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Permalink Reply by Mary Callahan on March 17, 2011 at 11:55am

Awful tragedy. But can totally understand how this can happen. I drive many times when very tired. Scares me something awful, but I need to get around.  I have no one who can drive me places.

And I have been using my pap machine for over 3 months now and have never been more tired. Just more going on for me than just mild apnea -- Insomnia, RLS and PLMS. Most days wake up exhausted, sometimes more tired than when I go to bed. Going for iron infusions, but they haven't seemed to help just yet.

Yesterday I had to take a trip to CT for a doctor's appointment in the early am, and had to call my sister to help keep me awake. Absolutely exhausted after an apparent 8 hrs sleep, 6 of them with the cpap on.

Luckily the cpap machines work for others a lot better.

And definitely something should be done to raise more awareness of sleep disorders. Doctors just don't get it when you complain of being tired. They blame everything on stress, or some other such thing. I know, I complained of leg movements in my sleep for over 3 years and not one of my doctors ever connected it with restless legs or PLMS. They tested me for magnesium and/or some such problem. Not one of them, until my current sleep doctor 6 weeks ago when I told him, and he finally put a name to it.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on March 17, 2011 at 3:56pm

Mary, there are stimulant drugs your doctor can prescribe to keep you from having to drive drowsy. Two of the most common are Provigil and Nuvigil.  I urge you to talk to your doctor about this dangerous habit of driving drowsy.

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