Got depressed after using cpap

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Terih
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Got depressed after using cpap

Post by Terih » Thu Feb 11, 2016 7:55 am

Am I the only one who developed depression after starting cpap? Started about 3 months after starting cpap . Fixed my daytime sleepiness immediately and that's still true. But now on meds for anxiety and depression and wake up severely depressed. This has been going on for about 3 years.

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GettingBetter
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by GettingBetter » Thu Feb 11, 2016 8:12 am

Terih wrote:Am I the only one who developed depression after starting cpap? Started about 3 months after starting cpap . Fixed my daytime sleepiness immediately and that's still true. But now on meds for anxiety and depression and wake up severely depressed. This has been going on for about 3 years.
Hi TeriH,

Depression can be really tough to break through. I'm sorry you are dealing with this. I wish that ending depression was only a matter of stopping CPAP or as easy as taking a pill or thinking happy thoughts. Unfortunately using a CPAP machine doesn't "cause" depression, so don't stop using your CPAP machine as directed by your doctor. Dealing with and treating depression is usually a matter of many actions or more than one medication. Depression isn't from only a single source it seems either. Your depression may be from physical issues, medications, interpersonal relationships, aging or any number of events that can be life changing.

Medication for anxiety and depression can also be tricky. There are no "magic pills" that wash away the blues. It is best to combine talk therapy, the right medication and exercise as warranted to fight depression. If your medication worked in the beginning and seems to not work so well now, talk to your doctor. You may need to change dosages or medication. Check the interaction of your medications as well.

Talk therapy can also be tricky. Finding the right therapist is like searching for the Holy Grail sometimes. You need a therapist that you are comfortable with and that can understand you in a way that helps.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
GB

Terih
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by Terih » Thu Feb 11, 2016 8:19 am

Sorry no one believes me. I was fine before and know cpap is a good thing but there is no other common denominator. Anyone else?

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GettingBetter
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by GettingBetter » Thu Feb 11, 2016 8:36 am

Terih wrote:Sorry no one believes me. I was fine before and know cpap is a good thing but there is no other common denominator. Anyone else?
Hi TeriH,

I have no doubt that you have contemplated this for some time and have no other explanation. If you are certain, why do you need an internet forum to validate what you seem to already know? You seem to already understand that "cpap caused my depression" is a tough sell, so why is it easier to seek validation from strangers than look for other sources of the depression?

Kind regards,
GB

Terih
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by Terih » Thu Feb 11, 2016 9:03 am

Because I wanted to see if anyone had the same experience.

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Julie
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by Julie » Thu Feb 11, 2016 9:06 am

Depression can come on any time for any one and does not need to always be 'reactive' (in response to a specific event or e.g. medication, etc). I don't know if you have a family history of it, but it does run in families if this fits. Cpap often cures depression because it removes the original cognitive impairment, lack of restorative sleep, problems at work, driving, with personal relations, etc. and cannot cause depression because all it does is deliver a bit of pressurized room air.

In any case, the cause may or may not be important, but you have to work with your doctor(s) to fix it, not blame Cpap. Even if the odd person who started Cpap at some time also developed depression some time later, it does not mean Cpap caused it.

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70sSanO
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by 70sSanO » Thu Feb 11, 2016 10:58 am

As others have said, CPAP treatment cannot medically cause depression. There is no laundry list of warnings that one would normally find on many medications. I think you need to at least put to rest the correlation between the CPAP medical treatment and depression.

But I think you will find that there will be others that experience depression after CPAP treatment. There is a realization every person comes to that he/she will be on this machine everyday for the rest of their life. Since CPAP treats OSA, but doesn't cure it, it is like any chronic illness and that has the potential to lead to depression.

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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by BlackSpinner » Thu Feb 11, 2016 11:10 am

It is not the treatment that causes depression but the NEED for treatment and the fact that you have been diagnosed with a chronic illness that can cause depression. The cpap treatment is actually a help with anxiety and depression.

Get some therapy for this.
DO NOT STOP treatment.

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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by chunkyfrog » Thu Feb 11, 2016 11:37 am

I hope you get help for your depression.
Depression can be a result of many things; medical or environmental.
Look for changes around the time the depression started.
I think it is the consensus here that cpap is not even remotely a cause.

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stienman
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by stienman » Thu Feb 11, 2016 1:43 pm

Terih wrote:Am I the only one who developed depression after starting cpap? Started about 3 months after starting cpap . Fixed my daytime sleepiness immediately and that's still true. But now on meds for anxiety and depression and wake up severely depressed. This has been going on for about 3 years.
I don't think cpap could have caused depression, but I do think that some people who start cpap treatment may discover problems that were obscured by the sleep apnea they used to suffer under. Once the apnea is under control, a lot of other issues come to the fore and you have to deal with them one by one.

