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steroids and apnea

Posted by Jeff on January 20, 1998 at 09:20:30:

Hi everyone,

I've just found this board to my great delight.

I was clinically diagnosed with severe apnea, 107 episodes an hour, a year and a half ago. I was put on CPAP and have used it faithfully ever since. For the first 2 weeks, it worked beautifully. What a joy to be awake! Energy levels soared. After 2 weeks tho, the honeymoon was over. I started getting mixed results - 3 to 4 nights/week it helped some, and 3 to 4 nights/week were really bad. Adding a heated humidifier and increasing the CPAP pressure each helped a little for a short time, then seemed to be of little benefit.

In October of last year, every night became bad. I began sleeping 14+ hours a day, taking frequent naps, gained another 20 pounds, and never feel rested or alert.(note when I was 1st diagnosed, weight was determined to have no role in the apnea but I doubt the same is true now) Around the same time, I started using an over the counter nasal spray - I had tried dozens of products prior to this without success. This one opened up the sinuses fully and was providing some relief. Though it was not to be used for more than 3 days, I became dependent on it and used it for months.

Two weeks ago, an ear nose and throat specialist put me on a steroid for 1 week called methylprednisolone. It was prescribed to break my dependence on the nasal spray and NOT as a treatment for apnea. On the 3rd or 4th night of taking them, however, and continuing for the next 3 nights, I had exceptionally good nights sleep. The results were the same as I received on my first 2 weeks of CPAP. I got more done in those few days than I had in the previous 9 weeks. Again, what a joy to be awake! As the dosages decreased, I was a little less rested each day. Now I'm back to where I was. The last 4 nights have been terrible even though my airways are wide open.

I reported the results to my doctor. He will not prescribe more steroids as they are apparently nasty drugs if taken for prolonged periods of time. My pharmacist confirmed that these are not drugs to be taken over any length of time and explained the benefit I received as being caused by the fact that steroids shrink tissues.

Have any studies been done using steroids to treat apnea? Has anyone else experienced similar results? Are there any medications that mimic steroids without the nasty side effects?

Having so recently experienced being fully awake, rested, and with full use of all my mental faculties, it is very sad to be cast back into this twilight world in which I live.

I look forward to your responses.

Jeff

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