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Lisamarie1960 Asked December 2018

Mom had no signs of a sleep disorder in her 70s and later. Could she develop sleep apnea in her 90s?

My mother has always always had some difficulty getting a full night's rest. Her bladder wakes her up once or twice most nights. Her bed is also uncomfortable, and I have tried to convince her to get a new mattress. She often wakes up with significant back pain. She does snore a bit (and recently I've heard her talking in her sleep).


Lately, she has been taking micro-naps in her chair while watching television. This is something she's never done in the past. The frequency of the naps and her denial of them is a bit alarming. I know she may just be acting defensively. She always teased my dad for falling asleep in his chair.


I'm wondering if she's had untreated sleep apnea all these years that is becoming more pronounced as she ages.


Any help in understanding what's going on would be greatly appreciated.

JoAnn29 Dec 2018
It could just be her age. The snoring could come from mucus in her throat. An allergy pill may help. But I wouldn't do anything without speaking to her PCP first.

Ahmijoy Dec 2018
The only way to know for for sure if she has sleep apnea is for her to go through a sleep study. That’s a pain. They recently did an overnight test on my husband to see if his oxygen levels dropped at night. It was just a clip he wore on his finger for one night. His levels were low but he refused to wear an oxygen cannula all night, so there you go.

I have have a crummy mattress and lousy pillows and I sleep with an 84 pound dog who takes up the whole bed. If I get 3 hours of sleep a night, I’m lucky. When we have a little more money I will get a new mattress. Won’t kick the dog off the bed, though. I used to take “micro-naps” too but can’t now b/c I had to go back to work. I think I actually slept better when I did. They lasted about 1/2 hour and I was not sound asleep. I also snore like a buzz saw. My mom napped during the day too and denied it because she used to pick on my dad for napping so she couldn’t admit she was as well. Mom could simply be bored, especially with the c**p that’s on daytime television now.

If your mom’s health truly seems to be suffering, ask her PCP about it. Some people swear by Melatonin but it never worked for me. But I can tell you that what she’s experiencing is pretty normal,

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