Apnea Forum Posting

Posted by Kathiesl on April 19, 2000 at 16:04:02:

Ok Folks, I need your help (again):

I'm posting this here because I have OSA and this is a very educated and active list. My husband and I have had many go-arounds about his 2-3 cigarettes a day. FINALLY he admitted to me why he doesn't stop. Apparently he is extremely sleepy during the work day (he teaches at a high school) and needs the nicotine to stay awake. He leaves the campus on his lunch hour and smokes 2-3 cigarettes which keeps him awake in the afternoon. He also drinks a lot of coffee. On the weekends (he doesn't smoke at home or around me) he uses all of his free time to SLEEP. He sleeps about 13-14 hours on the weekend and about 9 hours during the week.

Being that I am with OSA, the first thing that came to my mind is a sleep disorder. However, he doesn't snore. I can't tell if he stops breathing at night because I am on the CPAP and not really awake (thank goodness.) I do notice however, when I roll over or if I fall asleep after him that his legs twitch a lot. He says that sometimes he can't fall asleep because his legs are moving. Does this sounds like RLS (restless legs?) He has been diagnosed with depression and is taking Wellbutrin (the label says that drowsiness may occur - but this much??)

Bottom line is that he will be seeing 2 doctors (pcp and psych.) next week and he is going to ask about the possibility of a sleep disorder. Since most doctors seem to discount sleep disorders (like we've seen in recent posts) I want to hear from you guys first as to whether this sounds like a valid possibility (or if I am just grasping at straws based on my current situation.)

Any input is appreciated!

Kathie

Follow Ups:

• Certainly if you insurance permits . . . Doug H. 4/19/00 (0)
• Re: Name that sleep disorder Barb (Seattle) 4/19/00 (3)
  • Weight Problems Doug H. 4/19/00 (1)
    • Re: Weight Problems Barb 4/19/00 (0)
  • Re: Name that sleep disorder Tom 4/19/00 (0)

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