Hello, I am a newcomer to the forum and am glad to have found a place to ask questions of those who have lived this very difficult journey. I am a caretaker/spouse of someone with SCC, R tonsil, Stage 3 who is 3 months and 1 week post chemoradiation with carboplatin/35 IMRT. Has anyone developed sleep apnea after chemoradiation? There is so little in the literature re: this but with lymphedema and radiation to the throat area I am stunned there is so little reported. My husband developed this about 6-8 weeks ago and is now on CPAP. Thanks

Hi, you have posted the right place. I know all about it!! My husband had it come on about 2 months after treatment ended. It came on almost overnight and was so chronic before he was able to get the CPAP machine that he was taking 4-5 breaths and then nothing for 35-45 seconds. I have searched to find anyone else with this side effect, only 1 who noticed issues breathing but it resolved about 6 months after treatment ended. Have met with 2 different doctors who deal with sleep apnea and they have not had anyone with sleep apnea that had gone through radiation. How bad is your husbands swelling from the lymphedema? My husband's got so bad that he would wake up in the morning looking like the HULK from the kid's program. His therapist came up with trying a cervical collar that has worked wonders, so much better than the compression mask that did not work well with the sleep apnea mask.

He is now 10 months out of treatment and I had really hoped to get rid of the machine, I don't like going to bed with a fighter pilot and he doesn't enjoy it either. His breathing is much better now, last week we were out of town for the day and decided to stay overnight and he made it without the machine although he woke up often and did not feel as rested. Before he had the machine he was so tired he would fall asleep driving and even at a stop light so I didn't let him drive alone much. If you have more specific questions, feel free to ask.

Mags and Terrib

You may also want to consider that your husbands' conditions are part and parcel of radiation induced variant of COPD, with the sleep apnea just being a symptom. (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
I kept waking up and choking and being short of breath etc too for months after this TX and it kept getting worse. It's only been 4 days using a nebulizer and doing steroids but the change is astounding. I'm not out of the woods, but my nightime sleep is much improved.
According to the ENT group at my CCC, which did hospitalize me this week, the two conditions are often confused since the symptoms are so similar. While I wouldn't quit the CPAP if it's helping, but it would not do any harm to try the standard TX for COPD to see if that treats the cause instead of the symptoms.
Any doctor can order a rental nebulizer and give a script
(a good one is DuoNeb or its generic) that really opens up the airways. The theory is that intensive use can actually fix this at the root instead of just responding to the symptoms.
But if there is no wheezing at all, then it's probably not the COPD variant. I laughed about the fighter jet sound: while I was waiting for a hospital bed, the doctors and nurses kept running in to see what that loud sound was only to find it was me "breathing".
Sometimes, we need more than one approach to our problems. It is frustrating.
Charm