Posted by utopizen on September 15, 2003, at 0:46:14
In reply to Re: do stimulants make you need more sleep?, posted by cybercafe on September 14, 2003, at 18:42:54
>
> on no meds i'd sleep 12 - 14 hours a day (depression)
> on celexa + ritalin i'm sleeping 12 - 14 hours a day
>
> i'm not sure which med is causing thisTell your doctor this. GP, P-Doc, tell all of them. Ask for a good referral. Go to a sleep disorders clinic.
See a neurologist, who will rule some possibilities out. She'll refer you to a pulmonary specialist, who will order a sleep study. Then another one if you got diagnosed with apnea in the first study. Then you start a CPAP machine-- and if you find the right one, they're comfortable, sleek, quiet.
I got "Idiopathic Hypersomnolence" without any other diagnosis-- my sleep apnea index was 4 (borderline) (some are in their 70's, about 20 is extreme). IH just means excessive daytime sleepiness without a known origin.
My MSLT (Nap test during daytime) was 4.2 minutes. Anything below 5 minutes is severe narcolepsy or idiopathic hypersomnolence. I have the latter.
Be patient, some take years before finding the right doctor, treatment, etc. Simply waiting to meet with a good doctor, especially at a teaching hospital, can take months.
So do it ASAP! Call your GP to schedule an appt. to see her. Don't say apnea, I told her that and she goes "but your young and thin!" Say you're very tired and would like to get diagositic work done to identify the problem. Emphasize how it affects your life, future, etc.
And call ASAP- these docs can take months to get an appt., my neurologist took 6 months.
all she did was rule thnigs out so my pulmonary specialist could see me a couple of months later, who then ordered two sleep tests. He's about to put me on CPAP, my study to acclimate the pressure is for this sat night. I should get it within 6-8 weeks after that, and I see my pulmonary specialist in 6 mos. to see how it went.
In the meantime, my pulmonary specialist told me to keep my psychopharma to deal w/ the meds.
Which is fine, he gives me Desoxyn and Klonopin, and wanted me to augument Straterra last time I saw him.
But I missed my appt. Friday at 7AM, alarm didn't go off. Called him ASAP, asking that he call me back. Never did. I am out of Desoxyn. I'm calling him today, most likely will get his voicemail, but will emphasize how I'd like to drop by to pay the missed appt. fee (probably $80 or so, my last dr.'s was $75).
I figure he'll have to talk to me if it means letting me know how much to write the check out for, and in the process try to either get the Desoxyn refills at his office or see him within the next day or two, which is unrealistic. It took a week and 1/2 just to see him at 7AM last friday, which I missed...
I have papers due soon, readings piling up, I can't function without Desoxyn, I'm too tired. I am looking forward to CPAP, even the possibility of adding Straterra to Desoxyn and Klonopin down the road **very* slowly. My doc gives me the scripts last spring when I needed them, but he hasn't seen me over the summer, where I was out of state.
I don't think he's even gotten my sleep studies that diagnosis me with Idiopathic Hypersomnolence. He must be like "ah, another ADD patient, I can see you in a week or two." I'm not accepting that statement, not if I get him on the line. I cannot function with stims, and it's not a grand world with them, but it's better than being without them.
I'm scared. I will have no way to explain why I can't keep up in my classes, my papers will turn to garbage, I'm scared.
See, it would have all been fine if I made the appt. Now I'm scared of not doing work for the rest of the week, I'm truly scared he won't respond to my calls at all. I'm going to leave another message Mon morning, and also drop by the office to pay him the fee. I hope in him calling me back with the fee I can talk about my problem of not having Desoxyn.
I can't wait for CPAP, and maybe even Straterra, to lessen things hopefully so that down the road, I won't be as non-functional if I happen to not have Desoxyn on hand... life won't be so miserable.
poster:utopizen
thread:259988
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030912/msgs/260114.html