Could My 13 Year Old Son Have Sleep Apnea?

by Theresa
(Sanford, FL)

My 13 year old will go to bed at 10 pm and then in the morning is still very tired, will do his chores but while sitting on a chair can fall asleep. We will wake him up and he will either fall back asleep or get up and do some more work and then can fall back asleep with no problem.

His blood work came back normal so I am at a lost. He does complain that he doesn't feel good and that he wakes up with a sore throat and he does snore. Could my son have sleep apnea?

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Kevin: Hey Theresa, thanks for writing in. The sore throat and the snoring can certainly be indicators of sleep apnea, and the fact that his sleep is not refreshing him suggests your intuition may be correct even more.

One way to further get an idea would be to listen to him breathe while he sleeps. If his snoring cuts out with periods of time where it sounds like he's not breathing, that's an apnea. If you're not able to stay up to examine his breathing, you could set up a recording device in his room and play back the sound in the morning. In any case, with what you've described, going to a sleep center or his physician to talk about sleep apnea would be very worthwhile thing to do, I think.

All the best,
Kevin

(Please keep in mind that I am a student of sleep science and not a medical doctor. Please take any thoughts I give with my background in mind.)

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