I had seen a study where a boy was treated for adha and had sleep apnea. He had his tonsils removed and abnoids and he was not adha but was not getting enough sleep. I have a 15 year old son that has been treated for adhd and some says he is bipolar. My son explose when he is angry he does not sleep at night and he does not snore. He toss and turns all night get up out of bed and when I do get him up for school he is hard to wake up he walks around like a zombie. He does not fall asleep at school but in that morning he yells and is very aggitated. He is now in a hospital because of threating to cut his throat and they only put him on seiquiel. He sleeps all night and his theripist says he does not act like he has adha. I was just wondering if sleep apnea could be the problem. I live in a very small town and he has been to every dr. you can imangine since he was 2. I just need to know what are the odds and if someone can point me in the right direction.

Melissa, I'm sorry your son (and you) are having such a difficult time.

I think with sleep apnea, you just never know until you  do a sleep study.  does he ever talk of waking w/head-aches, or feeling like he can't breath at night?  those are common sleep apnea symptoms.  It certainly wouldn't hurt to check it out.  Could they do it there in the hospital where he is at?  I would definitely ask.  

Sleep apnea is said to affect moods, such as depression as well as adhd and of course sleep deprivation causes agitation and mood swings.  He may have both bipolar and apnea---several adults on this forum do.  They mention how each disorder makes the other worse.

I know some kids w/adhd just do not seem to need much sleep, which i am sure you know too. but since it has gotten to this point, i think you should test for apnea, just to rule it out if nothing else---and of course, if your insurance/medicaid will cover it as it is quite exensive.

I have also heard that bipolar is often misdiagnosed in childhood as being adhd.  You know, you might post a thread on the adult part of the forum about bipolar/adhd/sleep apnea to see if some of the adults with these difficulties can give you some advise from their own experiences!

I hope they find a med that works well for him, and that if something else like apnea is going on they get that identified.  Hugs and prayers to you and to him!

My son (11) has had a lot of unpredictable and at times agressive behaviors that seemed to be unexplained or atypical.
He did not fit into any classic diagnosis of Autism, Anxiety disorders etc. As soon as we discovered the Appnea and started Treatment, his behaviors changed dramaticaly because he was finally getting enough Oxygen during sleep.

I would ask his Physicians to do a Sleep Study, there is no way they can tell without doing one. Oh, and my son does not snore, you can have apnea without snoring. His Oxygen drops below 85% without his CPAP machine.

I know it's tough, my son also went into a Hospital setting for self injurious behavior, just hang in there and demand a sleep study.