Hello. I'd like to introduce myself, and ask for help from this site.

[KampusKop]

Hi all.

A few years back, around 2005, I began having these episodes in my sleep where I'd wake up with my heart racing. The only remidy to this was to sit up and take deep breaths and my hear rate would begin to drop immediately.

I was waking up ALOT!!! Sometimes several times per hour.

I could not get any real sleep and was very, VERY tired.

I never suspected sleep apnea as I was not at all overweight... 5"11, 150lbs. I was also not very old, in 2005 I would have only been 28.

I thought I had a heart condition and was refered to a heart doc and made to wear a halter monitor for 30 nights with no results.. I didnt have many bad episodes during that time.

I kept having the episodes return over the course of that year and I decided to ask about it on a gun forum that I post on.. Everyone there said sleep apnea!!! So I told my doc and she said that she didn't supect it due to my age and weight. She ordered an in home sleep study that to her surprisecame back as severe sleep apnea. She ordered a second in home study that showed moderate sleep apnea.

The doc placed meon Lunesta to help me sleep and ordered an overnight sleep study... My insurance did not want to pay for it and I had to have the in home studies done before they would allow it.

I work the night shift and worked the night prior to the study. I stayed up all day, and then took a lunesta that night at the sleep study. The test came bag negative. The guy giving the test stated that I never snored or moved. I've been told I snore like a bear but I didn't that night.

The sleep doctor stated that I did nto have sleep apnea.

Over the past few years my liver has been acting up and my triglycerides are over 600... They have ran a huge number of test and even done a liver biopsy and they can't seem to figure it out.. I have now found that there is a link between sleep apnea and liver disease and increased triglycerides.

I'm 35, don't drink or smoke, no family history of liver disease. I have gained weight btu I only weigh 185lbs.

Sleep apnea is the only link I can find to figure out my liver porblems.

What do you guys think?

Could the sleep study ahve been wrong?

The sleep doc told me that he thought I was having anxiety attacks in my sleep, thus causing insomnia.

I ahve actually seen a shrink who does nto believe this to be the case, as I do not have anxiety attacks when I'm awake.

Thoughts???

Thanks.


P.S.

I'm so tired now I cant stand it...

I sometime sleep 18 hours straight and wake up tired.

Yesterday I slept 13 hours, then go up for about an hour, then went back to be and slept hard for 3 more hours.

I'm so tired.

[DocWils]

It is possible the Lunesta masked any apnoea that you may have had, but other possibilities exist as well - depression, for sure, but both thyroid and liver diseases can cause many of the symptoms you speak of. Other medications would also bring such symptoms, although you have not listed any. At any rate, taking the sleep test with Lunesta invalidated the test - it is also possible that if you put on the devices yourself, they were not hooked up properly, so ask to do it again, this time as an overnight or over day (we do daytime clinic studies here and I am pretty sure they do that everywhere) in a sleep clinic - without the Lunesta. And ask if you can do a home study over a week to see if a pattern emerges,even if it is a negative pattern. If you have been using Lunesta every day for a while now, you will have to wean yourself off of it first, and be clean at least a week or two, as withdrawal symptoms can also mess up any tests.

Also, if you can get a day job, it would be better for you - a lot of people who night shift show disturbed sleeping patterns and health degradation.

[zonk]

As the Doc said, repeat the sleep study without taking Lunesta


Eszopiclone increases the respiratory arousal threshold and lowers the apnoea/hypopnoea index in obstructive sleep apnoea patients with a low arousal threshold: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21269278

[KampusKop]

Doc.

I have had my thyroid checked and it was fine, my blood sugar was also perfect.

Sleep apnea is the only link I can find for my liver problems.

[Shastzi]

Hi KampusKop!

What DocWils said.

The whole point of taking the test is to *catch you in the act* of messing up. Doh!
So what did they do?
They drug you into an anesthesia state.
Arg.

If you snore and you show the other symptoms you described you *PROBABLY DO HAVE APNEA*
Also you were smart by eliminating all else as well.
If you still cant get a solid diagnosis &
if all else fails get a wrist mounted pulse oximeter and software then I'd run a check on O2 desaturations for a whole week just to clinch it.
Then hand the doc your week long run of blood O2 saturations to your Doc.
That will jar them out of their fogged up ivory tower.
Sometimes you gotta hit them in the head with a wet mackerel.

btw, I'm not a Dr., I'm a data analyst. ("EGAD, Watson!")


Good luck, K.K.!

=^.^=

[trish6hundred]

Hi KampusKop,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hopefully, you can get another study done without the drug and see how that goes for you.
Best of luck to you.

[PaulaO2]

Did the sleep doc know you took the Lunesta the night of the test?

When we have to have certain blood tests, we have to fast. It shows the true blood content and highlights what they are looking for.

So taking a sleeping pill for a sleep test is like eating before that blood test. It's not going to be accurate at all.

Yes, some people cannot sleep away from home so they take a mild sedative to help them sleep. But Lunesta is not a mild sedative.

Request another test. Consult with another sleep doc and tell him/her everything.

Meanwhile, start a sleep diary (I seem to be mentioning this a lot lately; maybe I need to do one myself!). Write down how you feel before you lay down at night. What kind of day was it? Low stress, high stress, poker and beer night with the buds? And in the morning, write down how you feel after waking. What kind of night was it? Did you wake up often? How were your dreams?

[KampusKop]

Did the sleep doc know you took the Lunesta the night of the test?

When we have to have certain blood tests, we have to fast. It shows the true blood content and highlights what they are looking for.

So taking a sleeping pill for a sleep test is like eating before that blood test. It's not going to be accurate at all.

Yes, some people cannot sleep away from home so they take a mild sedative to help them sleep. But Lunesta is not a mild sedative.

Request another test. Consult with another sleep doc and tell him/her everything.

Meanwhile, start a sleep diary (I seem to be mentioning this a lot lately; maybe I need to do one myself!). Write down how you feel before you lay down at night. What kind of day was it? Low stress, high stress, poker and beer night with the buds? And in the morning, write down how you feel after waking. What kind of night was it? Did you wake up often? How were your dreams?

Yes.

The wanted me to take the lunesta... I had not been on long at that point.

The VA switvhed me to ambien about 2 years ago and I take it every day.

A bit of an update.

Yesterday, I went to the doc and got an in home study ordered for next Friday. I will be off the ambien until then. They also put me out of work for the next 2 weeks.. I'll need to be while off the ambien

I went to bed yesterday at 5pm and got up today at 11:30am spent all that time in bed but did not sleep well. I woke up very tired and have felt bad all day.

About dreams..

I didn't have any at first.. I would just wake up with my heart pounding.

I do have crazy dreams now.

I will keep you guys posted and let you know what the in home study says.

[Shastzi]

Best of luck, KampusKop!

[PaulaO2]

KampusKop, I fixed your post so your comments were apparent.

Ambien has some wild side effects so I would bet coming off of it is just as much fun. Good luck and keep us posted.