What meds do you take because of your OSA?

Sammy_J · Post by **Sammy_J** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:52 pm

I am just curious, what medication do you take, with the exception of high blood pressure and GERD for your OSA? Any anti-depressants, sleeping aids, anti-anxiety meds, etc.

seamonkey21 · Post by **seamonkey21** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:54 pm

Sammy_J wrote:I am just curious, what medication do you take, with the exception of high blood pressure and GERD for your OSA? Any anti-depressants, sleeping aids, anti-anxiety meds, etc.

Provigil 200mg...could probably use another 200mg / day....ugh.

JeffH · Post by **JeffH** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 2:09 pm

None. It's just air.

LyleHaze · Post by **LyleHaze** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 2:43 pm

I take a variety of meds for GERD, High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and because I had a heart attack.
I don't take anything for depression or mood control, and luckily I don't need to.
I'm one of those people who has to be very careful about mind or mood altering substances, they tend to take me places I really don't want to go.
I think if I had started CPAP sooner, I could have avoided a lot of the other medical issues. Hopefully I'll be able to back off of some of the meds eventually.

LyleHaze

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:05 pm

Just clean air under pressure, the other meds are just to make up for a abused and mis-understood body. Jim

tuna · Post by **tuna** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:10 pm

No other meds except Benicar for Hypertension!

TXKajun · Post by **TXKajun** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 4:09 pm

"If I'd known I'd live this long, I'd have taken much better care of myself!"

I don't remember who said that, but for me, it's kinda sorta true. In the last 10 years or so, I've really let myself go. Back then, I was a fitness instructor/personal trainer, worked out 5 days a week and on Sunday, ran 3-5 miles. But I got "successful" again....returned to a science-type job. Since then, I've had a double hernia repair, prostate TURP, diagnosed with severe OSA, developed Type II diabetes (Avandia takes care of that), have high cholesterol/triglycerides (another medicine takes care of that), am on Wellbutrin, Cozaar keeps my blood pressure in the normal range, I've put on about 25 lbs and have developed GERD (Prilosec works great!!). Sheesh, I'm falling apart!

But, on the good side, since I started on XPAP, I've got energy to play with my 10 year old son, mow the yard, take care of the house, do a bunch of metal detecting and a bit of gold prospecting, travel for work quite a bit, play a little golf (ok, so I actually just play a game that somewhat resembles golf! LOL) fish and hunt and live a full life with Sweetie. If I'd only get on a regular workout plan, I could probably eliminate at least half of what's wrong! But for now, life is sweet so change is not really gonna happen.

Kajun

cflame1 · Post by **cflame1** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 4:11 pm

Darvocet for TMJ issues

Catnapper · Post by **Catnapper** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:05 pm

Since using cpap I have developed very dry eyes from the air that goes up the tear ducts into my eyes while I sleep. Now I use Restasis drops to deal with the dry eyes.

I know, it is just air, but even too much air can cause a problem. I wonder if at night I look like a dog riding in a car with its head out the window. So far I haven't noticed my ears being tired from flapping.

Catnapper

tiredofbeingsleepy · Post by **tiredofbeingsleepy** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:26 pm

I now take Flonase in the morning and Sudafed and Claritin an hour before bed, all since going on CPAP 6-7 weeks ago. Before CPAP I rarely had to take Claritin for my mild allergies - I mouth breathed (and snored) at night so it wasn't too important I couldn't breath through my nose when I layed down.
Now, it's important I get good air flow through my nose, as I've got nasal pillows - so far my medicine "cocktail" seems to work for me!

DeltaSeeker · Post by **DeltaSeeker** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:37 pm

Well, let's see - currently taking Lexapro (antidepressant), Trileptal (mood stabilizer), Klonopin (for RLS but not really working - want to try Requip or Mirapex), and last 2 months taking Provigil so I don't lose my job by falling asleep at work! Prior to bariatric surgery I was also on Rezulin, and something for high blood pressure. But the day I walked out of the hospital after that surgery I didn't need the BP and diabetes meds anymore. I still check from time to time and my numbers are in the low average range

Oh yeah, I do have a prescription for Flonase, but don't use it very often so it's sort of useless since it's a long term effective drug

Since my RLS has been acting up lots lately at least I'm back to taking my iron, vit. C, and multivitamins 2x/day as I'm supposed to.

