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It looks like I may have to wear a CPAP plus take medication each day. Just curious how many people here have to do that. Does the medication help a lot, because my CPAP hasn't helped much so far.

Thanks!

by the way, are there different medications or only one? Has different ones worked better than others?

Do you mean sleep medications?

Marie

I don't know what kind of medications. They just said that I am going to go in and they will monitor me @ 17psi and if I have any episodes they are going to raise the pressure. If raising the pressure doesn't work or I don't have any episodes @ 17psi then I have to stay for a day study and based on those results they will give me medications to take.

Originally when I first went in, the doctor thought I had something other than Sleep Apnea. Something where even if I get a good nights sleep without any apnea events my body still says it is tired and never really wakes up fully.

I don't take any other meds specifically for sleep apnea.Maybe as you said, you have other problems.

I just take an otc sleeping pill. Same as Benadryl.

Good luck

Marie

You may have to take a med for restless leg syndrone or perhaps something like Lunestra for sleeping, which is relatively new.

I found out that the test I am going to take the day after the sleep study is called a MSLT test. I found the definition online and this is what it says:

Multiple sleep latency test

If a multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) is being done, you will need to stay at the sleep lab for most of the following day. During MSLT, you will take a series of scheduled naps beginning the morning after your overnight stay. Between naps, you are encouraged to stay awake and move around. The amount of time it takes for you to fall asleep and the patterns of your sleep will be monitored using most of the same equipment used during the polysomnographic studies.

The MSLT is to check for narcolepsy, which would indeed call for medication for that.

Even if you get a "good night's sleep" you will be still fatiqued for several weeks and even months after starting. It took a long time for you to build up that sleep deficit to get to the point you are now, and it is going to take a while before you feel significantly better. Instead, notice the small changes, like fewer trips to the bathroom during the night, which means you are being better oxygenated during the night, so your kidneys don't have to work overtime to get rid of the toxins in your body. Or perhaps don't fall asleep watching TV anymore. Maybe it will be something like stretching like a cat when you wake up.

It took me several months before I noticed any change and I'd say that is pretty much normal for most of us. I'd fall asleep in sometimes less than a minute, but I didn't stay asleep, and would sometimes wake up every hour. Sometimes I couldn't get back to sleep, even getting up and playing solitaire on the computer to get sleepy again. I'd stay up until I couldn't keep my eyes open and then go to bed. But I still didn't sleep all the way through. I was a mess

The point is that we often need medications in addition to the CPAP treatment and sometimes for a short while until the therapy kicks in and sometimes as an addition to help the treatment. Some of these are as said before, for Restless Leg Syndrome, and then Narcolepsy or other conditions which sometimes occur with OSA. I take a med to give me Deep Sleep and there are several kinds of those, two others didn't work on me. Some take RX sleeping pills like Lunesta or Ambien to help them stay asleep all night or get to sleep if that is their problem. Some take a stimulant such as Rimadyl to help them stay alert during the day and while driving. I take this when I have to drive long distance because I still occasionally get drowsy, but I am fine at work and during a normal day.

Are these drugs addictive? No, but they can make a person dependant on them, in other words they may not be able to live a normal life without them, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It is only when a drug is abused that it becomes addictive, but properly dosed and used these drugs and I'm talking even some considered to be controlled substances, can be a Godsend to many who have suffered insomnia and poor sleep for years.

But ultimately, it is you, the patient who needs to ASK QUESTIONS! Ask what medication they are talking about and what it is for. Will you have to be on it indefinitely or only temporarily. What are the side-effects? Can you take it only as needed, or do you have to take it every day? If you don't keep the lines of communication open with the medical professionals you will be totally in the dark. Don't be afraid to ask. You or your insurance, is paying them to perform you a service and treat your problem. You have every right to know the answers to any questions you might have. You are also entitled to copies of every test they perform. If you let them know you want to be an active participant in your treatment, they are generally more than happy to explain things to you.

I just STOPPED taking gabapentin for RLS along with my apnea. I was asking if some issues might be side effects from the drugs and the doc just gave me a blank look. So I researched the small print myself and found out that sure enough, several recent problems MIGHT be from the gabapentin. So I am cutting it out to see if I can go without it and see if the issues go away.

I am definitely not the type of person who likes to take a drug daily, so my tendency is to TRY to go without.

Time will tell.

And life is a question of balance....

Snork, what about just cutting down on the dosage instead of quitting. Some of these drugs can cause some really bad side effects of complete withdrawal and you have to cut down gradually. Maybe even 1/2 a table instead of a whole.

I found with Ambien I was way to groggy in the morning with a whole tablet, but got full benefits with 1/2 tablet when I was taking it. The Xyrem I'm on the normal dose is 6 ml but I'm doing fine at 5 and if I get up to 6 I get excessive sweating, memory problems and grogginess. One patient of my SD is actually on 1.5 ml at 81.

At any rate, I think I'd talk to at least a pharmacist or read the rest of that fine print to see about Withdrawal problems.

Janelle wrote:Snork, what about just cutting down on the dosage instead of quitting. Some of these drugs can cause some really bad side effects of complete withdrawal and you have to cut down gradually. Maybe even 1/2 a table instead of a whole.

I found with Ambien I was way to groggy in the morning with a whole tablet, but got full benefits with 1/2 tablet when I was taking it. The Xyrem I'm on the normal dose is 6 ml but I'm doing fine at 5 and if I get up to 6 I get excessive sweating, memory problems and grogginess. One patient of my SD is actually on 1.5 ml at 81.

At any rate, I think I'd talk to at least a pharmacist or read the rest of that fine print to see about Withdrawal problems.

Good points.
Yes I did keep cutting it back more and more.
The "withdrawal issues" in the fine print was another thing that REALLY put me off about the drug. I really HATE getting strung out on ANYTHING. CPAP is a bad enough "crutch" and hope some day to figure out how to get off that.
Just one of my hangups, that I shy away from addictive drugs, even when they can help.

Of course, I AM strung out on chocolate...sigh.....

But did you notice a decrease or elimination of the issues/side-effects as you were cutting down, without losing the benefit of it decreasing your RLS?

It would seem to me that any drug which can improve your life without harming you would be beneficial. Unfortunately, some of these drugs have dire warnings and effects associated with abuse, but only with abuse. But people don't read them that way, they see them as addicting, when they are not, just because they have an abuse potential. Used as prescribed they are not addicting.

Yes, if you do get some very undesireable side-effects that are known to be produced by this drug then present your case to the doctor, show him the information pamphlet with the side-effects you are experiencing highlighted. Don't these things say if you experience any side-effects to contact your doctor immediately????? Ask for a substitute you can take, since obviously taking nothing is going to fragment your sleep. And if this doctor gives you another blank look, fire him and find someone else.

I'm on several "controlled" substances for pain. I know they can be abused but i don't plan to. In fact along with some other pain treatments I've even been able to reduce one medication to about half of what I was on before which was the maximum dose. Even some anti-inflamtory drugs are controlled and prescribed on a special RX script paper and have to be presented in person by the patient to the pharmacy, the doctor can't even fax them or mail them!

All I know if my life is better for the drugs I'm on. Some I'm probably going to be on for life, and I expect that to be a very long life. I had a great aunt who lived to be 110! But I don't intend to live in constant pain or with insufficient sleep with a poor immune system and dysfunctional thyroid gland.

Janelle

Fabulous responses! You have put into words exactly how I think - I especially like your 1st response on getting used to this new method of treatment for some of us. Kind of like baby steps. As I was frustrated starting my cpap treatment, I did not stop to realize that I'm not falling asleep every time the TV is on!

Thank you!