Talk Cancer

Question:

Hello all, I have posted here before. I have been having some weird sleep related breathing issues, among other problems. I have thyroid cancer for which I am being treated. My thyroid levels are where my docs want them to be- besides this problem occurs whether I am hyper, hypo or normal. i had a sleep study done- both night and day time. These are the results: 1. I just had 4 apneas for the entire night! 2. I apparently had periods of fast breathing when I was asleep but it did not wake me up 3. During the daytime naps- I had fast breathing during sleep onset 4. My O2 saturation did not go below 98% for the entire night. The doctor said I had "respiratory instability" and she has no idea what is causing this- instead chosing to concentrate on the fact that I fell asleep in 30 seconds to 1.5 mts on every nap. BUT I did not have ANY REM sleep in the naps. Can any of you think of what could be causing this respiratory instability ? I dont know if this is of any relevance, but my CO2 in blood (not aterial blood gas) has increased to 33 from 26 (normal range being 26-30 and 26-32 in some cases) in the past few months, since my breathing sleep weirdness started. I am also EXTREMELY  fatigued and have heavy breathing with very little exertion. Thanks Anita

Response:

Anita, is there any chance that you have some form of atrial fibrillation? I have it, but not very badly. Those that have it more severly often complain of fatigue with very little exertion. A-fib is an irregular heart beat that takes many different forms in different people – anything from fast heart rate to skipped beats and extra beats. It can be difficult to detect on an EKG, because for most of us sufferers, it is not always happening. Your fast breathing and fatigue might be an indicator. (I don’t know.) Maybe you could ask your doctor to have a cardiologist read your EKG from your sleep tests. We have a forum on Yahoo; just lookup Atrial Fibrilation or Afib or A-fib. Chuck

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