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what would you do?

Posted by naptime on August 13, 2003 at 14:15:56:

I'm afraid to ask this to a medical professional. Thank you in advance for answering my dumb questions.

My complaint when I first went to an ENT 1.5 years ago was daytime sleepiness, which I now understand to be EDS. My wife had also been complaining that I snore.

I was originally tested at a sleep clinic for apnea. The evidence was consistent with mild to moderate OSA; index of 23 events per hour, O2 95% or above throughout even without the mask, and REM sleep for only 9% of the time in the clinic. I have been struggling with compliance issues on the PAP machine- I only use it for about half the night- but I'm trying to take care of that. The problem (and scary thing) that I'm having is that my EDS has gotten much, much worse. I'm 34 FWIW. I'm beginning to believe that there's more going on than just mild apnea.

Lately I've been in a fog most of the time. I've been experiencing what can only be described as unavoidable sleep episodes- it's as if I don't have a choice in the matter. They don't seem to coincide with any high emotional state. However, these sleeping episodes are very unnerving. Several times in the past month I have found myself falling asleep in mid-sentence, or standing straight up. I've been getting some very puzzled looks from my colleagues. And that's just an example; there are other instances that have occurred that are just as scary, although none during driving yet.
The only thing that seems to help are stimulants- ephedra and caffeine, the same ones that have been hyped in the media lately. I won't do anything illegal. I've tried sleeping as long as I can- going to bed at a consistently early hour (8 pm) and getting up at 6:30, trying to sneak down to my car for a quick nap, etc- but these incidents keep coming. And like I said, they seem to be getting worse.

The thing that scares me the most is that nowadays the courts and the DMV and society in general seem to be so unforgiving for this kind of thing. I could not support my family if my license was taken away, and that's not even considering what may happen professionally. I am also scared that the people in my life would think about me differently. I am scared to even TALK to any medical professional, for fear that any disclosure would lead to exactly that. On the other hand, I remember when I used to be able to read more than about 5 pages in a book without falling asleep.

What would you do?

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  • Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.


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