It's difficult for me to say for sure, but I think that I had sleep apnea for at least 7-8 years before I finally went to get a diagnosis. I thought about it from time to time, but then would go on to something else and forget. I didn't suffer from daytime tiredness like so many do, so it wasn't a quality of life issue. What's so odd is that when I finally went, I was diagnosed with severe apnea. Go figure.

I'm curious to learn other apnea folks' stories.

Hi LaPopessa, I've had mine for at least 7 years. It peaked last year when I went to my doctor thinking I couldn't sleep because of stress or depression. I tried everything. I bought a new bed and took lots of OTC sleep aids. I finally sought help when I couldn't stay awake at work, had a hard time walking, and just kept putting on weight. It never occurred to me that I had apnea.


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In hindsight I had undiagnosed OSA as a child. My dad had it, and I have memories from 8-9 years old of having friends who slept over (or vice versa) teasing me about my snoring. And my mom commenting that I paused in my sleep like my dad did. We never knew it was a real condition with an actual name, and even after I met my wife in college she said I stopped breathing in my sleep and that sometimes she stayed awake just because she was scared I wouldn't start breathing again.

When I was in my late 20s we saw one of those night time news shows like 20/20 or Dateline or similar doing a story on "sleep apnea," and for the first time we had a name for the condition. I did my initial studies and got my diagnosis when I was 28 (2000), so I went undiagnosed/untreated for at least 20 years.


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WHO KNOWS HOW LONG!?!?!?!

When I finally decided I had it, I went probably 3 years before getting my CPAP. No! I didn't go untreated. I tried a few more conservative treatments, but it wasn't until I got the Sleep Study and the CPAP that I got hit upside the head with the proverbial 2x4!!!

When I finally got the insurance to agree to pay for it, MAN DID I GET A SHOCK!!!

I ended up getting a split study within 2 hours of arriving to the sleep lab. And my test scores absolutely scared me. My AHI ended up Pre-CPAP at 111.7 (53 Apneas and 14 Hypopneas in the first hour of sleep).

CPAP is great. I have been on it now for over 12 years, and doing great. My only regret, in retrospect, is that I didn't go first off. I could have saved a lot of aggravations.


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Sleep Apnea is a Killer! Get it Tested!
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I really don't know but...in hindsight I would have to say close to 20 years!!!!! That is so sad;20 years spent with brain fog. I noticed it getting more pronounced the last year prior to starting CPAP.


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I would have to say at least 17 years maybe more, and had been misdiagnosed with  MS and many other illnesses  before my GP retired and I went to a new one.  He immediately sent me for a sleep study when I told him my symptoms was dx with OSA and have been on CPAP 2 months and I feel 200% improved.  


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I went aleast for 16yrs & didn't know that I had severe osa. I wish I had gotten diagnosed earlier. Maybe I would have done better in college. I am glad that  I'm on c-pap therapy now

Let's see...when I was about 23-25, I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue, based on the exhaustion and the fact that my Epstein Barr test came back high normal-about as high as one could get with out testing positive.
No relief, no treatment, just a sorry, take a vacation...
at 30 I was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and told the chronic fatigue went along with that...diet, exercise, stress reduction...so I changed from my high stress job to one I found boring as hell...

Complained to docs for years about being tired even though I got plenty of sleep...they said I just need more sleep. Finally last year I started driving dangerously tired, and I knew I had to do something. So I did what was in my control, I quit smoking...things were ok for about a month, then it got really bad...here I was, not smoking, eating healthier than ever before, yet I could not get better...in fact, it was worse. About an hour after I woke up, I could barely stay awake.

so...got another new doc, told her what I had tried in the past to stay awake, what everyone had said about it over the years, and she said we weren't ding anything more until a sleep study...and low and behold, I finally found a doc who knows how to treat the patient and not the test results!

I have been on cpap since April. Didn't help much...apap for a month said I need a higher pressure. We just reset it a few days ago...I haven't adjusted yet, but I'm getting there.

so...how long? Since I started actively seeking help...almost 20 years. Since i first started having a noticable problem...maybe 25...sad when you think about it, really...

When I went to the sleep doctor the first time and we talked about everything she came to the conclusion that I had been having problems with apnea for over 30 years. Just it finally got so bad and a friend recommended a sleep study. My doctor said many people with sleeping problems write it off to getting older or just deal with the problem the best they can.


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LaPopessa,

It took 56 years for my diagnosis. Like my father and siblings, my apnea is caused by physiological or anatomical abnormalities. Recently, an ENT specialist suggested I had OSA my whole life without knowing it.

I didn't complain about sleeping or energy problems until I was about 50, so my complaints were attributed to menopause and normal aging. My primary doctor never believed I had sleep apnea until he read my sleep study results.

I've had a lifetime of unexplained and undiagnosed symptoms, some serious. Because most of my complaints were distressing but not visible, they were dismissed as "emotional" or stress-related, and never fully investigated. I finally saw a psychiatrist who recommended the sleep study.

Like others who have posted replies to you, I regret the delay in my diagnosis and treatment. I was actually relieved to get the OSA diagnosis, rather than continue to accept that my symptoms were due to normal aging. At least the diagnosis gives me hope. Otherwise, I couldn't imagine living to be 60.

I like many others here have gone at least 20 years or more and I'm 35.  I started complaining to mother when I was about 14 or so that I felt tired all the time.  She took me to a doctor who said I was just trying to get out of school so my mother pretty much ignored me when I complained after that.  I don't blame her, she didn't know about sleep apnea then.  Then when I was 20 I went to a doctor with basically the same complaint, so he treated me for acid reflux.  Then when I was 22 I went to another doctor who said I needed my tonsils out.  It wasn't until my father was diagnosed with OSA that I finally realized that I was suffering from the same symptoms.  I went to my father's doctor last year, had my sleep study and finally was given a CPAP machine.  I was diagnosed with OSA and have not missed a night with my CPAP since.  I feel so much better now.  I wish someone had found this sooner.

19 years and what prolonged getting a proper diagnosis was having undiagnosed Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. The two conditions inflamed each other and worsened for 19 years. I have had the Hashi's for 30 years. It wasn't treated for 26 years and then not treated with adequate medication thus exacerbating the sleep apnea.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories. It's scary how long went without treatment. Hopefully these days people who go into their doctors with these complaints get a swifter diagnosis!

My soon to be ex-wife (STBX) claims that I snored when I was really tired, from exercise or physical work, for the first 25 years of our marriage, and that I started snoring all the time in the last five.  I've been on the blower for almost two years (two years less 14 days).  Going to the doc about the snoring was one of the items on my to do list from the marriage counselor.  I had the two night study, got the blower, started therapy, moved back into the "big" bedroom with the  STBX, but she moved out anyway.  I'm 55.


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I think I can pin the worst of it to the last couple of years. I didn't have issues with being so tired before then. It could have been there, but maybe I was able to bounce back better. Was 3 years ago when I was first told I stopped breathing at night. Having looked up snoring, breathing, and stop I was able to read about sleep apnea back then. Feeling pretty good, I figured I would have it looked into at some point in my future, but it wasn't a big need for me back then. I never even bothered to read about any of the symptoms.. I just got the name for what I might have.

John


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