Recently diagnosed with sleep apnea (AHI 52)

[chefmate]

I was recently diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (AHI 51) . I am only 28 years old and have been on antidepressants for the last 6 years. None of the antidepressants have been able to fix my core symptoms of extreme fatigue and no motivation. I feel like a log with no motivation to move or do anything productive. I am too young to give up on life but I have lost all my hope and antidepressants make me feel even more fatigued. I will be starting CPAP treatment in few weeks but doubt that its going to make much of a difference in my hopeless life!

[Sheriff Buford]

If you have sleep apnea, and treat it properly, I'd bet you a dollar to a donut hole that you will start to feel better, and maybe get off the anti depressants. Read the tabs at the top of this website and see how proper treatment has changed so many lives. Minus the antidepressants stuff, it seems your symptoms were like mine and when I started treating the apnea, I started to feel better and it gave me my life back. WORK at the treatment. You deserve it. We will help you thru the process and work out all your issues here.

Sheriff

[NMchop]

I'm not doctor, so take this with a grain of salt...but I've been amazed at what CPAP therapy has done for me
in just a little more then a week.

Physical things that were bothering me badly before have gotten better. My eyesight of all things seems to be improving
surprisingly enough. Some days, I feel like I'm zippy. That never, ever happened.

I can drive again on getaways without fear of nodding off. No more nodding off in my recliner every time I've got idle time.

Used to have to take 3-4 potty breaks a night which I attributed to other things, turns out it was the sleep apnea. I haven't
risen once since therapy to use the restroom during the night.

I'm also a dweller on bad things which drags you down mood wise. The sleep treatment has allowed me to
rest my brain and things that I used to dwell on are still there, but they don't bother me as much. I think
it's because I'm rested and my brain is actually getting some restorative sleep.

I've had some issues too. I don't like the mask, having some allergies and traveling with the machine is going
to be a hassle I'm afraid (I'll find out Monday, I leave for six days).

But it is so worth it so far. Wish I'd of done this years ago. Good luck, I hope you find some peace with some
sleep therapy. I'm a firm believer it can be a life changer.

[49er]

I was recently diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (AHI 51) . I am only 28 years old and have been on antidepressants for the last 6 years. None of the antidepressants have been able to fix my core symptoms of extreme fatigue and no motivation. I feel like a log with no motivation to move or do anything productive. I am too young to give up on life but I have lost all my hope and antidepressants make me feel even more fatigued. I will be starting CPAP treatment in few weeks but doubt that its going to make much of a difference in my hopeless life!

Chefmate,

I am not a doctor either but I would be willing to be that once your pap therapy is optimized, you might find you no longer need the antidepressants. You see, when you stop breathing 51 times an hour or have greatly restricted breathing, the quality of your sleep is going to be horsebleep and non restorative. So what results is extreme fatigue and lack of motivation which you have experienced.

My only words of caution are to be patient and don't expect a miracle overnight. As Sheriff constantly says, work your issues here so the forum the can give the help you need.

Hang in there.

49er

[LSAT]

I was recently diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (AHI 51) . I am only 28 years old and have been on antidepressants for the last 6 years. None of the antidepressants have been able to fix my core symptoms of extreme fatigue and no motivation. I feel like a log with no motivation to move or do anything productive. I am too young to give up on life but I have lost all my hope and antidepressants make me feel even more fatigued. I will be starting CPAP treatment in few weeks but doubt that its going to make much of a difference in my hopeless life!

Not a good attitude to have when starting CPAP......You will need to have a positive attitude if you expect to be successful with the therapy. It seems like you already know you will fail.

[Punchyandtired]

You have to start where you are. You have severe sleep apnea. My AHI was in low 30s and I feel like a zombie, so I can only imagine how truly bad you feel.

The CPAP from my limited experience isn't a magic fairy that is going to bestow wellness to you right away. You likely are going to have to work with it and be diligent in troubleshooting.

