The first part of this story is in the July 12 edition of the Coeur d’Alene Press. This is the continuation of the story. This man loved his afternoon naps. But, to need daily afternoon naps is not a normal thing for those who have had a good night's’ sleep. He was suffering from a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) known as excessive daytime tiredness (EDS). And he snored all the time.

Christmas is a time for family members to get together — including Grampa who also suffered with EDS! The day after Christmas, Grampa decided to head home before it got dark. He backed out of the driveway, ready for the drive home — it would take about 3 hours. Through wheat fields, driving can be very boring. You know that country is “cruise control country.” He set the cruise at 60 mph and fell asleep. Lucky for him, it was a flat shoulder where he west about 100 feet into the muddy field until the tires got bogged down.

The State Patrolman who found Grampa couldn’t believe what he saw. He stopped, went to the driver’s window, looked inside, and saw Grampa snoring with his back tires still spinning in the mud. EDS was to blame.

Years later, this man — the grandson--would still doze behind the wheel on long trips. Once from the left lane across 2 lanes to the right lane. He once even got off the freeway to take a quick “power nap” and fell asleep at the stop sign which was at the end of the off-ramp!! A driver behind him woke him up because he wondered why the car wasn’t moving.

But the EDS still didn’t get him to find out what was wrong. Then one day he saw an ad on TV about restless leg syndrome (RLS). And he self-diagnosed his problem as RLS — what a joke since he was not a doctor. He made an appointment with the family doc. Lucky for him, the dic understood about sleep disorders; many physicians do not understand much about sleep disorders.

His doc explained that RLS often was associated with OSA and he would have to be seen by a sleep specialist to rule out OSA before just treating the RLS. Of course, the patient was certain that he didn’t suffer from OSA; he told the doc “I’m a light sleeper.” But he decided to see the sleep specialist anyway.

At that appointment, he told the sleep doc that he had RLS and that he also was a light sleeper and did NOT have sleep apnea. The sleep doc’s reply was “Let’s find out for sure. Let’s do a sleep study.” Of course, the patient went on the internet to find out about sleep tests and discovered the signs and symptoms of OSA.

Snoring? Yes, according to anyone sleeping around him.

EDS? Of course.

Stopped breathing during sleep? His wife saw this.

High Blood Pressure? No.

BMI greater that 35? No. 50 or older? Yes.

Neck size over 17 inches? Yes.

Male? Yes.

Morning headaches? Yes.

Dry mouth in morning? Yes.

Mood changes/irritability? Occasionally. Going to bathroom more than once a night? Yes — 3 or 4.

Decreased libido? Well, yes but he reasoned that he was not 20. Nighttime tooth grinding? Yes according to his wife again.

So, he had a sleep test. The results showed that he suffered from severe OSA. He stopped breathing for over 10 seconds over 70 times per hour that night. That’s more than once a minute or more than 4,200 seconds that night or over an hour without air that night! Yikes!

Tune in next week to see what treatment this patient ended up with.

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Dr. Donald Johnson founded Northwest Treatment Center for Snoring & Sleep Apnea in Coeur d’Alene to help patients stop their snoring and live free with no limits! Obstructive sleep apnea is usually able to be treated with a small oral appliance. Dr. Johnson’s office is at 114 W. Neider Ave., near Costco. The website for more information is www.NWSleepDoc.com and the office phone is (208) 667-4551. Schedule a free consultation appointment today!