Mood Disorder with Apnea

I'd like to bring up the "sweet" combo of this two chronic diseases, especially in the light of insomnia/oversleeping cycle that my mood disorder manifests. A few years back I was diagnosed as a cyclothymic sufferer (mildest, form of bipolar). When manic or elevated mood, I require very little sleep thus I take Ambien. When not elevated, I sleep a lot (presumably, because of my lithium intake) and mild depression comes across as over sleepy. (before taking lithium I was not sleepy, despite my Apnea which is severe)
When I started my CPAP I was in the elevated cycle but still managed to put in a few restful nights.

Epworth score 10/24, base line AHI 55 with 72% minimum oxygen saturation.

I was functioning RELATIVELY well despite my apnea, no hypertension, no diabetes. I am WAY overweight, with a small chin, fatty lower jaw. I am 61, my memory was markedly getting bad and cognitive functioning decreased when suffered from lack of sleep. My psychiatrist who happen to be a fellow patient told me that dementia and sleep apnea are somehow connected. This is enough motivation for me NOT to give up CPAP as much as I dislike it.

You say your AHIs are 55. What were they before Cpap?

I suffer from depression and SA. Meds control the depression and related anxiety well, but for years I was so tired. Finally got the SA treated with a CPAP, and it is a huge difference in both how I feel and my cognitive function.

AMESS - his AHI was 55 on testing, prior to Cpap.

Not that I'm suggesting you should do anything, because I know these things are personal, but I actually got off my anti-depressant, and went on provigil, something used specifically for Apnea sufferers. I found that my needs were different once I was actually getting treated. I could probably do without the provigil too, but it seems to be getting me to a more active state. which I need.

Also, I've experienced days of "elevation" and depression on days that I was untreated before I was diagnosed, which I relate to how well I slept. For me it only "felt" elevated because I was actually half way healthy that day, a low apnea night so low starvation of oxygen.

I guess what happens now is finding out which of the symptoms that had been attributed to the mood disorder were actually symptoms of sleep apnea and sleep deprivation. Do stay in tune for any signs that your medication doses might need adjusted and work with your doctor on any changes. So much changes in our body with proper sleep and it just makes sense that what worked for you before may not work for you in the same way now. Good luck with sorting things out. It will likely be a process because healing from untreated sleep apnea takes place over time.

AMESS wrote:You say your AHIs are 55. What were they before Cpap?

That was (AHI 55) before the sleep study when I took home the gizmo that they hooked me into.
Now my AHI is around 15-20 (after one week CPAP). I have noticed more cognitive function, better memory etc despite that Ambien messes with short term memory (for a few days)

andrasnm wrote:Now my AHI is around 15-20 (after one week CPAP).

Your profile is showing the DreamStation CPAP machine that would be model DSX200xxx.
Could you please confirm the model number?

Your AHI is too high and the model DSX200xxx only shows the generic overall AHI and doesn't offer event category breakdown into each category
Central/Clear Airway Apnea
Obstructive Apnea
Hyponea

and when figuring out why the AHI is high it's real important to know what kind of events are getting flagged.

If you have the DSX200xxx model machine it can't tell you event categories. You would need a full data machine to get that data.
If you do have the 200...I would see about swapping it for a full efficacy data machine.
The longer you wait the harder it is to swap out machines.

No. I think the model number is DSX500T11. That is what my insurance covers.

Pugsy wrote:

andrasnm wrote:Now my AHI is around 15-20 (after one week CPAP).

Your profile is showing the DreamStation CPAP machine that would be model DSX200xxx.
Could you please confirm the model number?

Your AHI is too high and the model DSX200xxx only shows the generic overall AHI and doesn't offer event category breakdown into each category
Central/Clear Airway Apnea
Obstructive Apnea
Hyponea

and when figuring out why the AHI is high it's real important to know what kind of events are getting flagged.

If you have the DSX200xxx model machine it can't tell you event categories. You would need a full data machine to get that data.
If you do have the 200...I would see about swapping it for a full efficacy data machine.
The longer you wait the harder it is to swap out machines.

If you have the model DSX500xxx then you need to change your machine shown in your equipment profile to this
DreamStation Auto CPAP machine....big difference in machines.

You can use SleepyHead software to see exactly what is going on in terms of event category
https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment

and how to use and what you will see
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... SleepyHead

and my own tutorial
viewtopic/t88983/Pugsys-PointersSleepyH ... Hints.html

AHI of 15 to 20 is way too high and needs some detective work to figure out what is going on and how to fix it.

The affect of OSA on one's mental state is profound. You only really find this out after xPAP therapy. Mine included depression and a tendency to bipolar. Thanks to getting treatment that is all in the past.