Consider the possibility, for instance, that you started with neither sleep apnea, nor depression. You eventually got sleep apnea but didn't realize it. It worsened over time, and ended up damaging your brain and body, sometimes in non obvious ways. By this time it's so bad, though, that you don't even notice - you're already avoiding events, people, and activities that are taxing. At some point you are diagnosed, start to receive therapy, and over the next year your brain has to either repair or adapt to the changes caused by low blood oxygen and lack of sleep for so many years. Like a submarine surfacing on the ocean you can see the sun - but you also notice a lot of other problems you just couldn't see while you were under water. Perhaps the sleep apnea caused damage that led to depression. Perhaps you were already genetically predisposed to depression and the sleep apnea was the straw that broke the camel's back. Perhaps you were already depressed even before the apnea, but were never diagnosed, and now that you're taking a closer look at your life and health can see what you didn't notice earlier in life.

It could well be that cpap therapy was something that allowed you to find the depression, but it's very unlikely that cpap therapy caused your depression.

If you do a search for "sleep apnea and depression" you'll find that there's a very strong link between sleep apnea and depression. In fact some people have the opposite problem, their sleep apnea is diagnosed as depression and they receive treatment for symptoms of depression while their sleep apnea goes unresolved: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/299905.php

You'll also find interesting studies like this one which show that cpap can help decrease depression for some people: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 115645.htm

If you were able to resolve your sleep apnea through another method, such as with surgery, it's very unlikely that your depression would go away. It's not tied to the CPAP.

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Janknitz
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by Janknitz » Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:43 pm

I think depression is very common at the beginning of CPAP treatment, but it's not the CPAP causing the depression. It is grief--grief that you can no longer go casually to sleep without CPAP, grief that you have been diagnosed with a life threatening illness.

Kubler-Ross described 5 classic stages of acceptance:
1. Denial (the test must be wrong)
2. Anger (it's that stupid doctor's fault I now have apnea)
3. Bargaining (if I lose weight, I won't need CPAP)
4. Depression (My world is ending)
5. Acceptance (time to strap on the mask and go to sleep)

I think everyone goes through this, some very quickly, and some not so fast. Many don't recognize that they are grieving the loss of the pre-apnea diagnosis image of themselves. Most people move on through that stage of depression to acceptance, but not everyone does. Others get stuck at anger or denial or bargaining (you can see that played out on the posts here every day!).

In any case, if your depression persists, it needs medical attention. But to answer your original question, yes, I think we ALL had some degree of depression, though not everyone may remember or recognize it.
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Julie
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by Julie » Thu Feb 11, 2016 4:17 pm

I'd be careful about assuming her depression is all about realizing Cpap is a new fact of life... we don't know that after all, or anything much else about her.

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kteague
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by kteague » Thu Feb 11, 2016 5:19 pm

Just a question for you - are you on any medications that could be having a sedating side effect that could give the same feelings that depression might? I've seen some on here report the need to change dosages of meds after beginning CPAP treatment. In such a case the change was correlated with CPAP use, though not as directly as if CPAP caused depression. Treating sleep apnea thus getting healthier and better oxygenated sleep can change the hormones in the body, and I'd venture to guess, how we respond to meds. If not on any meds or supplements to assess, I'd suggest a few next questions.

* Does your machine data confirm that your CPAP treatment is optimized?
* Is there any reason to suspect other sleep disorders may be contributing? (limb movements etc)
* How is the quantity and quality of your sleep? (How many wakeups, is sleep deep or restless?)
* Have other possible health issues that can make one feel blah been medically ruled out? (RLS, thyroid dysfunction, diabetes, anemia etc)

Best wishes finding answers. We can be helpful in taking a good look at your machine data. By "we" I mean some others here. You don't want me to be your sole source of help. Good luck going forward. Maybe this will begin your turnaround.

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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by Sir NoddinOff » Thu Feb 11, 2016 6:20 pm

I may know what you're trying to express, Terih. Before I was using CPAP my emotional state was pretty level even tho I wasn't getting enough good sleep. Maybe my pre-CPAP coping strategy was ramped up with too much stress, too much caffeine, too many things to focus on etc. I suspect during those pre-CPAP days I just didn't have time to be depressed because I was too busy simply surviving. After CPAP and once I got some breathing room (no pun intended), I went thru a period of moderate blues that was hard to put a finger on. I eventually realized that I had to start working on fixing my diet, adjusting my meds, getting more exercise, experimenting with the right CPAP therapy for me... even looking at my relationships with others. The list is a long one, however I think you get the idea. CPAP is a major change in one's life experience and for some people it means a new lease on life, but for others it can be a new set of challenges. I hope I expressed my experience adequately - it's just now that things are starting to shake out for me and there's some space to think about it all.

Anti-anxiety meds and antidepressants are another whole issue that needs to be explored. Probably other folks here can weigh in on that topic and the issues involved.

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chunkyfrog
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Re: Got depressed after using cpap

Post by chunkyfrog » Thu Feb 11, 2016 9:56 pm

About a month into therapy, I became aware that my mood was "down" somewhat from normal.
It was temporary, and I concluded it was my lower levels of stress hormones making me feel tired-ish.

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