7 hours ago
Sleep4Life - Diagnosis from Lofta at home test!
Hello Everyone, I am new here even though I have been lurking for a bit. Just wanted to introduce myself because I expect to be turning here for support/tips as I start treatment.
A bit about me....
I am a 38 ur old male living in the US. I have been diagnosed nearly 10 yrs ago with major depression and generalized anxiety- diagnosises I generally agree with but have been hard to accept. For the last few years I had achieved a sort of remission of most of my symptoms by taking venlafaxine (a snri antidepressant) One symptom I was merely coping with was constant sleepiness, sleeping up to 14hrs a day, always taking naps etc....and my pdoc just kept upping my dose to no avail.
2 months ago I started noticing my mood was way lower, and moved back to my dad's house as I had been drinking heavily, having suicidal thoughts and I figured I need to be around family for support and safety. I quit drinking the day I left. Because of the anxiety spikes it was causing I don't smoke weed anymore which was my main self med for years. I still take an oral dose of THC daily. (Never really been an alcoholic but was using out of boredom/lonliness mostly I guess) quitting drinking was easy.
Now I am in the midst of my 3rd depressive episode, waiting for psych med management (takes forever to see someone in NM) but back in therapy. The pattern that happened in every previous episode happened again this time.
Started Waking up way early with what I felt was mostly PHYSICAL anxiety i.e. elevated heart rate and a feeling of stress, like cortisol/adrenaline. Then not being able to get back to sleep, or if i do not for very long. The anxiety stays with me all day but tends to fade as the sun goes down, thus I always thought it was cortisol related. The anxiety and lack of sleep I think is primary to my depressive symptoms as I get worn down and discouraged with living in a body that I feel has hijacked me, feeling in a perpetual state of fight or flight. I start having suicidal thoughts. Crying spells, all the good stuff.
A week ago, spurred by mom's comment on my snoring plus knowing my grandfather had OSA and used a cpap, I started making the connection between OSA and mental health, and ordered my Lofta at home test. I am also in wait for an in lab study which probably won't happen for months.
Results:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (G47.33) - Mild to Moderate based on pAHI=13.3, pRDI=16.8 and O2 nadir of
85%
Recommendations
1) Auto-CPAP set 4-20 cm H2O with heated humidity and mask/interface fitting. Close follow up and
monitoring is �
recommended to adjust pressures/masks if necessary
Because I have been lurking here for about a month I have seen how many people are self titrating and dialing in their own machines with the help of forum members and data from OSCAR. I expect this will be a valuable resource for me as I am commited to treat the OSA. I suspect it could be a big reason why it took so long to find a suitable antidepressant and even still with mood and (percieved) sleep improvements, I felt so tired al the time despite using a ton of caffeine every day, which I have also quit for nearly two months.
Basically I am happy to have a diagnosis that might explain some of the severity of my mental illnesses. I am guarded optimistic about treatment, and look forward to drawing on the knowledge and experience of forum members here.
THANKS FOR READING AND THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANYONE WHO WILL BE HELPING ME NAVIGATE MY OSA TREATMENT JOURNEY! STAY STRONG, STAY SAFE!
A bit about me....
I am a 38 ur old male living in the US. I have been diagnosed nearly 10 yrs ago with major depression and generalized anxiety- diagnosises I generally agree with but have been hard to accept. For the last few years I had achieved a sort of remission of most of my symptoms by taking venlafaxine (a snri antidepressant) One symptom I was merely coping with was constant sleepiness, sleeping up to 14hrs a day, always taking naps etc....and my pdoc just kept upping my dose to no avail.
2 months ago I started noticing my mood was way lower, and moved back to my dad's house as I had been drinking heavily, having suicidal thoughts and I figured I need to be around family for support and safety. I quit drinking the day I left. Because of the anxiety spikes it was causing I don't smoke weed anymore which was my main self med for years. I still take an oral dose of THC daily. (Never really been an alcoholic but was using out of boredom/lonliness mostly I guess) quitting drinking was easy.
Now I am in the midst of my 3rd depressive episode, waiting for psych med management (takes forever to see someone in NM) but back in therapy. The pattern that happened in every previous episode happened again this time.
Started Waking up way early with what I felt was mostly PHYSICAL anxiety i.e. elevated heart rate and a feeling of stress, like cortisol/adrenaline. Then not being able to get back to sleep, or if i do not for very long. The anxiety stays with me all day but tends to fade as the sun goes down, thus I always thought it was cortisol related. The anxiety and lack of sleep I think is primary to my depressive symptoms as I get worn down and discouraged with living in a body that I feel has hijacked me, feeling in a perpetual state of fight or flight. I start having suicidal thoughts. Crying spells, all the good stuff.
A week ago, spurred by mom's comment on my snoring plus knowing my grandfather had OSA and used a cpap, I started making the connection between OSA and mental health, and ordered my Lofta at home test. I am also in wait for an in lab study which probably won't happen for months.
Results:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (G47.33) - Mild to Moderate based on pAHI=13.3, pRDI=16.8 and O2 nadir of
85%
Recommendations
1) Auto-CPAP set 4-20 cm H2O with heated humidity and mask/interface fitting. Close follow up and
monitoring is �
recommended to adjust pressures/masks if necessary
Because I have been lurking here for about a month I have seen how many people are self titrating and dialing in their own machines with the help of forum members and data from OSCAR. I expect this will be a valuable resource for me as I am commited to treat the OSA. I suspect it could be a big reason why it took so long to find a suitable antidepressant and even still with mood and (percieved) sleep improvements, I felt so tired al the time despite using a ton of caffeine every day, which I have also quit for nearly two months.
Basically I am happy to have a diagnosis that might explain some of the severity of my mental illnesses. I am guarded optimistic about treatment, and look forward to drawing on the knowledge and experience of forum members here.
THANKS FOR READING AND THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANYONE WHO WILL BE HELPING ME NAVIGATE MY OSA TREATMENT JOURNEY! STAY STRONG, STAY SAFE!
