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Sleep Apnea

GPK26

As I continue my research into my recent autism diagnosis I have come across multiple articles linking / associating sleep apnea with autism.

I have been suffering from considerable fatigue for the past 3 years and had a respiratory based sleep assessment 2 years ago which revealed that I have severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). My consultant said that he rarely sees results as bad as mine - I was having ~80 apneas per hour and was stopping breathing for up to 2 1/2 minutes.

I have been using a CPAP since the OSA diagnosis with great results - my apneas are down to mid single digits and I am not falling asleep during the day.

Have any of the community members had experience of sleep apnea?
 

Parents

  • I don't have sleep apnea myself, but I used to work for a company that made the masks. I wonder if any increased prevalence in autistic people is related to issues with muscle tone and the way hypermobility disorders (another co-occurring condition with autism) affect different tissues in the body? I'd be interested to know whether our soft palate etc is more 'floppy' compared with allistic people.

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  • I don't have sleep apnea myself, but I used to work for a company that made the masks. I wonder if any increased prevalence in autistic people is related to issues with muscle tone and the way hypermobility disorders (another co-occurring condition with autism) affect different tissues in the body? I'd be interested to know whether our soft palate etc is more 'floppy' compared with allistic people.

Children