sleep study

JDancer

Pre COVID, our neurologist suggested a sleep study, With my DH's rapid decline the last year, I'm not very optimistic about apnea as a cause. Has anyone see improvement with C PAP machines?

harshedbuzz

Both my parents have/had sleep apnea. Obstructive for him and central for her. He used a C-pap consistently for years before and and during dementia and seemed to have a fairly ordinary progression of the disease. I don't know that it made a difference one way or the other. And then there's the challenge of a PWD getting through the sleep study and adjusting to using a C-pap. 

That said, My mother stepped away from her bi-pap in the Orlando airport and they blew it up as a suspicious package. We ordered her a new one which was delivered in only a couple of days. She was kind of off her game and began to show signs of both questionable judgement and mis-recalled events. It was terrifying- she seemed mentally where he'd been just before his diagnosis. She was scheduled for TKR so when I took her to the hospital, I brought the bi-pap along. I got a call later that night from the respiratory therapist that the hospital informing me that the setting on the device was obviously not intended for her. We stopped by the respiratory supply company on the way home and had it adjusted. Turns out she was sent a machine intended for someone else. With the proper settings, her cognition improved considerably within the week. 

HB

M1

Sleep studies are not terribly difficult (at least the initial part) but not that easy either.  I'd think hard about whether he can cooperate, either for the study or for the long-term therapy.  Compliance is a huge issue for even folks without dementia.

Hal42

JDancer, I suggest you look at sleep studies on YouTube. There are several there showing the procedures.

For me, the least favorable thing is sleeping in a strange bed and being conscious of a bunch of wires connected to my body each time I turn onto my side or onto my back. I’m speaking as a caregiver, not someone with dementia. 

mrahope

FWIW, my husband was ordered a sleep study and we were able to do the study at home.  I think it was easier by far than going to a lab.  You may want to ask your doctor and/or insurance if they would cover one.

Stuck in the middle

When I had a sleep study in the 1990s, I was so sleepy that I could have slept on a pile of rocks in the parking lot.  I was unable to do my job or drive a car safely, because I was being wakened every 40 seconds when I slept and could fall asleep at any time.  With a CPAP, I worked another 25 years and am caretaker of a PWD rather than being a PWD or dead.  I am healthier than most men my age, and never so much as take a nap without the CPAP.  I built my house with a generator so I can sleep when the power goes out.

I strongly recommend a sleep study.  You may find that your LO is less demented than he appears.  Chronic sleep deprivation, which is what sleep apnea causes, will make anyone appear demented.  It is possible that much of the decline you have observed is due to untreated sleep apnea, and can be reversed.

Joe C.

DW was able to do the sleep study at home. They just trained me on how to setup and connect portable device and it was not that difficult.

Stuck in the middle

Things have sure changed in the past 25 years!  I had to get on a waiting list, and spend the night.  My CPAP weighs a lot less than the old '90s model, too.