Does Sleep Apnea make you Angry?

[Wulfman...]

I wouldn't be angry if pap therapy was successful for me. The rare times it has worked, it was like I was seeing the world in color vs. black and white.

But I am angry that I am intolerant so far of a treatment I need to have any chance of leading a successful productive healthy life. And unfortunately, the only medical professional who has provided a possible explanation is Dr. Park who states that for highly sensitive people that pap machines can cause arousals.

And speaking of anger, I am enraged at the sleep medicine dentists who have hijacked the term "cpap intolerance" to take advantage of people like me. By doing that, in my opinion, they have prevented any possible discussions of why so many people have difficulty with the machine in spite of trying every possibility to make it work.

49er

If I could make a suggestion.......
How about starting a new thread and chronicling your "journey" so far.
Try to define the problems, list your settings, what you've tried, what seems to have worked, what seems to be the obstacles to getting better therapy, etc., etc.


Den

.

[mgaggie]

Yes it does.

I got really angry/crabby due to lack of sleep. Extremely forgetful, always losing things like car keys, mail etc. Oh and clumsy, I'm much more prone to injuring myself.

Now that I've been diagnosed with OSA, I am angry that it took this long for my GP's to believe that something was wrong besides side effects of medication. Their mantra was "lose weight". All well and good but its hard to exercise when you barely have enough energy to do the essential stuff.

[chunkyfrog]

Sounds like me before cpap--I can attest that it made a huge difference.
Hope that's the case for you too.

[mgaggie]

Thanks, I'm having a few adjustment issues but I'm determined for it to work. The alternative isn't nice.

I have noticed that when I do use the machine, my splitting headaches aren't there in the morning.
I didn't use the machine last night and I'm paying for it now

[49er]

And speaking of anger, I am enraged at the sleep medicine dentists who have hijacked the term "cpap intolerance" to take advantage of people like me. By doing that, in my opinion, they have prevented any possible discussions of why so many people have difficulty with the machine in spite of trying every possibility to make it work.

I don't understand this part... What did the dentists do? I'm guessing you had a dental device made that didn't work?

SU,

I haven't had any dental device since I have been unable to find a sleep medicine dentist that seems competent in my area.

I feel like they are using the term,"cpap intolerance" to take advantage of people who are desperate for relief because they can't tolerate pap therapy. Just look at all the various websites of sleep medicine dentists and they all say the same thing.

49er

[49er]

I wouldn't be angry if pap therapy was successful for me. The rare times it has worked, it was like I was seeing the world in color vs. black and white.

But I am angry that I am intolerant so far of a treatment I need to have any chance of leading a successful productive healthy life. And unfortunately, the only medical professional who has provided a possible explanation is Dr. Park who states that for highly sensitive people that pap machines can cause arousals.

And speaking of anger, I am enraged at the sleep medicine dentists who have hijacked the term "cpap intolerance" to take advantage of people like me. By doing that, in my opinion, they have prevented any possible discussions of why so many people have difficulty with the machine in spite of trying every possibility to make it work.

49er

If I could make a suggestion.......
How about starting a new thread and chronicling your "journey" so far.
Try to define the problems, list your settings, what you've tried, what seems to have worked, what seems to be the obstacles to getting better therapy, etc., etc.


Den

.

Thanks Den, I greatly appreciate that suggestion. I want to try a more few things to see if they help. If they don't, I will do as you suggested.

49er

[SleepingUgly]

I feel like they are using the term,"cpap intolerance" to take advantage of people who are desperate for relief because they can't tolerate pap therapy. Just look at all the various websites of sleep medicine dentists and they all say the same thing.

I'm not sure which part bothers you. I think they are using the term, "CPAP intolerant", to give deference to CPAP as the "gold standard", and taking the "left overs" who have failed CPAP. I'm not sure that is merited, as dental devices could easily be the first line of treatment for many people with OSA, if they so choose it. I'm not of the mind that a person needs to kill themselves trying to make CPAP work. I've spent almost 4 years doing just that, and haven't succeeded. I've lost a lot of ground in that time. I don't know if a dental device will work for me, but I certainly would encourage others not to waste as much of their life as I have trying to make CPAP work if they are a candidate for a MAD. If a MAD doesn't work, they could always return to CPAP and keep plugging away at it. In addition, the combination of CPAP + MAD may be the right thing for some people.