OSA, blood pressure and SLEEP!

So lucky me, I have severe OSA (+50 events/hour when I was tested 10-11 years ago), and high blood pressure that has recently been hard to control. Add to the mix, a new development of INSOMNIA! So I'm wondering what sleep aids I can use. Most of the Rx say not to use if you have OSA, or are approved mostly for mild-moderate OSA. Anyone out there have a success story? Melatonin is off the table (not good for use with prescription BP meds). Benedryl is hit and miss. And the "PM" versions of both Advil and Tylenol are not recommended for folks with high BP. I'd appreciate any success stories or recommendations, thanks.

Check with your doctor. There are some RX sleep aids that people with BP problems can take.

I don't know of anything that is OTC that works any better/the same as Benadryl.

@onthefreeway:
Whenever I see your avatar, I first see a weird white narwhal.
After I stare at it a bit, I realize it's a swan taking a nap.
Note: if your blood pressure is being well treated, ask your doctor to prescribe something.

Blood pressure that's harder to control and more sleep disturbances? Is your therapy working as well as your machine says it is?

Has it gotten worse over time? Machines cannot tell the whole story of disordered breathing, nor can AHI numbers.

Could be time for another lab sleep study and titration with all the bells and whistles or a deeper look at what's going on with your flow rate and arousals in Oscar.

Even if your official OHA events are under control according to your machine or sleep doctor, it doesn't mean your breathing and sleep isn't severely disturbed and fragmented etc still due to respiratory effort and restricted breathing.

CPAP can certainly fool us in to thinking our sleep quality is great; meanwhile REM sleep (or at any point during sleep) could be trashed by flow limited breathing and respiratory effort, leading to wake-arousals, EEG arousals, sleep stage fragmentation all contributing to poor health outcomes.

I would look at ensuring your PAP therapy is optimal first and foremost - blood pressure and insomnia could simply mean your therapy is no longer working, or wasn't optimal to begin with - or both.

Pete