Posted by gouda on June 5, 2003, at 12:39:45
In reply to Re: Q A to Froggyanna: CPAP and sleep apnea?, posted by froggyanna on June 3, 2003, at 14:19:30
Sorry for the delay in reply, Strattera @ the new dosage of 25 mg (originally on 18 mg) is just knocking me out!
I sleep well since I take 25 mg 2-3 hours b4 bedtime.
In the morning, I feel more motivated, getting things done, and thinking up more to-do things for my to-do list.
However, I have to take another 5 hour nap in the afternoon! This totally sucks!
So I am currently on my "awake" window, so I thought I'd better reply to you before I conk out again.
> Has anything helped you with that? I've done it for as far back as I can remember, and I have never found anything that would help me stop. Nails, skin, stray hairs, anything "protruding" gets an unreasonable amount of attention, and I go into paroxysms of desperate attempts to remove the offending "object." It's only just this past week that I came to the startling understanding that this could be related to my ADD, or perhaps even be OCD. I've always been embarrassed by it. I tend to be a perfectionist on top of the procrastination. In computer terms, that would mean having an outrageous urge to put every single pixel in line (which I have done quite a bit as a sometimes graphic designer). Of course, that's only when I'm not ripping at my fingernails! But it's funny.... you'd think I'd want to have perfect manicures every day, but no, I rip my fingers to shreds. It's got something to do with the feeling of it, and getting rid of those extra bits of skin, a release of tension, perhaps. Anyone else have any insight into this?
I have no insight, but I can totally relate to your tendencies! I too love ripping and shaving my fingernails, totally disguisting, but I just can't help it. When I am tense, working on a deadline, I also feel this incessant need to find any imperfection in my hair, scratching my scalp, pulling out stray hairs that are sticking out, pulling out the one wavy hair in my sea of straight hair. Totally neurotic and counter productive! It totally drives me crazy! I have been diagnosed with "obsessive compulsive traits", and my pdoc wants to increase my SSRI (Celexa) from 20 mg - 40 mg "to counteract my OCD". So maybe you might wanna check that out for yourself and take a OCD "Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Test". Don't worry, you're norm for an OCD person ... hehe.
Also, right now my knee is bouncing up and down like crazy, and I really wish this agitation would go away.
>I've got a different tick, when I am awaken during sleep, I will kick my leg in frustration, even though I am still partially sleeply. Weird!
I don't have the jittery knee though like you.
> Hey, that's three questions. But OK. First, though, I "ruled out sleep apnea" as the cause of my ADD. Is that what you meant? Cuz I can't rule it out of my life! I've definitely got it!
>Yep, sorry, yup that is what I meant to ask. I too want to find out the cause of my ADD.
Personally, I think my ADD is cause by (a) sleep disorder (b) genetics (c) head injuries as a toddler who was very accident prone.
> I'm new to this ADD stuff, too. I haven't heard that all ADDers necessarily have sleep disorders. But my psychiatrist told me that many people in his practice who don't have SERIOUS APNEA have sometimes been able to rid themselves of ADD-like behavior through the reduction of snoring. Because even mild snoring means that you are not sleeping optimally. And if you are not sleeping optimally, then you are more prone to going through your days fuzzy, distracted, etc. So that's why he initially prescribed buspirone for me -- to see if it relieves my snoring/apnea and thus relieves my ADD-like behavior (assuming I DON'T have ADD). I was skeptical, though (but excited that it might be that simple!). Alas, it has not really done anything to stop my apnea, or even the snoring. So dang it, I must have ADD!
>Thanks for your extensive description of your sleep apnea. Your snoring sounds just like my dad and grandmother! And they definitely might have ADD, although never diagnosed.
> To get a sleep study, you usually need to go to a dedicated clinic or hospital department. Most big cities have a "Sleep Disorders" clinic of some kind. Another doctor generally refers you but there's no reason you couldn't suggest it to your doctor first. It's an overnight stay and they really wire you up. They measure your breathing, your heart, your brainwaves, and your leg muscles. That's what I know about, at least -- there could be other things. Some people have Restless Legs Syndrome, where your limbs jerk around, so they want to include that in the picture. And they videotape the whole night in all your glory! Usually, if you've given them enough data to go on during the first half of the night, they wake you up and put you on a CPAP mask. Then they titrate the air pressure for the rest of the night to find just the right pressure that keeps your airway open without causing other kinds of discomfort.
>Wow, I think I would like to consider this ... I just mentioned earlier that I've been doing the leg whapping thing at night. Hmm, what is the cost of taking part in a sleep disorder treatment? I would need to budget for this.
CPAP! Dang, that was funny! Wow, it sounds so complicated!
> SOMEthing has definitely reduced my appetite, but I noticed that even with the buspirone and Straterra. I'm just glad that this is happening, because I have been binge eating for years on Prozac and Zoloft. I now need to lose about 150 pounds. As for staying calm and focused, what dose are you taking? I've just finished 5 days at 100mg 2x/day and tomorrow I start on 5 days at 150mg 2x/day. I will then go to 200mg 2x/day if I'm "not impressed," as the pdoc says. Did you gradually increase like this?Yes, I started on 100 mg 1x/day for about a month, then increased to 150 mg 1x/day for another month ... I never got to 200 mg, b/c I really disliked the experience (but this should not dissuade you; most people have good experiences with Wellbutrin)
I haven't had any of the "tingley" things you mention -- I hope I can avoid that by going slow. But I also haven't noticed any improvement yet in my agitation or the urge to rip flesh. I can't stop shaking my leg or picking. And did you say that "extreme calm" was one of your CONS? How so?
>Yes, you should be patient with Wellbutrin, I didn't have any benefits until 3 weeks.
Extreme calm meaning I kinda felt unnerved about how calm I was when tackling whatever I was doing. It was almost like I had no emotional component whatsoever. "A Just Do It" w/o the kick-butt attitude. Very weird!
> > Fifth, Strattera at night: ... I've been taking it 2-3 hours before
> > my bedtime, and it's been great to help me "fall asleep"
> Maybe I'll try that. Maybe I could take it with my second dose of Wellbutrin for the day. I like to make these things as easy to remember as possible! But it would be hard to do that if I were to get a normal 8-5 job -- the hours wouldn't work. Right now I'm still not sleeping regular hours. My go-to-bed and wake-up times are all over the map. I hope that these meds can help me to regulate that some.
>I hope so for you too! Sounds like you're on lots of meds, so it will require a good pdoc to sort all your symptoms out.
> > Sixth, Strattera and irritability: Same problem as you, if not worse.
> Rats. OK, that's two of us then who are hoping that this will wear off. Anyone else got some encouraging reports? Did any of you have irritability initially but it eventually went away? ADDled minds want to know!! :-)
>
> If you've bothered to read this far, thank you -- I appreciate the space to write like this. I don't mean to be a blowhard, but there is so much about all of this that is fascinating to me, and writing helps me to understand it better.
>
> Cheers,
> froggyanna
>Glad to hear from you! Yes, I'm just trying to deal with meds too without a job, so I think our discussions are the best form of therapy. Look forward to hearing from you again, and hang in there!
poster:gouda
thread:133458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030604/msgs/231646.html