But you also need to know that OSA is often misdiagnosed as depression. While I'm sure depression canbe a side effect of suffocating all night, it's possible you aren't as depressed as you think you are-- you are probably simply EXHAUSTED.

You maybe one of those people who feels great from day 1 of CPAP. I'm a little over two months in with severe OSA and I'm finally starting to slowly feel better. Your body has been damaged from your severe OSA, so it's probably going to take some time for your body and hormones to settle down and start recovering.

Take it easy. Give yourself a break and hang in there, kitty. There is a light at the end of the tunnel for you.

[Darth Lady]

Chefmate -

Your brain spends all night frantically ordering your body to breathe, dammit, breathe! It's not going to have a lot of energy to spare to make you feel motivated, or even like getting out of bed or off the couch. It's not getting what it needs, either oxygen or real sleep, to keep itself in order. So of course you feel like crap. Plus, when your brain goes crazy to get your body to breathe, your body pours out stress hormones. Stressed out all night, dead all day. A lot of us have been there. It's for the best that it got caught at your age, so hopefully you can avoid the obesity, the diabetes, the heart problems that come with decades of undiagnosed OSA. Heck, in a year you could be running rings around a lot of us! But for now you've got this problem to deal with, and not much energy to give it.

The answer - give your body what it needs: oxygen and sleep. CPAP, BiPAP or whatever it is you need (hopefully you've got a decent doc) will help you get both. As others have said, you can get plenty of advice here about the aggravating things like how to get the right mask and make sure it fits properly, things it's hard to have energy for in the beginning. Register your equipment when you get it, make sure it's data-capable and get the software (like SleepyHead, which is free) to analyze how you are doing. Ask us questions, you'll get answers. Just give your body some time on therapy to make repairs, and your brain some time to learn how to sleep again, and we all bet you'll get back to actual living and enjoying it.

[chunkyfrog]

My diagnosed AHI was only 13, and I went from zombie to awesome in a few short weeks.
I can't imagine not treating a number over 20, much less 52! You must be in misery!
Cpap can be nothing short of miraculous, at only the cost of some moonlight facial bondage.
Just put on your kinky hat, and BREATHE!

[kteague]

The hardest part for me was making myself do what I needed to do to make this treatment work for me. It seemed like one more thing I didn't have the energy to do. However, deep down I knew this was my best chance at getting my life back and if I didn't take it, I was in big trouble. I do hope you will continue to post here as you embark on this journey. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how different you will see life in the near future. In the meantime, be kind to yourself. You are not unmotivated or lazy - you are physically, mentally and emotionally injured and need to heal. I think as you heal you will find your hope has survived. A bit battered and tattered at the moment, but alive and on the mend.

[Punchyandtired]

Chefmate, please check in again and let us know you are reading these replies. Thanks.

[chefmate]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the support. It means a lot to me.

I have experienced the following the symptoms over the last 6 years and they have progressively worsened over the last few years:

1. CHRONIC fatigue

2. NO MOTIVATION- I can sit and watch tv or surf the net all the day but I can never find the energy to drag myself to a gym or do anything productive. I feel like i have no purpose in life.

3. NO DESIRE TO Socially interact with anyone.

4. Excessive eating

5. Anxiety/Anhedonia- No pleasure in life.

None of my symptoms improved with antidepressants. My condition has worsened to the point that I am starting to believe that I am destined to be a couch potato for life.

But against all Odds I am hoping that CPAP will change everything!!

[BlackSpinner]

My condition has worsened to the point that I am starting to believe that i am destined to be a couch potato for life.

But against all Odds I am hoping that CPAP will change everything!!

Yes it will make a change. It may take a few months. But your attitude is everything.

Start a journal of how you feel and what is happening now. Sometimes the first changes are so subtle that you don't notice them until you look back and read what you wrote.

I didn't expect anything from it either because nothing had been helping my health issues either. When I got the equipment I put it on expecting to take it off in 2 hours, next thing I knew was my alarm going off and my body felt like it had been run over by a truck because I hadn't moved in 8 hours. But I didn't have a headache that day....

