Depression & Sleep Apnea

[NeedinZs]

Jskinner----

Best suggestion I've heard all year.
You'd think the SLeep lab or Dr. could have come up with that one.....
O, yeah, then they couldn't collect for that extra night in the lab.

Me, cynical?

[Sammy_J]

One main problem with being diagnosed as having depression is that it we are told that it is NEVER curable. Any doctor,neurologist, and psychiatrist will tell you that depression itself is a separate disease and they will will NEVER get rid of their depression...only, maybe the symptopms. This is comparable to a diabetic who will never be off insulin (in their logic). So, once you are "labeled" as having depression or any psychiatric disorder the majority of doctors will say you must be on medication for the rest of your life and help keep the pharmaceutical companies in business while harming your body in the process.

Personally, I don't subscribe to their logic as any psychologist or anyone against psychiactry will tell you. You must find the underlying root cause of your depression or mental illness and treat that. It's not surprising that the why the majority of people who have OSA are actually depressed. Heck, who wouldn't be depressed having to wear a mask and hose at night. Besides, who knows what (undiscovered) negative effects xPAP has on our body. But, that's pretty much all we have right now to treat OSA.

[jskinner]

And now I have a question, I've been reading about the mouth taping. I gotta ask what kind of tape do you all use? Medical tape? I'm assuming that's what it is but you never know I have a nasal mask and my mouth stays shut most of the time but it does open sometimes, and I can feel the air rushing out.

1" 3M Micropore Surgical Tape. You can get it at any Pharmacy or Wal-Mart. Be sure to bend over both ends to make it easy to take off in the morning.

Cheers, -James

[amandalee]

Good advice about the AutoPAP.
Having to wait around is ridiculous.

[socknitster]

[quote="lilsheba"]I just want to add my two cents here about depression and anti depressants. I was on Luvox for 10 years and recently made the decision to get off of it and go to therapy instead. I was sick of being tired all the time, and having no interest in a lot of things. Plus I don't think it's working for what I do have which is Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder and Anxiety. Well when I went off the meds (gradually even) I ended up getting migraines, daily for a while and then every other day for a while. With those I went to a neurologist who saved me life! I mentioned my fatigue and lack of energy to her and she's the one that referred me to the sleep center, where I got my recently diagnosis of sleep apnea. Now that I'm off the drugs completely, have good migraine drugs for when I still get the weekly or so migraine, and have had a few nights so far of CPAP I feel much better. I'm not perfect but I'm better! I can make it through a work day now. Not much else after it but it's something. I"m also having sinus surgery to clear out deep rooted infection which will hopefully get rid of the migraines.

So I feel good about the decisions I made and I"m grateful to the doctor that led me to the sleep center. I never knew I had sleep apnea before all this.

And now I have a question, I've been reading about the mouth taping. I gotta ask what kind of tape do you all use? Medical tape? I'm assuming that's what it is but you never know I have a nasal mask and my mouth stays shut most of the time but it does open sometimes, and I can feel the air rushing out.

Thanks!

Jeanine

[socknitster]

Good advice about the AutoPAP.
Having to wait around is ridiculous.

Not only that--they are two machines in one! They come in very handy!

jen

[John_M]

One main problem with being diagnosed as having depression is that it we are told that it is NEVER curable. Any doctor,neurologist, and psychiatrist will tell you that depression itself is a separate disease and they will will NEVER get rid of their depression...only, maybe the symptopms.

This book I am reading"The Mindful Way though Depression" suggests that feeling sad and trying to fight it brings on more sadness which spirals down into a hopeless state of depression where I get even sadder because I can't fight the sadness.

The book suggests a novel way of living through depression. Just be aware of being sad and live with it, not fight it and it goes away without spiralling down. The key is to be aware of the sadness so the author's encourages practises which enhance awareness like meditation.

So I am busy doing meditation. I don't know if this stuff works but I am having a lot of fun reading the book and doing meditation. And of course ,if I am having fun, I don't have the time to be depressed so maybe this technique is already working

John M

[OwlCreekObserver]

And now I have a question, I've been reading about the mouth taping. I gotta ask what kind of tape do you all use? Medical tape? I'm assuming that's what it is but you never know I have a nasal mask and my mouth stays shut most of the time but it does open sometimes, and I can feel the air rushing out.

Thanks!

