Posted by Cece on January 5, 2006, at 20:31:11
In reply to Re: Benzo's need for stimulant - sleep apnea?, posted by Cairo on January 4, 2006, at 12:25:20
This is going to be long, but I hope that it will be helpful.
About 10 years ago, I asked my psych doc if I might have sleep apnea since I was so fatigued. He thought that it was a possibility, and suggested that I get a sleep study.
A REAL sleep study like has been described by other people does cost a lot, 2-3 thousand as I recall, and all my insurance (which is Kaiser, I live in N. CA) would give me was a dinky little take-home test that showed nothing.
The only place in my area that does the whole shebang is Stanford, and what I did was go to their sleep clinic for a consultation which I paid for out of pocket (about $300.). The doctors there thought that I had a problem called "upper airway obstructive disorder" and that a full sleep study was imperative for my health. ("uaod" is not full-blown sleep apnea, breathing doesn't stop completely, and it's not a recognized diagnosis outside of some medical schools).
So, I took Stanford's report to Kaiser and more or less blackmailed them into paying for the sleep study, which did confirm the preliminary diagnosis.
Stanford suggested that I have the laser treatment that someone else mentioned which, at least then, was new and experimental and not paid for by any insurance. They really pushed it in a way that I was uncomfortable with, so I consulted with 3 ENT docs who felt that it was not a good idea.
I used a CPAP with very good results for about 3 years. It's a bother, but I did get used to it and the benefits were worth it. Then, while taking Topomax, I lost 40 pounds that I'd put on because of other meds and depression and I didn't need the CPAP anymore. Unfortunately, since I could stand to lose another 20 pounds, after 9 months on Topomax I couldn't put a whole sentence together and had to go off it!
poster:Cece
thread:594676
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051231/msgs/595606.html