Posted by utopizen on October 14, 2004, at 19:40:02
In reply to Re: Klonopin + Restless Leg Syndrome » utopizen, posted by Jasmineneroli on October 14, 2004, at 19:02:00
most sleep clinics are in research hospitals. Go to the nearest University med hospital in your state or nearby state, one with a sleep disorders unit.
Your husband NEEDS a sleep study, as do you. It can cause heart problems. Living in a rural area is no excuse to jepoardize your husband's lifespan. Make an appointment, and drive in a car. I've never heard of living in a rural area as a reason to avoid healthcare. You only need to go once, then maybe once or twice more a few months later as a follow-up.
And Klonopin isn't the only RLS drug out there. I don't remember which ones exist, but there's plenty. I think even Neurontin is helpful. Higher doses, combining meds, these all help.
But see a sleep doc. A psychiatrist will not bother to read of the latest trends in sleep medicine unless that happens to be his sub-speciality (like my sleep psychopharmacologist, but I live in Boston, so sub-specialities like that aren't too rare here).
Using caffiene is un-wise. Do you tell your doc this? It's unhealthy. It's got profound effects on the cardio system, way more so than amphetamines or Provigil. You need to agressively treat your depression, and consider adjusting or changing your Klonopin treatment.
Realistically, the Klonopin is probably giving you a hang-over effect-- it may have your ENT relaxed to the point of collapsing upon itself, fragmenting your sleep. Or it may just be too much of a dose for you, causing to you to be drowsy in the morning. It's likely a combo of Klonopin hangover-effect+depression.
You should have a sleep study along with your husband. Call your health insurance for a clinic nearby, but I'd trust a University sleep clinic more because they actually care about researching the latest trends, and sleep is a burgeoning field. Sleep apnea is treated with a machine that blows pressurized air, called "CPAP" or "BiPAP".
It's a few thousand dollars, but is covered by your health insurance for a reason-- you are risking your husband's life over this. Did you move to a rural area because you want to die earlier than people in cities? You're smarter than that, be fair to yourself-- and your husband.
No, snoring is not a requirement for sleep apnea. I never snore, and I'm 6'3'', and am thin as a twig. I ignored by GP's claim I didn't "meet the criteria", arranged an appointment with the top neurologist in Boston, and she suspected I had apnea and ordered a sleep study. Sure enough, I did, and use BiPAP at night.
poster:utopizen
thread:402191
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041012/msgs/403131.html