Pain Medication/OSA

OSAGuy · Post by **OSAGuy** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 11:28 am

Anyone have experience with pain killers and sleep apnea? My Dr. said to expect the sleep apnea to be much worse during the time I'm on the pain medication. The pain medication is very strong, as I am recovering from surgery. From what I have seen this week I can't possibly get the pressure high enough to offset the effects of the pain medication.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:50 pm

I'm sure sorry to hear you're going through such a painful recovery from your surgery, OSAGuy.

When you say, "From what I have seen this week I can't possibly get the pressure high enough to offset the effects of the pain medication" are you talking about what you're seeing when you look at your overnight data via software with your REMstar Auto? If so, what kind of results are you seeing and what's your pressure range set for?

dllfo · Post by **dllfo** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:11 pm

OSAGuy,

It should work ok for you. I am on 180mg of morphine a day, with 150mg of Demerol for "break through" pain. If that isn't enough, I have the Fentanyl
Lollipops. My Auto BiPAP works great.

Heavy pain meds will depress your respiratory system, but the machines should overcome it. As RG says, give her some specifics, I would take her word over a lot of the doctors I have worked with.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, the longer you are on those meds, the more problems you may have pop up. You are welcome to PM me if you have any more questions about how the drugs & XPAPs worked for me.

Since this is not a "pain" forum, you can PM me if you have questions.

Tumbleweed · Post by **Tumbleweed** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:01 pm

I DO have some problems with my pain medication. I have a badly deteriorating lumbar spine, and on the days I work, I am having to take 50mg. Tramadol once or twice during the day. I'm a veterinary surgeon and am on my feet from 6-8 hours behind the surgery table. IF I have to take the 2 tablets, I am almost guaranteed a bad night as far as GETTING and STAYING asleep. Unfortunately, the drowsiness I feel during the day somehow leads to the exact opposite of what I really need at night! Go figure, huh?

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:34 pm

I take Tramadol (Ultram) very, very rarely for pain. A scrip for 30 will not be used up in a year. Sometimes my back will hurt seriously, or I'll have a painful short-term injury.

Since I am unable to take NSAIDS, and Tylenol barely does anything for me, the Tramodol has been very good to me.

However, if I take more than 1 during the day my sleep pattern is really disturbed. Even with CPAP, my sleep is fitful. I will awaken repeatedly and sometimes even have to get up in the middle of the night.

Anyone have any reason for this drug to disrupt sleep, when it does seem to make one drowsy?

Alisha · Post by **Alisha** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:21 pm

After a fall last year I was left with broken ribs, fractured elbow, and sprained wrist. I was put in a full-arm cast, ribs wrapped, and prescribed Tramadol 50 mg to be taken once every 6 hrs.

The pain was so bad I believe I took one every 4 hrs the first couple days. Tramadol did not interfere with my sleep on cpap. Indeed, I would have gotten no sleep at all without it.

Pain medications on cpap may have differing effects on users. Also, I don't know if AHI was affected since I was on a cpap that did not give me the privilege of seeing statistics.

I have a low tolerance for pain, though, and therefore would not have been concerned about AHIs......only relieving the pain and getting some sleep.

Anyway, that's my take on the subject.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 11:09 pm

Was you doctor referring to obstructive apneas, or to non-obsructiv, i.e. central ones? Is the doctor knowledgeable in apnea and/or pain medication?

A couple of months ago I did a search on the stuff I would be give in a colonoscopy (screening, everything was fine) and found out that some anesthetic drug combinations induce far more central apneas than others. This might be true of pain medication combinations as well.

If you've been given the best possible combination, then we can only hope your pain will be getting better soon. But, if you're not getting restful sleep, you might want to google the specific combination you're recieving.

I hope you feel well soon!

O.

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