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Does it sound realistic that a person could cronically oversleep for work if they have undiagnosed Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

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Yes, that seems reasonable.

I think so. My pattern was to go to sleep relatively easily. Wake up in the wee small hours for ages then go into a deep sleep as its drew closer to when I should be getting up.

It seems absolutely reasonable to me. But try to get a boss to understand....

Mary Z said:

Yes, that seems reasonable.

I want to be able to explain to my employer that sleeping through my alarm clock or falling back asleep was something that I didn't have control over, or rather, didn't realize that I was fighting a new battle with an undiagnosed OSA. Everywhere I've read, the type of fatigue that is described in people's lives with OSA is falling asleep on the job, in the car or at home, but I've not once read that people have slept through alarm clocks or have fallen back to sleep upon closing their eyes (cause my body just wanted to do that and I succumbed to it--I swear it was like a drug, or a pull to draw me back into sleep that I'd just close my eyes for a second, and I was gone!) How do you explain the innocence that exists for a person with obstructive sleep apnea resulting in major fatigue. I didn't even know I was battling with this monster. How do you fight with everything you've got to stay awake when the pull is so great, the need to sleep is so great, and you only trust that your body is the same body you've always had that you could control your waking and sleeping easily? It's like trying to explain a migraine to someone who has never experienced one. No one believes you!!! Now I'm on the C-PAP and everyone is like, "Uh huh...so how bad was the problem in the first place if you're "doing fine" now with this little air blowing, plugged in machine? Right.

Mary Z said:

Yes, that seems reasonable.

Sleep Labs don't put the explanation in writing. I have the smart card results, with the tables, graphs, etc. and numbers. That doesn't seem to be enough for my employers. Sleep Lab doctors at Kaiser don't talk to you, write a letter for you....its like they're the Wizard of Oz and I've got to do the whole yellow brick road nightmare to try to get it in layman's terms written! It's not written well on the internet, and I've looked everywhere. My oversleeping with the alarm clock blasting in my ear, or my failure to reset my alarm clock correctly doesn't seem to be a situation that I've been able to read about from anyone else.

Ellen said:

I think so. My pattern was to go to sleep relatively easily. Wake up in the wee small hours for ages then go into a deep sleep as its drew closer to when I should be getting up.

I don't think my employers think its reasonable. I think they think I'm lieing and I'm like beginning to question my self and if this is real. This is crazy!!

Barbara Leiker said:

I want to be able to explain to my employer that sleeping through my alarm clock or falling back asleep was something that I didn't have control over, or rather, didn't realize that I was fighting a new battle with an undiagnosed OSA. Everywhere I've read, the type of fatigue that is described in people's lives with OSA is falling asleep on the job, in the car or at home, but I've not once read that people have slept through alarm clocks or have fallen back to sleep upon closing their eyes (cause my body just wanted to do that and I succumbed to it--I swear it was like a drug, or a pull to draw me back into sleep that I'd just close my eyes for a second, and I was gone!) How do you explain the innocence that exists for a person with obstructive sleep apnea resulting in major fatigue. I didn't even know I was battling with this monster. How do you fight with everything you've got to stay awake when the pull is so great, the need to sleep is so great, and you only trust that your body is the same body you've always had that you could control your waking and sleeping easily? It's like trying to explain a migraine to someone who has never experienced one. No one believes you!!! Now I'm on the C-PAP and everyone is like, "Uh huh...so how bad was the problem in the first place if you're "doing fine" now with this little air blowing, plugged in machine? Right.

Mary Z said:

Yes, that seems reasonable.

     What about setting multiple alarms, including several far from your bed so that you're forced to get up to turn them off?

Barbara, I assume you have now had a sleep study and been diagnosed with SA, either mild or severe. You should be able to get something from your sleep Dr to take to work to show that you have a illness. We are all different and have different symptoms, I could only get 1-2 hours non quality sleep per night. Your body and brain is not getting enough oxygen when you have SA so it will do strange and different things to you. I wouldn't worry about why the most important thing is you now have a treatment that will probably save your life. Try to go with that and hopefully the treatment start to make you fell better and help you to wake up. Remember this is a life long illness, it won't be cured only treated and it may take time to feel the benefits. To to concentrate on making sure you don't have leaks, you get the settings right etc so that it is comfortable for you, keep asking question, good luck.

     Terry's point -- that it may take time before you feel the benefits -- is absolutely on target. In the beginning, I actually was more tired, more sleepy. Thanks to a comment here on SleepGuide, I found out why: my body was beginning to "repair" itself and the healing that was taking place was affecting me.

      I don't feel 100% even today, 11 months after my diagnosis and beginning of treatment. On the other hand, I feel so much better. I'm very grateful for the diagnosis, for the treatment, and everything that is beginning to happen to turn my life around.

      If you keep at it, you will be very grateful too. Keep at it, Barbara!

Terry Vella said:

Barbara, I assume you have now had a sleep study and been diagnosed with SA, either mild or severe. You should be able to get something from your sleep Dr to take to work to show that you have a illness. We are all different and have different symptoms, I could only get 1-2 hours non quality sleep per night. Your body and brain is not getting enough oxygen when you have SA so it will do strange and different things to you. I wouldn't worry about why the most important thing is you now have a treatment that will probably save your life. Try to go with that and hopefully the treatment start to make you fell better and help you to wake up. Remember this is a life long illness, it won't be cured only treated and it may take time to feel the benefits. To to concentrate on making sure you don't have leaks, you get the settings right etc so that it is comfortable for you, keep asking question, good luck.
Do you perhaps also have narcolepsy?

Have you thought about using some FMLA time off to get used to therapy?

By taking some time off from work may allow you to adjust without putting your job at risk.

Are you going to bed at a reasonable time so that you allow yourself enough sleep?

Just some thoughts.

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