[SleepDisturbed]

When you get your equipment make sure to remember that it takes some time and effort to get everything to work right for most folks. Let the good people here help you to get your cpap to work for you.

It is worth it!

[Nick Danger]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the support. It means a lot to me.

I have experienced the following the symptoms over the last 6 years and they have progressively worsened over the last few years:

1. CHRONIC fatigue

2. NO MOTIVATION- I can sit and watch tv or surf the net all the day but I can never find the energy to drag myself to a gym or do anything productive. I feel like i have no purpose in life.

3. NO DESIRE TO Socially interact with anyone.

4. Excessive eating

5. Anxiety/Anhedonia- No pleasure in life.

None of my symptoms improved with antidepressants. My condition has worsened to the point that I am starting to believe that I am destined to be a couch potato for life.

But against all Odds I am hoping that CPAP will change everything!!

Yep, those are symptoms of a major depressive episode. Whenever I get a new client with depressive symptoms, we always talk about the quality of sleep, discuss the symptoms of sleep apnea, and talk about whether a referral to a sleep doctor makes sense. Sleep apnea is known for its comorbidity with depression. Effective CPAP treatment will help you feel better.

It probably won't be easy or fast. A few of us have had great initial success (but most of us are a bit envious of those lucky ones!!). Most of us have found that it has taken some time (i.e., days or weeks) to get used to using the machine and didn't experience the overnight success story. You should see improvement in the depressive symptoms after you start treatment, but the symptoms are unlikely to go away overnight. It will probably be a few weeks after your CPAP therapy reaches effective levels (that is, you're using the machine every night all (or nearly all) night, your AHI levels are below 5, and you aren't having other issues related to the apnea or the CPAP - such as frequent waking, large leaks, high flow limitations, etc.), before you see improvement in some of the symptoms.

BTW, depression is diagnosed by its symptoms, not its cause. So it really isn't a matter of misdiagnosing depression instead of sleep apnea. If you meet the requirements to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder (or dysthymia) and the requirements to be diagnosed with sleep apnea, then it is correct to diagnose both disorders. I agree in most cases of comorbid sleep apnea and depression that it is probably a matter of the apnea causing the depression - but we can't prove that.

The forum is a great place to come to make sure you get the right equipment (many DME's - the pharmacy equivalent for CPAP machines - try to saddle you with the cheapest possible equipment because they make more profit that way), ideas for improving your chances at success, advice when things aren't going right with your therapy, and general support. You may occasionally receive a kick in the pants. Take the advice that seems to work for you.

Good luck and keep us posted!!

[Punchyandtired]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the support. It means a lot to me.

I have experienced the following the symptoms over the last 6 years and they have progressively worsened over the last few years:

1. CHRONIC fatigue

2. NO MOTIVATION- I can sit and watch tv or surf the net all the day but I can never find the energy to drag myself to a gym or do anything productive. I feel like i have no purpose in life.

3. NO DESIRE TO Socially interact with anyone.

4. Excessive eating

5. Anxiety/Anhedonia- No pleasure in life.

None of my symptoms improved with antidepressants. My condition has worsened to the point that I am starting to believe that I am destined to be a couch potato for life.

But against all Odds I am hoping that CPAP will change everything!!

I think you kind of have to look at it this way: you had an untreated chronic illness. Therefore, you are behaving like a patient with a chronic untreated illness.

That is basically how it is. Of course you have withdrawn from life. You are exhausted and depressed and everything that comes along with having had no sleep for years. You were also suffocating every few minutes each night when you went to sleep, and that lasted all night long. Your body has been abused by the sleep apnea and now you have identified the problem and are starting treatment.

Give yourself several more months to work/school, sleep and rest. Your job now is to help your body restore and then you will likely get back into life.

Heck, I accepted an invitation to dinner last night and DH and I went and had a nice time with the other couple. It has been about 2.5 months since I started Cpap.