----- Original Message -----

From: amanda STUNTZ

To: achondroplastic_dwarfism ; dwarfismandshortpeople

Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 9:54 AM

Subject: [achondroplastic_dwarfism]

I hope my experiences may be of interest to someone. I am 43 and Achon. I live in the U.K. with my 10 year old son. Since birth I have never slept properly. My parents said as a baby I seemed like I sometimes stopped breathing, and my snoring, that is another thing! I have very recently been diagnosed with sleep apnea. I looked at the LPA site and when I read the medical link I had a "light bulb" moment (as Oprah would say!). For the past umpteen years I have been prescribed anti-depressants, valium , sleeping pills etc. and have been diagnosed as having depression etc. Not one of my Doctors even suggested apnea as a problem to do with being an Achon. I printed the stuff off the net and showed it to my Doctor. She said "that makes sense" and referred me for a sleep study. The study was conclusive and I now have a CPAP machine and am coming off all the pills I have been on for so long. I have never been depressed, just suffering all the things associated with not sleeping right! At first I was annoyed and very angry, what a waste of 15 odd years with the wrong diagnosis! Now I am moving on with my life with a whole new outlook.  I am going to be pill free soon and that feels great! At least my Doctors here in England now know about Apnea and Achondroplasia, they had obviously not come across my kind of case before. Funny though, I lived in Texas for many years and I was on pills there also so I guess the Doctors I came into contact with there had no idea too! I would be interested to hear any other stories and experiences (whether good or bad). This finding has been so "big" in my life and I just wanted to share it. Amanda