I found his message a little confusing actually. I understood from his message posted elsewhere that his doctors say he has a specific type of sleep apnea called Central sleep apnea (different from Obstructive Sleep Apnea).
All I know is that over the years I've come across quite a large number of people who have TS as well as sleep apnea but I guess that is Obstructive Sleep Apnea whereas this young man says he has Central Sleep Apnea.
He says his apnea is caused by irregular breathing which has been caused by his tics... That's how I read it. Is that how you read it? He also mentions hyperventilation and anxiety though and that he had abnormally low levels of CO2 at night.
So, is he saying that his pattern of breathing caused by his tics is causing his CO2 levels to be too low which in turn affects his brain which in turn causes the central sleep apnea?
It sounds like one of those 'what comes first? the chicken or the egg' situations to me, but I'm not too familiar with sleep apnea. Plus I have no idea if he has any other health issues, like heart problems or is taking some type of medication which might affect the brain's response.
I did come across a couple of old abstracts in PubMed when I looked but they don't make much sense to me at all. This one refers to Obstructive SA not the Central Sleep Apnea.
Am J Med Genet. 1993 Jun 15;46(5):494-6.
Is Tourette syndrome a cause of sudden infant death syndrome and childhood obstructive sleep apnea?
Sverd J, Montero G.
e.g.
Quote:
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Results of a preliminary survey suggest that TS gene carriers are at increased risk of life-threatening apneas of infancy and that the prevalence of SIDS in such families may be 2 to 5 times the prevalence in the general population.
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My comments...
1. What sort of survey?
2. Which TS gene is this? LOL This is written in 1993!!!
3. I don't think I've ever seen an abstract so bizarre. Well, maybe a few.
Other than that, I'm not sure I'm really understanding what's happening for the person who posted. I think he's really concerned that others have been misdiagnosed and consequently getting the wrong sort of treatment.
P.S. Yes, some people do tic in their sleep, Chemar. Years ago it was one of those things they used to use to rule out TS... if someone ticced in their sleep, but in more recent times, doctors have come to realize I guess that in fact it's not all that uncommon. I mean, it's not something someone can self-report about is it.
I don't have time to look at the more recent studies right now, but this was another study that came up when I searched PubMed for Sleep Apnea and Tourette's Syndrome... It's VERY OLD too, but here goes.
Quote:
Can J Neurol Sci. 1987 Aug;14(3 Suppl):541-6.
Motor, behavioral and pharmacologic findings in Tourette's syndrome.
Jankovic J, Rohaidy H.
Sleep disturbances were reported by 62 percent of the patients and polysomnographs in 34 patients showed motor and vocal tics during all stage of sleep, sleep apnea, abnormal arousal pattern, and other sleep disturbances
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I know that Drs. Picchietti and Walters have done a lot of work in the area of Sleep disorders and TS, but not aware they've studied Sleep Apneas specifically. They're more onto the PLMD and RLS with TS.