Weaning off sleeping meds

[krl]

I realize this isn't exactly a "CPAP" specific question and deals more w/the medication aspect, but figured w/the collective wealth of this community, I'd get some sage insights.

I would imagine my scenario must be somewhat typical or at least decent percentage of how people reached their diagnosis of OSA. Since Feb of this year:
1 - started the daytime fatigue
2 - insomnia quickly became the norm
3 - thought it was related to my job and life's stressors
4 - Dr. recommends meds/exercise maybe even some shrink help
5 - Go down that road - even tried some SSRIs (not good) bad experience
6 - My smart wife says - do a sleep study
7 - Bingo/Yahtzee - Severe OSA
8 - Ok, epiphany reached. So now this new info will fix me quickly.

Now I'm still so used to my meds and can't seem to get off of them. Yes, my job is very stressful...but now I'm in a catch 22 of not trusting the CPAP completely and relying on taking meds 2x throughout the night to attempt a full 5-6 hours tops...Never thought I'd be "that" guy who is reliant on the meds...but here I am. Trying to wait for the right swatch of time/vacation or other when I can start weaning. Would love to hear others stories. And, yes, realize - just do it advice is ever present in my mind. K

[Julie]

What are you taking?

[Slartybartfast]

Your topic isn't at all off. The goal is to get effective sleep. The best CPAP therapy there is is no good if something is keeping you awake.

Lots of people arrive at their diagnosis the way you did. Others, like me, got here other ways. In my case frequent bronchitis and pneumonia got me sent to a pulmonologist. The Pulmo-Doc fixed me with his hard beady eyes and started asking me questions. His third question was, "Have you ever had a sleep study?" It turned out undiagnosed severe OSA lead to lack of sleep which caused my bronchitis/pneumonia. Now I get a cold maybe once a year.

Have you ever had dreams in which you are underwater or suffocating, or otherwise having difficulty breathing?

If you think working is stressful, try unemployment! I was laid off 20 months ago by my employer of 27 years due to a corporate takeover. One year on severance was OK, but I wondered what would I do after it ran out. I was only 58. I quickly learned that I was happier working, and volunteering didn't cut it. My Depression-era parents pounded into me the necessity of bringing home a paycheck. Insomnia ensued, then awakening with a start at 0300-0400 in a cold sweat worrying about things I cannot control. It finally got so bad, I went to see the Medicine Man. He said it's depression. No argument there. So he put me on 10 mg Paxil and though my wife says I'm acting less tense, the particular side effect of SSRIs so common in men isn't exactly to her liking. And that's all I have to say 'bout that. In the meantime, RN wife was injured on the job recovering a combative patient from anesthesia and can no longer work. So no income and no medical insurance other than COBRA, which is still cheaper than Obamacare. And two kids in college, elderly mother needing more and more attention, and wife living in a house we can no longer afford 1000 miles away (long story; happy marriage, just career decisions to live separately). Hence, the depression.

A month ago I saw a job announcement on my former employer's website for a position for which I was overqualified. But, needing work and health insurance, I applied for it anyway. To my surprise I was called to interview, and got the job. They bettered my old salary and benefits. Yipee! At 60, I thought there was no way I was employable. But they were glad to have an experienced employee back, and I'm glad to be working again.

Upshot is that I now sleep like a baby. No need for benadryl, or melatonin, or valium, or the Paxil (sez I). I'm seeing the Medicine Man for my 1 month follow-up this week. Maybe I can swap the Paxil for a functional Johnson.

Stress is a real booger. It sucks the joy out of our lives and in some cases it can shorten them.

Exercise helps. I've found that if I walk around the track at the local high school for 45 minutes or so a few days a week after work, I sleep like the dead. The CPAP worked wonders helping me sleep 6 years ago when I started. I hope it solves your problems, too.

[avi123]

Now I'm still so used to my meds and can't seem to get off of them. Yes, my job is very stressful...but now I'm in a catch 22 of not trusting the CPAP completely and relying on taking meds 2x throughout the night to attempt a full 5-6 hours tops...Never thought I'd be "that" guy who is reliant on the meds...but here I am. Trying to wait for the right swatch of time/vacation or other when I can start weaning. Would love to hear others stories. And, yes, realize - just do it advice is ever present in my mind. K

I have been taking 10 mg of Zolpidem Tartrate (generic Ambien) tablets long before starting CPAP 5 years ago. But during the last couple of years I started to taper off by taking only half the tablet. Lately, I been trying going to sleep without taking any. If I don't fall asleep within an hour only then I do take the 5 mg. It works.

Here are my last night ResScan statistics results of my treatment:

[LSAT]

I have never seen an avi post without pictures, or charts.

[palerider]

I have never seen an avi post without pictures, or charts.

or something he cut and pasted from somewhere else.

[chunkyfrog]

To slarty: best wishes for the improvement of your wedding tackle.
I heard that expression on Red Green.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Weaning off sleep aids is OT but not by very much IMO! Just a note in general about Ambien, generic zolpidem, (or other Z-Meds like Lunesta), and especially benzodiazepine drug users (benzos like Xanax, lorazepam etc).

