Hypotheses?

[brooklyngirl]

I've wondered many times, since surgery, why I had some unexpected, yet much welcomed side effects. Maybe you guys have any thoughts on why these occurred...

So we know, that with the DS, diabetes is often resolved almost immediately, which is what happened for me. We also know that there are the best statistics for resolving sleep apnea, but that usually comes as a result of weight loss, so why did mine resolve almost immediately after surgery? So much so, that my husband reported that I was no longer snoring the night after surgery. I was a HORRID snorer (is that a word?) I kept everyone awake, everywhere I went. I was paranoid about keeping my poor hospital roommate up, but I didn't. I also was exhausted ALL THE TIME from not breathing half the night, every night, so much so that I would nod off constantly- usually at home on the couch, but sometimes at work or while driving. Those episodes stopped immediately as well.

Another weird thing was with drooling. I used to drool so badly in my sleep that I had to sleep with a washcloth under my cheek/chin. It was disgusting. And it stopped immediately after surgery. Freekin weird, no?

Any hypotheses out there? Just been something I've been curious about for all these months!

 

[DianaCox]

I'll bite.

I searched ("vagus nerve" drooling apnea) in PubMed and came up with this:

Neurosurg Rev. 2006 Apr;29(2):103-7. Epub 2006 Feb 18.
Complications of vagal nerve stimulation for epilepsy in children.
Rychlicki F1, Zamponi N, Cesaroni E, Corpaci L, Trignani R, Ducati A, Scerrati M.
Author information

Abstract
Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) is a surgical option to treat drug-resistant epilepsy. A few side effects have been described, mainly as anecdotal reports. We analysed our material concerning a juvenile population to identify the most common and most important complications, discussing them with the literature. Thirty-six patients were studied (18 months-18 years old). The children were assessed before the VNS implant and 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months after surgery. The mean follow-up was 30 months. Four patients required a second surgery: two for changing the device 3 years after implant; one for revision of an imperfect implant; one for removing a non-functioning device. In one patient a transient vocal cord paralysis was observed. Hoarseness was the main complaint (38.8%). More infrequent was mild sleep apnoea (8.3%), sternocleidomastoid muscle spasm, drooling and snoring in one patient each. Skin scars were reported with a different frequency according to the surgical technique. At variance with the literature reports, we did not observe infections. Side effects of VNS can be minimised, but not avoided completely, with a correct technical procedure, which in turn depends upon a thorough knowledge of vagus nerve anatomy.​

Perhaps the surgery affected your vagus nerve in a POSITIVE way??

 

[brooklyngirl]

@DianaCox how interesting is that??? I did have hiccups ridiculously often for a couple of months after surgery and read that it could've been from the vagus nerve. I like this theory

 

[southernlady]

Okay, Vagus Nerve...
After my first jaw surgery, I DROOLED worse than a teething baby! I had to keep a Kleenex with me ALL the time. It did finally resolve after about 2 months. But I know when he was working on my jaw, he had to "irritate" that nerve just because he was working up around it. Hell, he irritated most of the nerves up that area.

I WISH that dh's sleep apnea had resolved after the DS. He was able to significantly drop his rate but he still remains on a cpap even now. We can only suppose his had a genetic component.

 

[Larra]

@southernlady I don't know of a genetic component for sleep apnea, but there is definitely an anatomic component. People with a short neck and/or small jaw are more prone to sleep apnea. Sometimes you can see from the outside that they will have it, sometimes not til they need to be put under general anesthesia and the anesthesiologist determines that they have a "difficult airway". Obesity can make the situation worse, or cause sleep apnea all by itself, but people of normal weight can have it just by having unfavorable airway anatomy. Of course, you could argue that someone could be genetically predisposed to have that unfavorable anatomy, but it's the anatomy that does it.
I can't explain why anyone's sleep apnea would resolve immediately after bariatric surgery. It usually improves slowly with weight loss. That's certainly what happened with my brother, who had severe sleep apnea before his DS and after about 3 years had improved to where he no longer needs CPAP at all. I really didn't think he'd ever reach that point, but he did. But it was slow and gradual, as expected.

 

[southernlady]

@Larra that may be...that anatomy is the genetic component.

 

[brooklyngirl]

I guess I should say that I don't know for certain that my sleep apnea was cured, I never went back for another sleep study (that was, perhaps, the worst night of life!) but with the cessation of snoring, tossing all night and falling asleep during the day, I just assumed. Oh, yes, and a normal heart rhythm

 

[Barbara]

I guess I should say that I don't know for certain that my sleep apnea was cured, I never went back for another sleep study (that was, perhaps, the worst night of life!) but with the cessation of snoring, tossing all night and falling asleep during the day, I just assumed. Oh, yes, and a normal heart rhythm

@brooklyngirl you have lost over 265 pounds. Has anyone told you lately that you rock? You are an inspiration to this pre- op!

 

[brooklyngirl]

@brooklyngirl you have lost over 265 pounds. Has anyone told you lately that you rock? You are an inspiration to this pre- op!

Haha, thank you!