Question:
I have sleep apnea and also suffer from general anxiety disorder. All
blood work is fine expect my adrenal glands are working quite a bit.
Because of my high anxiety and fast heart rate, I am not tired when I
should be with my apnea...I walk around all day like I drank 10 cups of
coffee in 15 minutes.
My doctor (family doctor) tried me on Seroquel, Zyprexa, and even a beta
blocker for to slow down my heart rate. All of the drugs, except for
the Zyprexa had nasty side effects. The Seroquel gave me Restless Leg
Syndrome and the beta blocker lowered my body temperature big time and
also made me even more hyper. The Zyprexa gave me almost immediate
weight gain. A big no no when it comes to sleep apnea.
Last week I went to a neurologist to get a few more things checked out.
The neurologist feels that I do have very high anxiety. He also goes on
to add that a lot of people who have an anxiety disorder don't tolerate
a lot of meds, in general.
Just wondering if any of you here have gone through anything similar and
what have you done about it?
Answer:
I suffer from moderate-severe sleep apnea and was prescribed a CPAP. These
devices are a bit intrusive at first, however after a couple weeks (or more)
they can be tolerated. My sleep is much better and I've noticed a spring to
my step. I will admit that it did nothing for my anxiety, however my
restless leg syndrome had disappeared altogether. Your milage may vary.
Here's where some info can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_Airway_Pressure
My focus right now is on my anxiety...I have to get my coritisol levels
checked. But, I have been on CPAP for a few years now.
When it comes to CPAP, there is a terribly low compliance for a variety
of reasons including mask comfort, machine and/or mask noise. There is
nothing natural about CPAP and having to wear a mask to sleep. Some
users or their partners become deaf over the course of CPAP treatment
due to the machine noise. Like you, I had PLM or RLS prior to CPAP and
my sleep doctor said it should disappear with CPAP therapy, which it did
for the most part. But the meds I have been taking, especially
Seroquel, has RLS as a side-effect. I had a lot of jolts and leg
movement with this drug.
It is interesting though, that many people who are deprived of sleep or
have untreated sleep apnea also have anxiety issues. I guess it's like
snoring...just because you snore doesn't necessarily mean you have sleep
apnea . Although most people with sleep apnea do snore.
The conventional first-round medications for anxiety are
anti-depressants or benzos. I'm surprised that a GP would start with
anti-psychotics. Talk to him/her about different medications or find
another doctor, preferably a psychiatrist that specializes in anxiety
disorders.