Do NOT go cold turkey to get off them... be sure to taper off over a period of weeks or even months depending on the amount and how long you've been taking them. Talk to your doctor or search this forum for tapering off or weaning off such and such a drug. Also use Google search for some basic guidelines if you decide to go it alone. Even sleep aiding antidepressants should be tapered/weaned off: like Remeron, Serzone or Luvox.

[Slartybartfast]

To slarty: best wishes for the improvement of your wedding tackle.
I heard that expression on Red Green.

Thank you for your kind wishes! The mind isn't the only "thing" that Paxil relaxes, unfortunately. When I'm up North, we frequently watch the TV shows from Canadia. Red Green is my overall favorite.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Comedian Steve Coogan was joking in a recent sit com of his: "It's difficult to decide with these AD meds. Happy and soft - or Hard and sad." Actually I guess it's not too funny after all.

[Goofproof]

Your topic isn't at all off. The goal is to get effective sleep. The best CPAP therapy there is is no good if something is keeping you awake.

Lots of people arrive at their diagnosis the way you did. Others, like me, got here other ways. In my case frequent bronchitis and pneumonia got me sent to a pulmonologist. The Pulmo-Doc fixed me with his hard beady eyes and started asking me questions. His third question was, "Have you ever had a sleep study?" It turned out undiagnosed severe OSA lead to lack of sleep which caused my bronchitis/pneumonia. Now I get a cold maybe once a year.

Have you ever had dreams in which you are underwater or suffocating, or otherwise having difficulty breathing?

If you think working is stressful, try unemployment! I was laid off 20 months ago by my employer of 27 years due to a corporate takeover. One year on severance was OK, but I wondered what would I do after it ran out. I was only 58. I quickly learned that I was happier working, and volunteering didn't cut it. My Depression-era parents pounded into me the necessity of bringing home a paycheck. Insomnia ensued, then awakening with a start at 0300-0400 in a cold sweat worrying about things I cannot control. It finally got so bad, I went to see the Medicine Man. He said it's depression. No argument there. So he put me on 10 mg Paxil and though my wife says I'm acting less tense, the particular side effect of SSRIs so common in men isn't exactly to her liking. And that's all I have to say 'bout that. In the meantime, RN wife was injured on the job recovering a combative patient from anesthesia and can no longer work. So no income and no medical insurance other than COBRA, which is still cheaper than Obamacare. And two kids in college, elderly mother needing more and more attention, and wife living in a house we can no longer afford 1000 miles away (long story; happy marriage, just career decisions to live separately). Hence, the depression.

A month ago I saw a job announcement on my former employer's website for a position for which I was overqualified. But, needing work and health insurance, I applied for it anyway. To my surprise I was called to interview, and got the job. They bettered my old salary and benefits. Yipee! At 60, I thought there was no way I was employable. But they were glad to have an experienced employee back, and I'm glad to be working again.

Upshot is that I now sleep like a baby. No need for benadryl, or melatonin, or valium, or the Paxil (sez I). I'm seeing the Medicine Man for my 1 month follow-up this week. Maybe I can swap the Paxil for a functional Johnson.

Stress is a real booger. It sucks the joy out of our lives and in some cases it can shorten them.

Exercise helps. I've found that if I walk around the track at the local high school for 45 minutes or so a few days a week after work, I sleep like the dead. The CPAP worked wonders helping me sleep 6 years ago when I started. I hope it solves your problems, too.

Glad to hear you got your life back, had simular problems, 5 years on one layoff, plus a couple of 2 years, no-one want to hire someone that must go back to their real job, overqualified, big cut in pay are Red Flags. I ended doing a job with local parks dept, half the pay, I considered it a public service, a way to give back. It kept the Wolfe from the door, but he growled in the front yard the full time, no welfare for me, I worked. Jim

[kteague]

If you are waking and taking meds multiple times a night just to get a few hours sleep, I have to wonder if there might be an identifiable cause. What med is it you take multiple times a night? Have you ruled out some of the usual suspects like medication side effect, late alcohol intake, other sleep disorders like limb movements, thyroid dysfunction, too much late evening light from computers, etc.? You might google sleep hygiene and see if there are any areas you can tighten up on. Since the brain is a creature of habit, it makes sense that after years of having fragmented sleep it could take time to retrain the brain how to sleep healthily. I felt like my brain had forgotten how to sleep. In my efforts I kept giving my brain its best chance at sleep by providing an environment conducive to sleep. A comfortable bed that makes you go "ahhhhh" when you crawl in it can be helpful. I accomplished that with a mattress topper that also helped my nighttime aches and pains. Pain can be a sleep buster too. As is noise, both inside and outside the house. White noise can help with that. I also used aromatherapy by the intake of my cpap. Establish some new nighttime routines that signal the brain it is time to sleep. Make it do something different from what it has always done - build new habits. If you enter sleep as you've customarily done, it doesn't encourage new patterns in the brain. The scents were an integral part of my routine. (Got my Pur-Sleep scents from a board member here. They are available on our host's site.) Eliminate as many obstacles to sleep as you can and see if your sleeping brain responds. Have you tried melatonin? I used a very small dose for a few years. (I broke up a 1mg tablet - larger doses gave me nightmares and fitful sleep.) It was part of my routine. I had to quit taking Benadryl at bedtime because although it made me fall asleep, it didn't help me sustain sleep. Good luck in your efforts regarding your meds.