Hi, I am Angela. Mom to two boys, Andrew 3 and Zachary almost 17 months.

Where to start. Zachary has always had sleep problems that I
kept "hoping" would get better. He was/is up 4/5/6 times a night.Very restless when he did sleep and I could hear him breathing heavily over the monitor. I
tried everything except Cry it out., I have always had this feeling that it wasn't just "habit" of waking up.His Ped even tried a stronger
antihistamine than Benadryl to see if it would help with sleep. Nothing.
Right after was born, he had projectile vomiting, went for a
UGI and it just showed reflux which we knew of already. Was put on
reflux meds and cereal in his bottles. When he was a month and half, he kept
having episodes of turning blue around his mouth. His Ped heard a heart
murmur for the first time, was sent for U/S of Heart and it was ok.
When he started juices and moving up to thicker foods, he kept getting
choked. Was sent for Barium Swallow, was aspirating on juices and just
choked on everything else. Found he had Oropharyngeal Dysphagia.
He was also not babbling by a year. Had a ST eval and were told he had hypotonia in cheeks and tongue. He also has an overbite and openbite. And a narrow palate.

We were sent to Genetics for other issues and an MRI was ordered but he
had started snoring so before they put him to sleep, they wanted to do
a sleep study to make sure he didn't have a floppy airway or an
obstruction. This is when they found the OSA.
They are sending us to an ENT the first of May. His Ped said they would prob take out his T/A.

From what I have read, if T/A are enlarged it could also be the source
of some of the other issues. The swallowing and speech? Anyone have
some of these issues and have OSA?

He is very cranky and ill during the day but is not overly tired.
Actually just the opposite...hyper.

I am very happy to find this board. I couldn't alot of support groups
on Childrens sleep apnea. By reading other posts, I already have some good questions for the ENT. Will they do other test you think before just jumping to surgery?

BTW: my Hubby/their Dad has sleep apnea and is on CPAP. Can OSA be
Genetic?

Thanks
Angela

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Last edited by judielise on Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:09 am; edited 1 time in total

Hi, Angela,

I am glad you found this board, but sorry you have to even look for one.

I can't answer most of your questions, but the t/a is the first line of attack when the child is young. Your ENT will be able to let you know how much it is a factor along with the Oropharyngeal Dysphagia.

As for the hyperness, that is now becoming the accepted behavior for children in OSA. They do not exhibit excessive daytime sleepiness like adults, but have behavior similar to ADHD. That was the case for my son (now 12). He was misdiagnosed for many years due to hyperactivity and inattentiveness.

As for genetics, yes, there seems to be a genetic component. In my family, we have my son, his aunt and a paternal grandmother.

I hope others will come along and perhaps have info on your other concerns. But in the meantime, welcome and I hope the appointment in May goes well. Please let us know what happens.

Judi

Hi Angela,

I'm so glad you found this site.  I saw your message on the other group   (the one that no one answers) .  I tried to answer last night but the computer ate my reply .

I'm Susanne and my 8yo Christina has apnea.  She is in the "diary of a mini-hosehead" thread.

Chris had an x-ray to assess the size of her adenoids.  After that it was very clear that her adenoids were far too large and needed to go.

Right now we are at the point of going back to the ENT to find out why she still has apnea after her adenoids were removed, it never left but was easier to manage.  Her initial apnea index was 28, she is now down to 2 but also has flow limitations (the beginings of breathing issues) which would bring her index up to at least 4 if she were not on cpap.  She has other issues, however none of them are associated with apnea.

Another group you might like to talk to is "Syndromes without a name" on Yahoo.  They are great about all the weird stuff that has never been seen before.  However there are very few kids on cpap ther.

Best of luck
Susanne and my mini-hosehead Chris  

Thanks Judi and Susanne for your replies.

Susanne  I may have to check out the other group. It sure helps to find people going through the same things esp when you feel like you are the only one.


Angela