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After using auto CPAP for one month with no better sleep..... my sleep doctor thinks that because my sleep apnea is so mild and the CPAP isnt working that the problem is stress/depression not from apnea. She wants me to try ambien with the Cpap to see what happens. I dont want to wear mask cpap if its not helping. Any help or comments out there?? Thx !

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Darlene, it's your Dr's call but a month in the whole scheme of things isn't long. It took me about 6 months to start to see results. My problem was the opposite to what your Dr is telling you, I was diagnosed with depression, put on antidepressants and high doses of sleep prescription meds and nothing worked. It wasn't till I insisted I have a sleep study that my Sleep Dr diagnosed servere sleep apnea was the cause of all my problems without even a sleep study. I believe now I was probably misdiagnosed with depression and it is taking me a long time to taper off the antidepressants. I hope to be off them by the end of the year as I was on such a high dose. In retrospect, I should have listened to my brain insead of a Physc. I know this is probably going to confuse you even more. I have heard a lot of bad stories about Ambien but it up to you and your Dr to decide. What did your sleep study show i.e. AHI and how do you know it's not working? Good luck with it but make sure your in control of your body and mind.  

The Dr. said my sleep apnea was so MILD she really didnt even want to treat me with the CPAP and as I said I have been using the cpap for a month  and still waking up every 1 1/2 hr. just like when I didnt use it. If its not helping me sleep
I dont want to have all the "stuff" on my face.

 Mike C (STILL at the Beach!) said:

Ambien FOR ME WAS A nightmare! If I did get any sleep I had such a hangover I could never function. If I didn't sleep, I could not even go to work.  If you have sleep apnea if worsens it and WHY would you be on PAP if you did not????? I would do ANYTHING to avoid Ambien or ANY prescribed sleeping pill. And I have suffered from depression as well as insomnia since 1968.

No worries Darlene, it's best you listen to your Dr.

hi terry..the sleep study showed "MILD" sleep apnea AHI of 5.1 ??

Terry Vella said:

Darlene, it's your Dr's call but a month in the whole scheme of things isn't long. It took me about 6 months to start to see results. My problem was the opposite to what your Dr is telling you, I was diagnosed with depression, put on antidepressants and high doses of sleep prescription meds and nothing worked. It wasn't till I insisted I have a sleep study that my Sleep Dr diagnosed servere sleep apnea was the cause of all my problems without even a sleep study. I believe now I was probably misdiagnosed with depression and it is taking me a long time to taper off the antidepressants. I hope to be off them by the end of the year as I was on such a high dose. In retrospect, I should have listened to my brain insead of a Physc. I know this is probably going to confuse you even more. I have heard a lot of bad stories about Ambien but it up to you and your Dr to decide. What did your sleep study show i.e. AHI and how do you know it's not working? Good luck with it but make sure your in control of your body and mind.  

Its not working because I still wake up every 1 1/2 just like before cpap?

Darlene said:

hi terry..the sleep study showed "MILD" sleep apnea AHI of 5.1 ??

Terry Vella said:

Darlene, it's your Dr's call but a month in the whole scheme of things isn't long. It took me about 6 months to start to see results. My problem was the opposite to what your Dr is telling you, I was diagnosed with depression, put on antidepressants and high doses of sleep prescription meds and nothing worked. It wasn't till I insisted I have a sleep study that my Sleep Dr diagnosed servere sleep apnea was the cause of all my problems without even a sleep study. I believe now I was probably misdiagnosed with depression and it is taking me a long time to taper off the antidepressants. I hope to be off them by the end of the year as I was on such a high dose. In retrospect, I should have listened to my brain insead of a Physc. I know this is probably going to confuse you even more. I have heard a lot of bad stories about Ambien but it up to you and your Dr to decide. What did your sleep study show i.e. AHI and how do you know it's not working? Good luck with it but make sure your in control of your body and mind.  

Darlene, like you, I'm not sure why they put you on CPAP in the first place. It doesn't sound too bad. You may want to try the Ambien and see how you go or some herbal products. I find Valerian Forte helps me, it is non addictive and you feel refreshed in the morning, not that hang over feeling.

if i try ambien i wont do it for over 2 wks. the valerian i tried and didnt seem to help. I'm guessing cpap wont help if apnea is not the true problem ???

Terry Vella said:

Darlene, like you, I'm not sure why they put you on CPAP in the first place. It doesn't sound too bad. You may want to try the Ambien and see how you go or some herbal products. I find Valerian Forte helps me, it is non addictive and you feel refreshed in the morning, not that hang over feeling.

My sleep MD told me if needed Ambien was not unsafe to use, as some other sleep aids are with sleep apnea. I think you need to give the CPAP  a longer trial.  Who knows how long you have had sleep deprivation? ? ?

Darlene, could it be that you have a low AHI, but many respiratory arousals?  My husband's apnea is only 7, but he has respiratory arousals in the 20s. Now that he has been on CPAP (using Lunesta as Ambien didn't keep him asleep), he's gradually improving over these past six months. Talk to your doctor if you have a similar  case. It appears that your doctor want to give you a short-term sleeping pill to see if you can tolerate CPAP and improve. Do you have daytime sleepiness/fatigue or just depression? Most of us have to try a few masks to become comfortable---a nasal or pillow.

But if sleep apnea is mild i dont know why it would even work if theres not much to work on?


 
Ginny Edmundson said:

My sleep MD told me if needed Ambien was not unsafe to use, as some other sleep aids are with sleep apnea. I think you need to give the CPAP  a longer trial.  Who knows how long you have had sleep deprivation? ? ?

the sleep study says i had 29 respiratory events ??

K. S. said:

Darlene, could it be that you have a low AHI, but many respiratory arousals?  My husband's apnea is only 7, but he has respiratory arousals in the 20s. Now that he has been on CPAP (using Lunesta as Ambien didn't keep him asleep), he's gradually improving over these past six months. Talk to your doctor if you have a similar  case. It appears that your doctor want to give you a short-term sleeping pill to see if you can tolerate CPAP and improve. Do you have daytime sleepiness/fatigue or just depression? Most of us have to try a few masks to become comfortable---a nasal or pillow.

It's controversial within the medical community, but some think that all these respiratory events tire you out and so eventually you will have a high number of stopping breathing. On the West Coast, they start CPAP, the East Coast is more strict to wait for evidence of the higher AHI or low oxygen desats. But you have felt depressed, so I would try to hang in there, even take the sleeping pill the doctor offers, and see if you can start feeling better. Try to talk to your  doctor if they think you have sleep apnea or depression; so you feel motivated to hang in there for at least six months with CPAP if they think you have the respiratory arousal type of sleep apnea. 

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