Does Sleep Apnea make you Angry?

[nate fry]

Once your apnea is under control and your getting better sleep, are rested and feel better, your attitude will improve also. It's hard to be perky when you feel like crap. I used to use an ssri and it helped me chill out but as my apnea improves I notice I can ween myself off of it. You might ask your doctor about an ssri. It makes a BIG difference in your patients with people, your attitude toward life, you enjoyment of life and your personal relationship with your family. The ones you care about.So I say definitely, yes. Apnea makes you Angy, sad, tired, frustrated, hard to sleep, hard to get along with people. You can fix this. Just talk to your doctor, cpap helps but there are other things that can help also. I work with this one guy who used to always argue with management, but all of a sudden he is like the happiest guy on earth, so ssris do work and don't feel bad about considering them.

[jskinner]

You might ask your doctor about an ssri. It makes a BIG difference in your patients with people, your attitude toward life, you enjoyment of life and your personal relationship with your family.

Honestly I don't understand how we got to the point in North America to think that its ok to take drugs to force ourselves to feel better. Depression is not a disease. Its a symptom. You need to find and fix the problem if you have depression. Taking drugs to mask the problem is not a good long term solution.

SSRI's have a slew of side effects. They can dramatically reduce your REM too which is not good if you have sleep apnea. Will they make you feel better. Sometimes yes, times no. Its a crap shoot since you are playing with your brain chemistry with no evidence that there is anything wrong with that chemistry. Why not just take cocaine. There is very little difference in how street drugs and 'antidepressants' work. Its largely a matter of dosage. SSRI's can make you feel worse than before. (Not suprissing given that you are playing blind with brain chemistry) We already know that SSRI actually INCREASE your risk of suicide.

I would try every possible solution before resorting to SSRIs. Of course Dr's give them out like candy (Like they use to with Valium) so you will get a different option if you ask them.

[Babette]

Thanks for that post, James. I wish I had been given that perspective before I began the cycle of SSRI's in the mid-1990's. I'm now weaning off Prozac and am having all kinds of problems, but I have hope that once my body chemistry settles down my emotions will, too.

One thing I will say - beware of Lexapro. It is MURDER to come off that.

After many years of taking SSRI's, I agree with James. It's not a panacea. It just masks the underlying problems. It's a crutch, not a cure.

Best of luck!
B.

[jskinner]

Thanks for that post, James. I wish I had been given that perspective before I began the cycle of SSRI's in the mid-1990's. I'm now weaning off Prozac and am having all kinds of problems, but I have hope that once my body chemistry settles down my emotions will, too. One thing I will say - beware of Lexapro. It is MURDER to come off that. After many years of taking SSRI's, I agree with James. It's not a panacea. It just masks the underlying problems. It's a crutch, not a cure..

I was put on SSRI's for 10+ years and it turns the problem was sleep apnea. As the apeana got worse the drugs worked less and less. Getting off SSRI's was a living hell for me. Your right your emotions can go nuts during the withdrawal period. Doctors often confuse SSRI withdrawal as the return of the inital problem and say its 'proof you need it'. The only prof that would exist to show that you need more serotonin would be a test showing that you where low in serotonin (and it doesn't really exist) Even if you where low in serotonin I'm not convinced blocking re-uptake is the right way to get more serotonin.

Hang in there as your chemistry will stabilize once you get off them but wow it can be a hard road to travel. I certainly know how miserable and scary that can be. Go as slow with the titration as possible can help.

You might like reading the book Let them eat Prozac If you need help getting off SSRIs you may want to read The Antidepressant Solution: A Step-by-Step Guide to Safely Overcoming Antidepressant Withdrawal, Dependence, and "Addiction"

[grandmma]

One thing I will say - beware of Lexapro. It is MURDER to come off that.

Babette, that's interesting to me. My doctor prescribed Lexapro to help me sleep. After only a couple of months use, I stopped it about a month ago, because I found I could sleep well enough without it, as well as the fact that whenever sleeping or depression tablets are prescribed, I invariably go off them, hate the idea. What specific effects are you referring to when coming off it? I'm very tired, slow, dizzy & headachy, have presumed it was my sleep therapy, and have been recently pouring over my data, to no avail. Checking my mask, going nuts.

Does your post indicate that this could be the effects of going off Lexapro? I'd be easier to fix, I'd just have to wait!

[jskinner]

I'm very tired, slow, dizzy & headachy, have presumed it was my sleep therapy

Here is a list of some common Antidepressant withdraw symptoms http://www.drglenmullen.com/AS%20Appendix%201.pdf

[grandmma]

Thanks jskinner. Knew I never really took to them, despite prescriptions never really take them, but now I know why! Shocking.

[Muse-Inc]

Yeah, it did but it scared me more than it made me angry. It took 9 months before my energy levels came up enough for me to be able to exercise more than 3-5 mins (and I've got ton of excess baggage to lose), meanwhile I was slowly returning to the upbeat optimist I'd been in the early 90s. I'm still not the person I used to be, may never be, I'm older, fatter, and my brain just doesn't perform the same as it did...possible long-term low oxygen levels from apnea may have irreversibly changed it...tra la tra le. My short-term memory is like a leaky sieve and I don't know which items are going to be retained, so I make notes....4x6 colored index cards are now my 'best friends.' For my brain, daily I take a Coromega fish oils packettte, DHA, make my own sugar-free hot cocoa using Ghirardelli 100% ground cocao, grape seed extract, prolein-lysine combo along with a slew of other supps to help me stay healthy as I lose weight & continue with CPAP therapy. This is not fun, necessary but not enjoyable, more often than not very frustrating. One doc says I'm depressed...well, yeah, but I'm doing the supps and daily exercise thing rather than drugs.

