Hubby has possible sleep apnea but.....?

he falls asleep at the drop of a hat, even whilst holding our baby? what could this possibly be, one minute he's fine & wide awake, then the next boom he's fast asleep & unwakable
please can you help me find out whats wrong with him?
i do most of the cares of our 4 children, but its affecting us as a family

we've been married 10 years and this has only recently started happening within the last 2 months or so

It sounds like narcolepsy which is basically a condition where people just fall asleep. this could be a huge risk if he drives. He needs to see a doctor to get a diagnosis. Sleep apnea is when a person stops breathing and needs to be prodded to remind them to breath.

I doubt whether your diagnosis is correct. Best thing to do is see your doctor as soon as possible.

Best of luck.

medical assistance !

How would you know without medical diagnosis? Its a dangerous condition which can lead to a heart attack or accident.

Sleep apnoea is where the person stops breathing whilst sleeping, so it is not that. He may just be totally exhausted. Do get him to visit the Doctors as soon as possible, you can then rule out any medical conditions and remove any unnecessary speculation.

Get him to see his Doctor ASAP that sounds serious, and dangerous. Take a look below re: Sleep Apnea.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/s...

That isn't sleep apnea...sleep apnea is when you stop breathing when asleep.

He should goto his primary who can better judge him based on his medical history. It could be a number of things but this cannot be answered without thoroughly talking to your husband and ask about any changes he has been experiencing. Sorry.

He could very well have sleep apnea. His falling asleep at the drop of a hat could be a symptom. People with sleep apnea never reach the REM stage because the apnea keeps waking them up. So, these people are exhausted from lack of restorative sleep. If you suspect this, you need to have him see his doctor. The doctor will probably order a sleep study.
Good luck.

I just wanted to add that Susan is right, falling asleep quickly and often is a symptom of sleep apnea. Yes, apnea occurs when your body forgets to breathe, but that means the person never gets restful sleep.

Your diagnosis could be right, but you should convince him to see a doctor. If he's like my father, you'll need to guilt him into it and tell him how much it affects your family. The doctor will probably put him through a full physical and hopefully a sleep test to see if he really does have sleep apnea.

Is your hubby overweight? People who have sleep apnea tend to be on the heavy side. Ask for his GP to refer him to a sleep clinic. Good Luck

Sleep apnoea is when a person stops breathing during sleeping. Heavy snorers can do this sometimes a hundred times or more a night. Occurs more often in overweight people and when too much alcohol has been consumed.

If your husband has this complaint (and you would notice) then it would cause him to be very tired during the day.

This is not a diagnosis as it could well be something else. He really needs to seek medical advice as it sound serious, especially if he is in charge of the children and you are not around. Very worrying!