Sincere question that may or may not be appropriate here...

Hi there,

I feel for you. Please don't go off your meds without trying c-pap for a while and discussing it with your doctor. Sleep apnea can be a cause for some of the problems that you mentioned, however, it's not an overnight cure!! You have to get adjusted to sleeping with a mask on..........finding one that works for you. I have a petite face, so the whole mask issue has always been a problem.

Anyway, my point was. Find a school that trains the technicians that do the studies. They're overseen by doctors. They'd probably be more than happy to research on you. It's not invasive or risky to sleep with a machine on. No more risky than having untreated sleep apnea, I believe.

Anyway, respironics has a wonderful patient assistance program if you qualify under their financial guidelines, you get a refurbished machine that's a modern version. I don't know if they'll include the humidfier? Also, the sleep study clinics are often given demos, to try.................that they use on their patients. Sometimes they have spare masks. Just do some telephone calling. You have to be your own advocate! Discuss it with your doctor, if that doesn't work; call the research facilities. But, really discuss going off the medications. C-pap takes a bit of getting used too.

My personal opinion! I'm not a doctor. I've just had a lot of the same experience. Good Luck!!

K

Just thought I'd let you know, I also am atypical of many CPAP users. I have enormous trouble falling asleep, and great difficulty staying asleep once I get there! I'm in Australia, so it might be different wherever you are, but I did a home test through the doctor quite inexpensively, and found out that I did need CPAP despite the symptoms I displayed. So whilst you may not need this, don't be "fooled" by your symptoms either.

I don't always feel exactly wonderful, since falling and staying asleep still is difficult, but I'm not so tired I want to put my head on my desk & weep at 3pm either. And I know my quality of life and health are much better, despite how I may feel, too. For some of us, feeling much more alert and awake during the daytime can take some time - I've been on CPAP for about 4 months now, and it is steadily improving each day.

Good luck with whichever way you decide to go.

KimGent01 wrote: Anyway, respironics has a wonderful patient assistance program if you qualify under their financial guidelines

I've been to Respironics' web site and can't find any information about their patient assistance program. Can you point me to some information about the program?

Thanks,

Jeff