still on bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) therapy, and whether what you are experiencing is medication-related. Trusting @johnhans @johnbishop @emgold2013 @predictable @oldkarl will have some input.

Has your sleep medicine doctor offered some thoughts on the raised knees and the UARS, @warpedtrekker? If so, what did he or she think may be behind it?

John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Dec 27, 2018

Hi @warpedtrekker, is it possible that it might be related to periodic limb movement or restless leg syndrome?

NIH - Review of periodic limb movement and restless leg syndrome.
-- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20622400

warpedtrekker | @warpedtrekker | Dec 27, 2018

@lisalucier My current sleep doctor is worthless. He just logs into the ResMed portal and downloads my machine logs, and looks at the 30-day or 60-day summary. Since my AHI is low, he just says "You're doing fine". He refuses to focus on 1-2 days of the month, that bother me and cause issues. My sleep doctor hasn't said anything about the knees lifting. His assistant just said that I didn't have Restless Legs during my last sleep study. I've had several sleep studies this year, and every night was a good night. They never can catch me on a bad night, where I have the issues.

One other issue I have during sleep, is with my heart. I lay pretty immobile all night long on my back, and rarely move. Any time I wake up, and then move an arm or leg, or stretch, it makes my heart rate shoot up 100+. Before I was on Multaq and Bystolic, my HR would go to 120+. This is what I think may have caused my AFIB one night. It's bizarre that my HR would go so high, while laying in bed and just moving a bit. Cardiologist has no answers. I did a Tilt Table test and went to Dysautonomia doctor and they didnt find anything wrong.