Reply #17: it may not be overdiagnosed so much as finally

[elana i am]

being taken seriously and considered an illness.

i have a cpap machine and my life has been changed because of it. i assume that your relatives have had sleep studies? my sleep apnea was serious enough that i was having periods of not breathing during the night and startling myself out of a deep sleep about every 3-5 minutes because of it. i woke up every morning with a hangover-like headache and had complete exhaustion 24/7. it turned out that i was suffering with lack of oxygen to the brain at night and not ever achieving rem sleep.

it took years of misdiagnoses and finally a switch to the right doctor who was knowledgeable enought to connect the dots and take my complaints seriously before i could even get tested for sleep apnea.