Sheesh - and to think, it can get worse from here?!?!? Yikes!

socknitster · Post by **socknitster** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:22 am

Prilosec OTC for GERD, silent GERD that is.

Claritin for allergies, not because they bother me much, but because I am hoping to keep my airway more open.

Just went down from 40 mg fluoxetine (generic prozac) to 20 mg because as I started sleeping better I started getting a bit jumpy, so my need for antidepressants (because I was misdiagnosed with depression for about 10 years) is definitely decreasing. I intend to go down to 10 mg in about 2 weeks or so and then get off prozac altogether. The oral surgeon/sleep specialist I spoke to yesterday told me that the prozac was probably contributing to the spontaneous arousals they saw on my sleep study. That corresponds with the first time I tried prozac about 10 years ago--barely slept. So, I'm very excited to get off of it altogether!

I was taking an aleve in the evening to keep inflamation in my airway down when I first realized GERD was a contributing factor to my apnea. After more than a week on prilosec, symptoms are significantly lower, so I stopped doing this.

Taking a melatonin occasionally to try to counteract the prozacs current effects on sleep (now that I'm sleeping better). Kinda ironic, huh? Don't really like taking melatonin because I'm unsure of its safety, but sometimes feel desperate.

Jen

Sammy_J · Post by **Sammy_J** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:48 pm

Thanks for all the replies, I was hoping for more but I can understand someone being reluctant to post their medical problems.

Is everyone otherwise medical problem free? No other problems or suffer from congestive heart failure, had a stroke or heart attack? In a conversation recently with a group of people that I know, some are in the area of research it was brought up that people with OSA have other medical problems and/or get other medical problems while using xPAP.

I find it interesting that most people with OSA have to take psychiatric medication or sleeping aids. It seems that OSA and psych drugs seem to go hand in hand?

socknitster · Post by **socknitster** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:03 pm

I don't know that osa and depression necessarily go hand in hand. However, I think that a person is very likely to be misdiagnosed with depression for years before getting a better and more accurate diagnosis of osa.

My main complaint with "depression" was extreme fatigue and irritibility. I had the DESIRE to do things, but not the energy. I went from being a young, athletic looking 20-something to a bit of a frumpy housewife in about 10 years after the original onset of the symptoms.

Once correctly diagnosed, I imagine most compliant users of xpap attempt to get off of antidepressants. Attempting does not mean success. It can take a long time and lots of creativity to get off of antidepressants. The brain can become very sensitive and if the antidepressant has a short half-life (like lexapro) the discontinuation symptoms can be far worse than the original symptoms ever were.

I was on lexapro for literally years and had tried to get off numerous times. I spent hours, days, weeks on the internet searching for studies or anecdotal advice about how to get off the drug. Ultimately we decided to switch to prozac and the transition was uneventful. I am now weaning off of it as its side effects are now becoming full blown due to the fact that my body is healing from the restorative sleep I have been getting. I think my body will be perfectly able to produce all the proper neurochemicals now. Prozac is one of the easiest to wean from.

Jen

Sammy_J · Post by **Sammy_J** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:12 pm

I think you hit the nail on the head there that so many people are misdiagnosed and that's the unfortunate reality about psychiatry. If they (doctors) don't know what is ailing you or can't prove it, you must have a mental illness. They don't want to accept that everything has a cause and there may be an disease or illness that goes on undiagnosed sleep apnea being a perfect example. I also should add that according to most physicians, once you have "depression" you will always have "depression" and must be treated for it for life.

Once you start these meds, it's extremely to get off of them. It's no wonder that psych drugs are multi-billion dollar industry in the USA alone. The sad truth is that they psychs all agree they do not have a cure for anyone suffering from a mental illness. In fact, many doctors are starting to come out and dismiss psychiatry and it's medicine/diagnose as quakery.

Mask

Additional Comments: Equipment isn't correct, S9 ASV w/H5i

What meds do you take because of your OSA?

What meds do you take because of your OSA?

Re: What meds do you take because of your OSA?

--

meds