I went to the hospital for a colonoscopy when i woke up the nurses told me i had sleep apnea how did they tel?

By Watching: For colonoscopy, conscious sedation is used and sleep is induced. Very interestingly, during procedure the breathing, oxygen saturation, heart rate and blood pressure is monitored. Hence , if there is any sleep apnea, it becomes obvious. Hence, nurses brought to your attention.

The next step: It's important to point out that sleep apnea cannot be diagnosed this simply. The next step (of which they should have told you) is for you to see a sleep medicine specialist and have a sleep study done. This will allow them to determine the type and severity of sleep apnea that you have. This is very important as sleep apnea can raise your risk of heart disease 3-5 times (or more)!

Sedation: When sedated, snorers or people who have sleep apnea will start to snore and can have apneas (episodes of absence of breathing). Endoscopic GI procedures are typically performed with sedation hence this is often seen. Interestingly, I use sedation to detect the site of airway obstruction before performing airway reconstruction for osa . It would be a good idea to see a sleep specialist.