[blackspinner2]

Most people don't need drugs - They need therapy to help them deal with the issues and training in mind "control" but not drugs. Drugs are for people who are really in need - like my daughter who was suicidal - feeling angry and tired is not a reason to take ssris.
Therapy to deal with decades of being a "not nice dog" and its effects however are very useful. JUst sleeping well doesn't address damaged relationships or lost carreer operetunities.

Therapy to teach you how to manage your subconcious to allow you to sleep with a thing over your face, to come to terms with looking like Darth Vader in bed that is what needs to be recommended and paid for by insurance.

Using drugs for this is like putting a cast on a leg with a small cut.

PS. The site won't let me log in - Blackspinner

[snoregirl]

I think I am a little late in on this post but want to add my 2 cents to the original poster. Apnea and other sleep issues can definately change your personality.

I used to take naps because I was very tired, but ALSO so I won't snap at my children and husband.

Well, my sleep issues and his intollerance and unwillingness to help and understand, ended that 30 year marriage.

So from my singular perspective it can change many more things than just your personality.

[spookydoo]

[quote="jskinner

SSRI's have a slew of side effects. They can dramatically reduce your REM too which is not good if you have sleep apnea. Will they make you feel better. Sometimes yes, times no. Its a crap shoot since you are playing with your brain chemistry with no evidence that there is anything wrong with that chemistry.

I agree with the slew of side effects. I've gone on and off of SSRI's for 20 years or so. Always some bad side effects. Never easy to get off of. I also agree that they can be life saving and if the side effects are less evil than the problem then SSRI's are a good solution. I would encourage anyone who can wait to first try St. John's Wort, Tryptophan, exercise, etc. If that doesn't work and the problems are unbearable then SSRI's are a viable option. But I think we all agree that getting good sleep therapy is the first step, because it can make so many things go wrong.

[Guest]

I don't know if it makes you angry but I certainly feel better since I've been using the machine. I'd snap at people quite often and was very depressed. I still snap at people from time to time but usually not nearly as bad and the depression is gone. The part that was so frustrating to me is that I literally complained to a number of "health care professionals" for YEARS about the depression, fatique, moodiness, memory trouble, etc. and was never diagnosed!! I finally started having heart "palpitations" (PVC's). Quite severe. A cardiologist put me on high blood pressure meds and said it was probably just to much caffeine!!!
I switched DRs and went to an "electrophysiologist". He gave me a drug for the PVC's and it helped but it took a few follow up visits with his nurse practitioner before she asked me during a visit that if I had ever had a sleep study because she suspected apnea.
ANyhow, enough about me but Apnea can cause ALOT of things. Of that I am sure!
Good luck,
Dave

[jskinner]

The part that was so frustrating to me is that I literally complained to a number of "health care professionals" for YEARS about the depression, fatique, moodiness, memory trouble, etc. and was never diagnosed!!

Sadly its a very common story. Most doctors are simply clueless about sleep apnea.

[Robespierre]

You might ask your doctor about an ssri. It makes a BIG difference in your patients with people, your attitude toward life, you enjoyment of life and your personal relationship with your family.

Honestly I don't understand how we got to the point in North America to think that its ok to take drugs to force ourselves to feel better. Depression is not a disease. Its a symptom. You need to find and fix the problem if you have depression. Taking drugs to mask the problem is not a good long term solution.

SSRI's have a slew of side effects. They can dramatically reduce your REM too which is not good if you have sleep apnea. Will they make you feel better. Sometimes yes, times no. Its a crap shoot since you are playing with your brain chemistry with no evidence that there is anything wrong with that chemistry. Why not just take cocaine. There is very little difference in how street drugs and 'antidepressants' work. Its largely a matter of dosage. SSRI's can make you feel worse than before. (Not suprissing given that you are playing blind with brain chemistry) We already know that SSRI actually INCREASE your risk of suicide.

I would try every possible solution before resorting to SSRIs. Of course Dr's give them out like candy (Like they use to with Valium) so you will get a different option if you ask them.

I understand this is just one person’s opinion, but a lot of it is blatantly false . This load of bullcrap is a slap in the face to those of us who have to deal with the misery of clinical depression on a daily basis and for whom SSRIs are, quite literally, a life preserver. Having depression dismissed as a symptom and not a disease makes me furious!!

It is certainly true that SSRIs have side effects. Those side effects are nothing compared to the effects of depression. It is also true that coming off SSRIs is a horrible experience.

OK, now I’ve expressed my opinion.

[jskinner]

I understand this is just one person’s opinion, but a lot of it is blatantly false . This load of bullcrap is a slap in the face to those of us who have to deal with the misery of clinical depression on a daily basis

I'm not suggesting at all that depression is not terribly miserable. I dealt with it for 10+ years. I spent years having doctors telling me that I was clinically depressed and would be on drugs for the rest of my life. Turns out I was having trouble breathing...

Having depression dismissed as a symptom and not a disease makes me furious!!

Why do you think I was dismissing depression? Is depression as a symptom somehow less terrible because its not a 'disease'. Why would you be so angry if it turned out to be a symptom rather than a disease? Its still terrible either way. There is no medical evidence that it is a disease... despite decades of attempts to find some.

I don't understand why you are so angry? Did you think I was somehow belittling depression?