by Peter Sedesse

Created on: December 08, 2009

Hypothyroidism is a condition where the body produces insufficient amounts of thyroid hormones, the most important of which is Thyroxine.  Hypothyroidism produces many complications in the body including fatigue, loss of muscle tone, weight gain and sleep apnea, amoung others.  Thyroid hormones are necessary for normal growth, muscle development and basic cellular metabolism.   A diet that provides insufficient amounts of iodine is a leading cause of Hypothyroidism.  Another notable cause is childbirth, a small, but significant number of women develop this condition in the first year after giving birth.

Sleep Apnea is a condition where a person is constantly awoken by the body because breathing has stopped while sleeping.  In many situations, the person suffering from this condition is not even aware that it is happening.  These awakenings can happen as frequently as 2-3 times per hour and for obvious reasons almost always result in the person not getting enough rest and waking up in the morning tired.  There are many medical conditions which result in a tendency towards Sleep Apnea, but one of the most common is obesity.

The link between Sleep Apnea and Hypothyroidism comes from the fact that one of the more frequent symptoms of Hypothyroidism is a swelling of the tongue and other tissues that line the mouth and throat.   While in a prone position, it is easy for the enlarged tongue to block the path of air into the lungs, especially considering the other tissue surrounding the airway is already partially hindering airflow.   Sleeping on your back will greatly increase the chances of Sleep Apnea, but even sleeping on your side will not prevent all instances of  apnea.

It is important to note that the link between Hypothyroidism and Sleep Apnea so far apears to be a one-way street.  There is no research that suggests that Sleep Apnea can cause Hypothyroidism.   Instead, it is thought that the symptoms of Hypothyroidism ( swollen tongue and soft tissue in the mouth and throat) is responsible for the Sleep Apnea.  As stated earlier, another frequent symptom of hypothyroidism is obesity, which can also cause sleep apnea.

Because of this, a treatment for the symptom of Sleep Apnea is not needed once the patient is diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, since treating the hypothyroidism will decrease the instances of apnea.   The treatment for Hypothyroidism is simple in theory.  The patient just needs to take a small pill in the morning.  The pill is comprised of synthetic Thyroxine.  The difficulty in the treatment is that every person is different, and the amount of Thyroxine needed by an individual is poorly understood.  It takes many months, and sometimes a year to get the dosage exactly right.  During that time, either a shortage or an over abundance of Thyroxine will have drastic effects on energy levels of the individual, which greatly affects their quality of life.  Many patients become frustrated with this because their days feels so unpredictable.  it is important to note that while the pendulum is swinging back and forth on the patients dosage, it is absolutely imperative that the patient gives accurate and timely information to their doctor so that the dosage can be adjusted quickly and appropriately.

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