Posted by freebird on October 15, 2003 at 17:21:52:

In Reply to: behavior of sleep deprived? posted by mobunny on October 15, 2003 at 16:34:42:

So sorry for your difficult situation! Severe and chronic sleep deprivation, such as your husband may be suffering from if he is nott using the cpap enough, can cause a whole myriad of mood/behavioral/physical symptoms, from depression, irritability, mood instability, (low sex drive can be a symptom of a mood disorder) and certainly, cpap can give one sinus congestion ( due to the air pressure on your sinuses) and sinus congestion can lead to sinus infection. HOWEVER, there are things you and hopefully he can do alone and together to deal with this to improve his health and your marriage! First of all, he needs to see his sleep doctor and his primary care doctor who should also speak to each other so that his treatment is being coordinated and so that everyone is on the same page. This way he can also help ensure that his primary care doctor understands sleep apnea, which is not something one should assume. He should let the sleep doc and the primary doc know of his chronic sinus congestion, his dristan overusage and he should also get a referral to an ear nose and throat specialist who can perhaps help him deal with the sinus congestion and any contributing causes. The dristan is a problem for us sinus sufferers because you can ONLY use it for 3 days at a time. If you use it for longer such as he is, you get what is known as a rebound effect. That means your nose actually becomes MORE congested in response to it's chronic flow of dristan! It becomes the viscous cycle of the cat chasing its tale. A good doctor should have the ear nose and throat specialist evaluate him and if he struggles with chronically inflamed sinuses they can give him a nasal steroid such as flonase or nasonex or rhinocort etc, which help keep sinus passages from becoming so inflamed in the first place, and maybe a decongestant medication such as allegra, or pseudovent or zyrtec etc, to help his congestion if it is at all allergy related. Also, perhaps he needs a different kind of mask ( I use a full face mask because the nose only mask was unbearable to me; i felt like i couldn't breathe! The full face mask lets me breathe through my mouth which I need.) The respiratory therapist with the sleep doctor can help determine what he needs in terms of his machine ( I have a bipap instead of cpap which helps with my breathing) and with his mask! NEXT YOU should consider speaking with a psychotherapist who is willing, if they're not already familiar with sleep apnea, to speak with the sleep doctor and really learn about the condition, and talk to them about what is going on with you and your husband, how it is affecting you and your marriage and how you can cope with it so that you stay alright and your marriage doesn't further suffer. Ideally, he will go with you for couples counseling to deal with these issues. You are both young ( I am the same age, female, and have severe sleep apnea. I hate my machine but use it because going without it is ultimately disastrous for my mood, and ultimately my body; I get very irritable and depressed and moody and snappy etc etc if I go long enough without the machine. I do take an antidepressant medication to help as well. ) This is a serious medical condition that has psychological symptoms and ramifications as well as physical ones and you husband must be made aware of the effect unsuccessfully treated or untreated sleep apnea has on ones psychological well being. It is well documented that low sex drive can be a symptom of depression, as well as exhaustion etc. The sinus congestion is also a problem for many cpap users. If he is depressed, he needs to look into whether it is due to the sleep apnea or something else. If it is something else, surely the sleep apnea is adding to it. There is help for his problems. A good, caring, interested sleep doctor and primary care doctor can help him find tolerable solutions to his sleep apnea and sinus congestion. He may never like the cpap and may always find it causes him some degree of discomfort, but with enough help from the right professionals he can surely find some way to treat his problems so that they don't destroy a good marriage. For help finding yourself counseling ( ultimately you can't make him or anyone else do anything but you can help yourself and choose for yourself how to cope) you can ask your doctor for the names of licensed clinical social workers in your area who do individual and couples counseling, or you can call the national association of social workers ( main chapter is in Washington DC and you certainly have a chapter in your state) and they can give you names and numbers of clinicians you can call and meet until you find one that you feel is a good fit. I wish you good luck! Perhaps if he agrees to it, you can contact the physicians for him and set up appointments and go with him to help him convey to the physicians what is really going on for him. Best wishes.

Follow Ups:

• Re: behavior of sleep deprived? half-pint 20:06 10/16/03 (0)
• Re: behavior of sleep deprived? John Len 22:05 10/15/03 (0)

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