Sleep Meds & Sleep Apnea?

[TmjTerri]

Hi

[Julie]

Depends on what meds he was given... do you know the names?

[Pugsy]

Which med was your friend given? Some meds are "worse" than others in regards to possibly affecting sleep architecture or having a tendency to cause more collapse of the airway.
Muscle relaxants are notorious for making OSA worse. Ambien on the other hand is often given to help get through a sleep study as it is much more benign. My sleep doctor had no problem in prescribing Ambien to help "sleep through" arthritis pain saying it was a better choice than muscle relaxants or opiates.

[chunkyfrog]

There are various types of sleep meds.
They work differently; each with its own risks/benefits.
Your doctor should know what is appropriate for you.

[GumbyCT]

Sleep Meds for Sleep Apnea - wish I woulda thought of that

[avi123]

Zolpidem (generic Ambien) tablet of 10 mg helped me fall asleep when I started CPAPing.

[TmjTerri]

Thanks for all of your replies. I personally don't take sleep meds..they don't work for me. I really never knew if taking sleep meds was ok if you have sleep apnea. Thanks for all of your repsonses.

[Corkster52]

I am a new member and will be going in next Sunday for my 2nd sleep study where I will be using a cpap for the first time. I have been taking Lunesta (to get me to sleep) and Amtriptyline (to keep me asleep) for several years now. Just wondering if they will be an issue for me in the future with the cpap? I really would like to get off of them.

[Kairosgrammy]

Ah joy. I can't take muscle relaxers durring the day because I can't function because I'm so sleepy and can't take them at nite because of breathing. Go figure. Actually, I have a prescription for flexoril but I don't take it for the above initial reason. I can't function during the day and when I take it at night, it takes about 2 hours in the morning to get over the sleepiness they cause. Right now, I take aleve and that does fairly well. I don't take ambien for the same reason I don't take muscle relaxer at night. I can understand why you do though. You have rheumatoid arthritis right? I have osteo so it is probably no where near as painful. Unfortunately, in November I fell at work (outside on concrete) and my left knee, right palm, left elbow and shoulder all hurt. They x-rayed and said nothing was broken but they were nice enough to tell me I had arthritis in all those joints. I wasn't surprised about the shoulder. I have some pain in both if I move just right but the hand and elbow haven't bothered me. Makes me wonder where else I might have the old arthritis besides my neck and lower back. They did give me ambien at my sleep study also and I was taking it fairly regularly prior to that because of insomnia and some mild ptsd.

Which med was your friend given? Some meds are "worse" than others in regards to possibly affecting sleep architecture or having a tendency to cause more collapse of the airway.
Muscle relaxants are notorious for making OSA worse. Ambien on the other hand is often given to help get through a sleep study as it is much more benign. My sleep doctor had no problem in prescribing Ambien to help "sleep through" arthritis pain saying it was a better choice than muscle relaxants or opiates.

[Pugsy]

I can't take muscle relaxers durring the day because I can't function because I'm so sleepy and can't take them at nite because of breathing. Go figure. Actually, I have a prescription for flexoril but I don't take it for the above initial reason. I can't function during the day and when I take it at night, it takes about 2 hours in the morning to get over the sleepiness they cause.

Flexoril does the same thing to me. Heck even if I didn't have OSA and had to worry about that side effect I just can't function during the day with even a small dose. Knocks me on my butt for 2 days.

Long story on my pain issues and long discussions with doctors on which I can use safely with OSA and which ones are maybe less of an OSA problem than others. If I don't take something then I have such severe sleep fragmentation due to pain that I might as well not sleep. My daytime pain med is Ultram. Common side effect is drowsiness (it doesn't affect the OSA particularly) but an uncommon side is insomnia. Guess which one I get? Yep, insomonia. It wires me up and can't sleep. So can't take it at night and expect to sleep. So I have 3 meds that I sort of alternate with to help me "sleep through the pain".
Amitryptilline 10 mg only at bedtime. Works well, while never had official fibromyalgia diagnosis it wouldn't be a surprise if I had a bit of FM. This one the doctors want me to take fairly regularly. Small dose and no hangover if I take it around 8 PM. I have Ambien and a low dose opiate (hydrocodone) that I might alternate or skip depending on pain level (some days are worse than others) to help me sleep through the pain. Ambien I take rarely just so I don't develop some sort of dependency on it but when I first started therapy I took it every night for probably 6 months and had no issues going off it. The hydrocodone is of course an opiate but it is only 5 mg and I rarely need more than one pill and I don't take it every night either. I watch my data and I don't see any difference particularly with any of the meds.
Risks vs benefits have been discussed with my doctor and understood. I am good with it. My other option is to wake up 30 to 50 times a night from pain and that is totally unacceptable. So we deal with any possible issues that the meds might impact. That is what I have the machine for. It's not like if I didn't take the meds that I wouldn't need the machine anyway.

There is a time and place for help using meds. If the patient and the doctor are in agreement with their choices and options then that is all that matters. BTW I broke my wrist last summer..bad enough I had to have surgically repaired with pins. I was given the good stuff (Percocet) for pain and believe me the first few nights I needed it. My AHI didn't dramatically change from non Percocet nights. Maybe AHI increased 1..but it is normal to see such a change anyway. It most certainly didn't make it go anywhere near the 5 AHI number.

[evbirch]

. . .

[fuzzy96]

]

time to find another doc. no excuses for this attiude and demeanor, especially on an initial consultation. so what else is he/she going to rush over and miss?

[avi123]

I am a new member and will be going in next Sunday for my 2nd sleep study where I will be using a cpap for the first time. I have been taking Lunesta (to get me to sleep) and Amtriptyline (to keep me asleep) for several years now. Just wondering if they will be an issue for me in the future with the cpap? I really would like to get off of them.

Reply,

Most sleep docs want you to take your regular Rx during a clinical sleep test but there are exception as at this place:

You will not be medicated in order to aid your falling asleep; however, if your doctor has you taking sleep medication, then bring it
with you. You may or may not be allowed to take your sleeping medication, depending upon the test parameters.

[chunkyfrog]

Corkster:
FWIW: If CPAP makes a difference in your need or dosage for sleep meds, it is likely to take a while.
Give it time. Don't rush anything. First priority, you need the good, restorative sleep.
The rest will follow if and when it shakes out that way.

[TmjTerri]

I just wanted to let you all know that I deleted my question. Sorry for any inconvenience.