Jeanine
_________________

Ditto on the 3M Micropore, however I prefer the 2" width because the 1" sometimes comes loose during the night for me. I've never been able to find the 2" at the local Wal*Mart stores but it's available at a couple of local pharmacies under the Nexcare brand.

OCO

[ozij]

This book I am reading"The Mindful Way though Depression" suggests that feeling sad and trying to fight it brings on more sadness which spirals down into a hopeless state of depression where I get even sadder because I can't fight the sadness.

The book suggests a novel way of living through depression. Just be aware of being sad and live with it, not fight it and it goes away without spiralling down. The key is to be aware of the sadness so the author's encourages practises which enhance awareness like meditation.

That fits with my experience too. Another good book on depression - and sadness - is "The right to feel bad" by Leslie Hazelton. Sadness it an inevitable part of living as a sentient human.


O,

[lilsheba]

Thanks for the responses about the tape I will look for those!

[aquamarine]

[quote="amandalee"]I've read that depression can be a symptom of SA. I'm going to start CPAP treatment soon, and I'm wondering if any of you have noticed an improvement in depressive symptoms since getting treatment?

I've been diagnosed with depression in some form or another since age 18 (8 years). I didn't want to take medication, so I just managed it on my own until I was about 22. Since then I have tried Prozac, Effexor, Wellbutrin, and Lexapro. Those medications sort of helped with mood symptoms, but my biggest complaint was always that "I'm sooooo tired and don't feel like doing anything."
Finally, I was referred to a psychiatrist, who diagnosed me with "atypical depression" and put me on a combination of Cymbalta and Adderall. Like the other medications, these help with the mood symptoms, but not the fatigue.

While this isn't an experience I'd wish on anyone, I'm wondering if any of you have suffered similar circumstances? I'd especially like to hear from anyone who was able to lower their dose of antidepressants after starting xPAP, or stop taking them entirely.

While I do think psychiatric drugs can be really helpful to some people in certain circumstances, I also think that they are often prescribed as a "quick-fix" when doctors have no idea what's really wrong with you. I wish I had gotten this diagnosis of sleep apnea 8 years ago, instead of trying drug after drug. All the medications just delayed getting a real diagnosis. If I hadn't gone in for the study when I had, I don't know what I would've done, because I just couldn't live with being so tired all the time...

[lilsheba]

Aquamarine, what do you mean by this:
Quote:
Since I started with cpap about 18 months ago it has helped the tiredness/fatigue a lot I dont think I have depression but I get very anxious and have been signed off work for the second time within a year

Are you on leave or or disability or ?? I wonder cause I have anxiety problems as well, which are on record at my company.

[Sparchitect]

You're in a large and experienced room of comrades when talking about depression and OSA. The connection the two share is not near as unearthed as it should be, but in my opinion as someone having been through my own version of your and the other stories here, OSA is responsible for a lot more of the depressive diagnoses in modern culture than we're aware of. I try not to spend my time mulling over the ignorance of *some* professionals in the psychiatric realm (it was, after all, my psychiatrist - of whom I carry a decent amount of respect for - who first noted the potential for my symptoms to be OSA-relevant and referred me to the sleep clinic... early on in my time being treated as his patient). Treating the two of these afflictions in conjunction may be difficult, but it won't be a surprise if you find that PAP treatment itself sets you leaps and bounds closer to where you want to be with treating both the depression and OSA.

[John_M]

Well I dug into the medical literature in a discussion about theconnections between Sleep Apnea and Psychiatric Disorders

All I have found is that about 21% of people with sleep apnea also have been diagnosed with depression. Thats higher than normal
Only 3.3% of us hosers are said to have bipolar.

Another study reports 15% of people with depression also have sleep apnea.

So the medical profession is aware of it.But they don't see it as all that much

The comorbidity we seem to be noticing in CPAPtalk seems higher to me but is not scientifically valid because not everyone answers the poll.

Hey split-city. Want to do an impeccable scientifically high class study of us? Anyboidy where you work want a research topic.

John M

[John_M]

We could do some kind of a meaningful study. Maybe send a PM to the next 50 people as they post on non depression related topics and ask them if they have ever been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder and if so what one.

Then we could tally the yes's, no's and no responses and get a meaningful estimate of psychiatric comorbidity amongst people who post on CPAPtalk,.

But then what? I doubt if we could get it published.

If we knew the right kind of scientists, it might trigger them into doing it more thoroughly but thats a long shot.

Ideas welcomed

John M