Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
I have had insomnia for many years and it is much worse into Day 12 of my new C-Pap Journey. I haven't been able to sleep yet with the mask on. I have taken products such as melatonin, valerian, passionflower, skullcap, hops, magnesium, B Vitamins and OTC diphendydramine and still haven't been able to sleep. I was thinking of taking Unisom but saw a review on Amazon that it relaxes the throat muscles and makes sleep apnea much worse. I don't use caffeine, not a sugar lover, and eat very healthy and exercise in the morning or early afternoon. Any ideas that might help me?
RE: Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
B vitamins can be stimulating.
RE: Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
I'd worry more about lack of sleep. I take
Temazepam when I have trouble sleeping. It is also contra-indicated for sleep apnea, but it does not seem to affect mine at all.
RE: Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
Have you had your vitamin D levels checked? It might be something to ask your doctor about. I'd tell you what mine said except I wouldn't want it to be misconstrued as giving medical advice.
12-03-2017, 05:40 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-03-2017, 05:42 PM by Sleep2Snore.)
RE: Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
Quote:Kiwii
Have you had your vitamin D levels checked? It might be something to ask your doctor about. I'd tell you what mine said except I wouldn't want it to be misconstrued as giving medical advice.
What did your Dr say?
Some things I have read said vitamin D, D2 could affect sleep, others have said it doesn't?
What do you believe? There are so many things that affect sleep. Stress is a big factor and so is Alcohol.
However, a lot of medicines affect sleep as well, and it affects everyone differently.
I am NOT a doctor. I try to help, but do not take what I say as medical advice.
Every journey, however large or small starts with the first step.
RE: Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
From personal experience, Vitamin D affects sleep. But it affects it on both ends of the range. Too low and you have poor quality sleep. Too high (above 90 nmol is what I recall reading) and it decreases REM sleep. It really helped my sleep so I started supplementing regularly and enthusiastically. After a few months, I found that I seemed to be sleeping very well but was exhausted in the day. I tested at 136. Oops. So I am on a Vitamin D holiday for now.
RE: Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
That is the problem with self dosing, it is knowing how much to take.
I am NOT a doctor. I try to help, but do not take what I say as medical advice.
Every journey, however large or small starts with the first step.
RE: Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
I've supposedly had most of my vitamin and mineral levels checked, but it was specifically because of my bariatric surgery and malabsorption as it can cause an imbalance in those.
OK, having said that, I require a sleep aid, as I have trouble falling asleep. IMO it's probably because of moderately severe chronic back pain and breathing restrictions from COPD.
I'd have to agree with others that said your GP AKA family doc is asked for advice and/or suggestions on your situation.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
RE: Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
You might look at the Sleep Hygiene section for ideas. Start prepping for sleep for longer than you used to? Read a book? Listen to music?
If I'm having trouble sleeping (or if I wake up substantially during the night), I start my night over. Read, fix some tea, until I can't keep my eyes open. I do not stay in "toss and turn" mode.
Also, I use a hot water bottle and/or an ice pad. The ice pad calms me down. The hot water bottle relaxes my muscles. My biggest success is with both! A hot water bottle near my feet (they run cold) and a small ice-thingy on a thigh, or even against a cheek or forehead.
The ice pad I use most of the time is one of those small gel, pillow-shaped, ice packs for a cooler. I stick it in a hospital sock. If I get desperate, I skip the hospital sock and go full on. I don't use a large gel pack or one of those PT numbers because continuous icy cold like that can give you freezer burn. I want to be cool, not frozen. It usually works very quickly.
In other words....no medication for me.
RE: Do these products worsen sleep apnea?
As you have had insomnia for a while you know all about the issues of getting to sleep and staying asleep. I totally endorse self management but in this space its time for professionals. I presume you have had all sorts of advice here.
Back to the CPAP issue
From my experience, if you have apnea then you need cpap so that what sleep you get is worth having. So finding a mask/system that you can tolerate is really important. You are also early on the journey, sometimes it can take a while before you body realises that this medieval feeling contraption on your face is actually worth tolerating.
My issue was that even though I could keep my eyes closed for up to 10 hours a night without cpap I was still exhausted. Now its 8 and I am great
so its worth it if you can get over the start up problems.
Keep trying different masks till you find one you like and works but give each at least a week if you can - that said I threw the full face mask off in the shop and said "no way" - I have since bought one for when I have colds- ah well....
I also found sleep came easier once I got past being angry as hell that I had YET another health issue, and accepted that my body needed this help and to just suck it up and be grateful there was a therapy that worked. i.e. every time I put the mask on I became angry and that did not help me sleep till i got over it.
