Aa
Tired of being sleepy
Let me start by saying my "official" diag is Sleep Apnea, but I just cannot accept this. I have for many years suffered with excess sleepiness. Many, many visits to doctor have never truly solved the problem. My current treatment has been 1) Breather for 6 months, helped a little at first with getting deeper sleep but overall sleepiness fatigue was not reduced. (Still Use) 2) Have had depression since teens, now 41, have been on lots of meds but currently on Cymbalta and it works well and I have no issues with it. 3) After much coaxing and test got doctor to give me Provigil, at first was wonder drug! For 2 months it was great and I thought I was cured. Now however it has seemed to stop working. Dose is 200mg day, after 1 month I went to 200mg morning 100mg afternoon. Now at 200mg in morning, 200mg in afternoon and still not completely removing sleepiness. Getting 8 hours sleep every night on breather and meds; still sleepy. Now started to have overdose effects, crawling feelings, weird hot and cold spots, sudden sweats, visions in outside of normal vision sight that are not there when turn to look. I suspect too much med for these. Do not trust Doctor, just does not seem to understand when test are negative that does not mean my symptoms are not real. Think Narcolepsy but Doctor will not agree; seeking opinions.
I don't understand. How did you get a diagnosis of sleep apnea in the first place? If you had a sleep study that said you have it, you do whether your treatment has been therapuetic or not. You do not have to change to a full face mask. Buy or rig a chin strap to hold your mouth shut when asleep.
Your doctor's assesment of you as fat and lazy and a hypo is unfortunately a common misunderstanding of sleep apnea patients. Did you know that apnea actually causes weight gain, especially around the middle? It causes sleep spells just as you describe. It robs you of the energy to do more than just what's necessary for survival. Everything you say screams "sleep apnea"! You could sleep 24 hours a day and it wouldn't be enough if your sleep apnea isn't effectively treated.
Please refer to my prior post, and tell (not ask) your doctor you want a 2 week trial on an autopap. Tell them you do not want it set wide open (4-20), but that you want the lower number to be just under the pressure you are using now. It will fluctuate and find the right pressure. Do this exactly as suggested and take steps to assure there is no mouth breathing. I'm betting you'll start to see improvement.
What have you got to lose by trying it?
Your doctor's assesment of you as fat and lazy and a hypo is unfortunately a common misunderstanding of sleep apnea patients. Did you know that apnea actually causes weight gain, especially around the middle? It causes sleep spells just as you describe. It robs you of the energy to do more than just what's necessary for survival. Everything you say screams "sleep apnea"! You could sleep 24 hours a day and it wouldn't be enough if your sleep apnea isn't effectively treated.
Please refer to my prior post, and tell (not ask) your doctor you want a 2 week trial on an autopap. Tell them you do not want it set wide open (4-20), but that you want the lower number to be just under the pressure you are using now. It will fluctuate and find the right pressure. Do this exactly as suggested and take steps to assure there is no mouth breathing. I'm betting you'll start to see improvement.
What have you got to lose by trying it?
You are correct CPAP machine. It is not a full face, I do not feel my mouth opens but hey how would I know right? So I will switch, thanks for this advice. I do have mild restless leg but I do not think it is quality / quantity of sleep issue. The sleep urge can onset after 8 hours or 12 hours of sleep or even if I only got 4 hours, the sensation - urge feels the same (like being drugged), comes on quickly. Some times it last for a few hours, sometimes it passes within a 1/2 hour and I feel normal again as if I had slept if I can fight it off. This is the reason I feel it is not a "sleep" related as much as a physical illness, but Doctor disagrees.
He is a G.P. and is hesitant to refer me to a real sleep clinic / Doctor as he feels it is treatable with CPAP, and current meds. But I suspect he just thinks me a hypo, and nothing is really wrong with me. I am overweight (but has not changed recently, have been for many years) and I think he just thinks Im fat and lazy.
I honestly in my heart know it is not lazyness, no diabieties (negitive), no apnea (CPAP has not worked), no Depression (Meds work fine for that) and is a physical illness that needs to be addressed.
Anyhow, thanks for input.
He is a G.P. and is hesitant to refer me to a real sleep clinic / Doctor as he feels it is treatable with CPAP, and current meds. But I suspect he just thinks me a hypo, and nothing is really wrong with me. I am overweight (but has not changed recently, have been for many years) and I think he just thinks Im fat and lazy.
I honestly in my heart know it is not lazyness, no diabieties (negitive), no apnea (CPAP has not worked), no Depression (Meds work fine for that) and is a physical illness that needs to be addressed.
Anyhow, thanks for input.
I'm thinking by "breather" you are speaking of a cpap machine. It could be that your therapy needs some adjusting for it to be effective. I'm going to list some common issues to troubleshoot.
If you are not using a full face mask, could you be mouth breathing? Doing so causes all your therapy to go out your mouth and result in still suffering the health effects of the sleep apnea, including daytime sleepiness.
Is your mask leaking too much to be effective? Some machines can record data such as leak rate, though most don't.
Is your pressure setting at the level you actually need? A machine that records treatment data would report if you are still having apneas even tho using the equipment at the prescribed level. Things change, needs change. For instance, if you were tested while not medicated or not drinking, you could need a higher pressure for when you do use those. Your need could also increase if you gain weight. You can ask your doctor for a two week loaner of a machine to use at home that will find your needed pressure (auto titrating) and tell if your pressure is therapeutic. Next to that, another sleep study at a lab on the machine with the mask you are now using could find out that same thing.
Could you have other sleep disorders along with the sleep apnea? It is not unusual to find limb movement disorders that compromise quality of sleep. Another sleep study with your equipment on would determine that also.
Are you working with a sleep doctor or your GP? Sounds like you could use a good specialist.
If you are not using a full face mask, could you be mouth breathing? Doing so causes all your therapy to go out your mouth and result in still suffering the health effects of the sleep apnea, including daytime sleepiness.
Is your mask leaking too much to be effective? Some machines can record data such as leak rate, though most don't.
Is your pressure setting at the level you actually need? A machine that records treatment data would report if you are still having apneas even tho using the equipment at the prescribed level. Things change, needs change. For instance, if you were tested while not medicated or not drinking, you could need a higher pressure for when you do use those. Your need could also increase if you gain weight. You can ask your doctor for a two week loaner of a machine to use at home that will find your needed pressure (auto titrating) and tell if your pressure is therapeutic. Next to that, another sleep study at a lab on the machine with the mask you are now using could find out that same thing.
Could you have other sleep disorders along with the sleep apnea? It is not unusual to find limb movement disorders that compromise quality of sleep. Another sleep study with your equipment on would determine that also.
Are you working with a sleep doctor or your GP? Sounds like you could use a good specialist.
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