Drug-aided sleep: is it different?

[EdNerd]

Worked out in the yard a bit today, which caused the allergies to flair up. So I took one Benadryl, showered, and went to lunch. I got back maybe 1 1/2 hours after taking the Benadryl, sat down in my recliner, and suddenly could not stay awake. About 4 hours later, I'm finally coming to!! (Of course, the CPAP is in the bedroom, not next to my recliner!)

I'm not blaming all of that on the Benadryl - I've had some very late nights this week. With the CPAP, my sleep is better - but when it's only 5 hours a night, it still ain't enough!! But I'm just wondering if sleep with drugs is different that sleep without drugs?? And of course, there's the menagerie of drugs out there that people use to help them sleep, not to mention allergy, pain, psych, and other meds with drowsiness as a side effect.

I know that the OAs still happen, because your tissues still relax and close off the airways. But what about your brain arousing you to breathe? And how does the drugged sleep do with CAs? Do you think they might be worse because "this is your brain on drugs"? Or the stages of sleep: just because drugs help you relax, or shut down your activities, or suppress something or other, is "sleep" still going to follow the normal progressions in and out of the various stages?

Does anyone find that with CPAP, they no longer need some or all of their sleep drugs?

Ed

[Julie]

It depends on which meds you're talking about. You can't just lump them together and look for answers that fit all diagnoses, all people, all circumstances. Some obviously will affect your sleep and your Cpap experience - it would be odd if they didn't. Others not so much, but only proper trials with someone monitoring (or at least journal keeping) specific conditions of each night's sleep, where, when, in who(m?), etc. would give you any true idea of what's what for which drugs and people. And not all drugs relax you - I've taken e.g. Reactine or Claritin 'non-drowsy' and forgotten to do them only early in the day... do them before bed and you'll be wide awake all night!

[chunkyfrog]

Before it was ever used for allergies, Benadryl was sold as a SLEEP AID.
It is a CNS depressant, like narcotics.

[EdNerd]

I just happened to wake up wondering about this stuff. Y'know, I usta just flop on the pillow at night & conk out. Now sleep #quality# as well as quantity has suddenly become a large part of my life (not to mention my reading and my ponderings!).

Ed

[kteague]

If I were a person who used the kind of meds that can depress the CNS, I would want a machine that at least recognizes clear airway events to keep an eye out for possible trouble. Not everyone will react like that to the meds at a low dose. Just can't predict it. Seems issues would be more likely at doses required to treat pain, but everyone's sensitivities are different.

If one was concerned but did not have the type of machine that looks for non obstructive events, maybe the doc could order a loaner for a week or 2 of a machine that could identify a potential problem with centrals. I've seen some report on here that their data barely changes after drinking or with meds. Some taking potent drugs have reported central apneas requiring treatment. I'm interested in input from those reading this thread who have real life experience on the topic.