Depression meds and apnea

[jamieay]

Does anyone have any experience with depression meds (Cymbalta and Wellbutrin specifically) and their effect on apnea, either positive or negative?

Jamie

[JayC]

I've been on W in the past....prior to treatment for sleep-disorded breathing (although SDB an issue for 30 so so years.

All "depression meds" have affected my sleep and/or sleep quality......but there were sleep issues pre-existing using those meds.

In the last 2 years, I have been on CPAP, and for more than half that time I have been on NO meds. The medicated times on Topomax totally trashed my sleep quality and length and really trashed the progress I had been making on CPAP. We stopped that in December!

Currently, I am doing 30 min of light box therapy every morning, and my length of sleep is trending an hour longer than it has been. Major and immediate differences and I have only been doing light therapy for about 2 months.

My depression symptoms have likely been secondary to sleep issues ALL my life, although medical treaters have been focused the other way around. And dismissing brain/neuro origin and blaming psych and life. Their thinking has been proven less and less true as I continue focusing on things that impact sleep.

Over time, docs have wanted to treat sleeplessness with drugs, with no investigation of what that might do to stage or quality of sleep........ try to bring out this discussion before just taking the first thing they offer.

I am not anti-medication; I have been on quite a number in the last 20 years. They never did quite enough after a point, or the side-effects became worse than what I was dealing with unmedicated. For me, it turns out that depression was and is secondary to other things going on in my brain.....either caused or worsened by sleep issues of several kinds. Review your history and try to ensure the med professionals are not just throwing meds at symptoms.....

All the best with this....!!

J

[Tired Linda]

Jamie,
Been depressed since childhood, but I've been treating the last 20 years with medication and therapy. Not sure when apnea started.

I currently take both Wellbutrin and Lexapro. When I talked to my doc after the first sleep study, he pointed out that it appeared to take me "longer than normal" to fall asleep. He said sometimes the SSRI's can cause that, but it was far more important to get my apnea issues addressed first.

I personally think my "longer than normal" to fall asleep was a combination of being at the sleep study, and a lot of anxiety I was having about going to sleep, period. I've only been on CPAP 9 nights, and have not had any problem falling asleep. It's far too early for me to tell what kind of effect the medications may or may not have on the apnea. I certainly wouldn't mind being able to go off the medication some day, but time will tell.

L

[TheTwinsMom1]

I currently take Cymbalta for pain. So far I have not seen any change in my CPAP therapy when taking it. I do know that my doctor said some anti depressants can mess with your REM cycle so it would be a good thing to verify with your doctor that the med you are needing to take does not affect your sleep cycles.

[M.D.Hosehead]

Mom,

I think all antidepressants will decrease the % of sleep spent in REM when you start taking them. For most people, after they have taken antidepressants for a few weeks, the REM% gradually returns to their normal amount. REM% will temporarily increase when they stop antidepressants: the term for that is "REM rebound". Most doctors don't seem to think these temporary changes are important.