"Pill Brings Relief for Sleep Apnea Patients" -

News Flash. I read about this study of a "pill" treatment for Sleep Apnea that UCLA Center for Sleep Research recently did for Sleep Apnea patients. See link below. I hope to be first in line when something like this actually hits. It is only a matter of time.

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/w ... 85ca3.html

"Mirtazapine is currently only approved for treatment of depression. Larger studies are necessary before the drug could become a viable option for sleep apnea patients."


In other words, we'll have to wait for FDA approval...after the "larger studies". I wouldn't get in line just yet.

Of course you could just tell your doctor you're depressed.

Fatigue Fighter...I seen that on TV.....maybe someday we will finally get rid of our masks...

The good news is that it may reduce the events. The bad news is it will not eliminate them. So if your having 65 events per hour and it cuts them in half, your still having way too many episodes. It sounds like something that may be helpful with ppl that have extreme OSA, in conjugation with xpap therapy. I have taken Remeron ( mirtazapine )for depression and one of its major side affects is weight gain, a problem that many OSA patients already have. But at least they are working on the problem.

Oops, that was me

And if you know anything about the side effects that MAY accompany the use of antidepressants, you may not want to get in line. I'll stick with CPAP before I put that type of chemical into my body again. If it was a different line of medication rather than an antidepressant, which I have experience with when they were trying to treat an unexplained shaking disorder I had as a result of complications from what should have been a routine surgery but wasn't, I would be interested. I, personally, don't like taking anything at all if it's not necessary and there is another option.

Doesn't it sound, though, like it's treating central sleep apnea, the one that is caused by the brain, and not obstructive? I would think by controlling the serotonin with a pill that stops apnea, it would be related only to that type. But like I've said before, I'm no scientist NOR a pharmacist. Where is Tomjax???

I took Mirtazapine for depression for a short time...the only side effect that I had from it was that it made me so dead dog tired---the kid of drugged out tired that make falling asleep more like passing out! So that wouldnt be an option for me....but I think its great that they are working on it like that.

I am not sure we should be looking for a magic pill, natural ways such as cpap which just uses air has to be the better way. since TomJax is anti pill I am sure he will agree. To me the only bad thing about cpap is hauling it around in my travels. Using it is like a security blanket now.

R&R,

I agree whole-heartedly. If you have something that can be fixed without having to put chemicals into your body unecessarily, even though it may be a bit more inconvenient, I would prefer the natural method of CPAP. If they said, "Take this pill one time, it's safe and will cure you," that would be a different story. But to have to stay on prescription medication forever, that CAN also cause side effects in certain people, too, and when just about all precriptions find their way through your one and only liver, when I can correct the problem otherwise, I'll take the otherwise.

[quote="rock and roll"]I am not sure we should be looking for a magic pill, natural ways such as cpap which just uses air has to be the better way. since TomJax is anti pill I am sure he will agree. To me the only bad thing about cpap is hauling it around in my travels. Using it is like a security blanket now.

_________________

Au contrair- Tomjax is not anti pill, I am for the APPROPRIATE and JUDICIOUS use of pills which so few follow in our pop a pill for all of societies problems.

I think this writer exuded a mushy case of irrational exuberance.
No way we will likely pop a pill and reduce the events to the point apnea is no longer a problem.
The problem with most docs in their hurry to get to the next patient is to practice soundbite appeasing medicine.
A patient may simply say they are depressed and here comes the SSRI de jur.
The person may just be having a few down days or a bit of dysthymia, but taking the time to explore in depth the persons problems is not possible in the 4-5 minutes they typically spend with a patient.
Psychiatrists are even worse. You will get a diagnosis every time for some mental disorder or condition and here again comes the magic pills.
Even psychologists do the same. Very few people a patien talks to can take the time and effort to explore in depth a persons problems and how do deal with them in a ratonal and effective way.
Don't get me started on ritalin and the moms who allow their kids to take them. But ain't it nice to simply give little Johnny a pill and say he has a condition that absolves mom of all the blame? Comforting, ain't it.

Ok, don't get me started on Ritalin Would you deny insulin for a diabetic? ADD is a brain disorder that shows in behavior, and I'm for it WITH counselling and ways to deal with life. Just handing someone ritalin and sending them on their way is very irresponsible. Yes, I have 1st hand experience with this..my son was on Ritalin for years. it CHANGED OUR LIVES until he decided not to take it any more. We didn't do counseling with it, so things went downhill when he stopped taking it.


as far as a pill for apnea? If it tightened the throat muscles, it would be a cure. I won't be holding my breath though (pun fully intended)

Against Ritalin??

Tomjax, you're not a scientologist are you?? j/k

Snorenomore2005

A ps on ADD. My son has a friend....whew...I thought my son was off the charts but she "takes the cake" VERY VERY scattered...can barely drive without hitting things because her concentration is so bad. Gets lost and panicky, freaking out, etc. She's just mostly a basket case most of the time...I feel very sorry for her. Oh well, back to our regular programming

Research always brings out opinions, for sure. I think what can be taken from this study is that sleep medicine experts are considering it a major medical breakthrough. Understanding, of course, that sleep medicine itself is a relatively new field of exploration. Obviously, safety and efficacy studies would need to be done as would a larger clinical trial. For this particular study, using mirtazapine to see if if reduces apneas is promising. Researchers already did this with lab rats and are now moving into human clinical trials. This is only the beginning. It is certainly quicker to study a current drug then it is to start new in terms of bringing something to market, but certainly, other researchers can study the properties of mirtazapine and do more research to come up with something better. All this study really reveals is that those who study sleep medicine are looking for better treatment and these researchers have found promise in the properties contained in mirtazapine. If this, or something similar finally hits the market, then of course, each and every one of us should determine, with their doctor, if this is the best course of treatment for them. Thought I would share the article with you because I found it promising, even if it is a ways off before anything like this becomes reality.

The bottom line I think is that doctors are very fast to prescribe "magic" pills to treat patients when they don't take the time to see if there are other underlying causes that can be given attention that can be fixed without chemicals. Hey, they get kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies (Tomjax, is that right?) for prescribing their drugs, so why not?

I was put on many a medication to treat migraines over the years, with the last one, which was for seizures, actually causing me severe chest pain. Who did the research when the doctor was telling me it was possibly coronary artery spasm and that I needed a cardiologist? Moi! I realized that the dosage had just been increased a week to 10 days prior and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, these horrible tightening chest pains. When I looked it up, it wasn't too hard to find out that it was due to the Topamax increase they just put me on and as soon as I stopped taking it, lo and behold, the chest pains were gone. Haven't returned since. Also, it would have been nice had this neurologist told me that the CPAP could possibly take care of migraines, which it did, and to hold off on any new prescription until I tried that first, and he knew I was just about ready to start therapy when he put me on it.

Doctors do not have the time to spend with us to truly and properly diagnose some of the real problems that we have or why we have certain symptoms. Sure, hand us an anti-depressant and it will cure the apnea we have. Just don't forget to take one every day for the rest of your life. You are making the government and the pharmaceutical companies very rich and damaging your liver and God knows what else.

I'll stick to CPAP until something better, and hopefully natural, comes along.

PS: Fatigue Fighter, don't get me wrong. Thanks for sharing this article with us all. I think it's great that they are finally looking at sleep disorders as something to address. I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful for you bringing this to our attention. Just the opposite. Thank you.