What to do with day time sleepiness, I'm desperate

[Gabby]

Hi everyone, hope you had a nice Christmas with family and friends.
My titration study had to be cancelled due to family complications, so not sure if I will be lucky to get in before my due date the 27th January with another cancellation. Even if I do I have to wait three weeks for my prescription to come through after.

Problem is my excessive daytime sleeping is driving me crazy, I cannot stay awake.
I am sleeping for hours on end every day. All night long and all day long.
What do others do that have this problem, or how have you coped in the past please? Do you go with it and sleep or do you force yourself awake? Is there any medication I can get from my Doctor to keep me awake? I have tried coffee, it is useless. I have no energy to do anything whatsoever.
It is becoming very distressing. I can barely hold my head up.
I am just living for the day of my titration study and then for me receiving my machine.

[me50]

The only thing I can think of is to talk with your doctor and tell them this as it is dangerous for you to drive, etc. Things are done so differently where you live so I am not sure what to suggest to you. I am sure others that are familiar with your health care system may have other and better suggestions for you.

[DOOM_NX]

Hello, Gabby!

I understand you're in a horrible situation, but hang on.

No, you shouldn't take anything to suppress your feeling of sleepiness. Your body is deprived of sleep and the messages that it sends to you shouldn't be ignored. You are in immediate need for treatment and nothing should get in the way right now. NOTHING. If needed, ignore your family complications and go get your titration done. How can you even be of any help to your family if you are a zombie (or worse)?
What you need is SLEEP, not medications or any other substances. And you need it now. You could even buy a used Auto-CPAP. It doesn't have to be anything fancy; it just has to work until you sort out the official procedure.

Until you get your hands on a machine, you can try sleeping in a position as close to seated as possible (upper body elevated as high as physically possible). Avoid alcohol, avoid sedatives (including some antidepressants). And let everybody know that your are suffering and barely functioning. Someone might be able to help.

Best of luck to you. Keep us updated please!

[DeepBreathing]

Gabby, talk to your GP and get him/her to refer you to another sleep centre where you can be seen quicker. You're not that far out of Brisbane and there must be a lot of clinics there. Once you've had the test the clinic should be able to give you a machine straight away - there's no need to wait weeks for a prescription. In fact a prescription isn't required here in Australia.

If you can't get in quickly then perhaps try to get hold of a machine to tide you over. Supplier no 21 (see the list at http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...plier-List ) will rent you a machine for $150 a month and they service the Sunshine Coast. I've just done a quick Google search for "hire cpap machine sunshine coast" and came up with quite a few options. I'm sure you will be able to get your hands on a machine quickly, and also get into the sleep clinic much faster than your current schedule.

I've just gone back to your original post and see that your AHI on test was 17.5. That is moderate apnea. I wonder if there's something else at play here in addition to your apnea? Are you on any medications that might be causing this excessive sleepiness (or a combination of medications)? I really think you should talk to your GP ASAP and get the CPAP sorted but also rule out any other cause of the problem.

In the meantime, there's some really good advice in the previous posts.


Note: I've edited this post to say "Sunshine Coast" and not "Gold Coast". The same information is true for both locations.

[DOOM_NX]

Great info DeepBreathing! Since you people can hire machines in Australia, there's no point in struggling without one, Gabby. You should see a great change, unless your sleepiness isn't apnea-related...

[drgrimes]

Gabby I had a similar problem in the beginning in that my sleep doctor seemed to be in no hurry about anything I finally begged them to do something quicker. They didn't give me much encouragement until I told them that I could be on standby if they had a cancellation. She then lit up and said oh really? I got in two days later rather than two months later. While you are begging for favors go ahead and ask if there is a way you can get the RX immediately. I've discovered that if you can become friendly with the nurses, THEY are the keeper of the gates to happiness. LOL, well not all of them, but certainly this one.

[zonk]

Problem is my excessive daytime sleeping is driving me crazy, I cannot stay awake.

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS)
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php..._%28EDS%29

[Tez62]

Gabby, try to get back on the waiting list, they may be closed over the Christmas / New Year period. The others had good idea's about renting if you can afford it. I know you are going public, is it through a Sleep Specialist, a Sleep Centre or a Public Hospital? It's a pity you missed the last sleep study. At worst, try to sleep on your side rather than your back, or keep your head propped up as much as possible with pillows. All you can do is your best to get in as early as possible and look forward to using the CPAP when you get it.

[Gabby]

Me50, Doom_NX, DeepBreathing, dr grimes, Zonk and Tez62, Many thanks to all for taking the time to answer my question. I really was in a bad way.
I have since been to my local Doctor and we have discussed what has been happening in my life the last couple of weeks and I have had a lot of stress and running around. Every day of the week in my normal day to day life I need to have some kind of sleep ( thanks to sleep apnea)but due to circumstances I hadn't been able to for about a week or more in the lead up to Christmas. He thinks these four days when I was so bad was my body catching up on lost sleep.
He doesn't really want me to get a machine on my own and rang the clinic for me, and I am back on the cancellation list.
I figure I have waited this long, I will have to live with it a bit longer.
I am sleeping sitting right up, which I always do because of my chronic headaches but usually I sleep on my back, due to headaches, but now I am really trying hard to sleep on side, which I am getting more and more used to.
Doom_NX my Dr. Has been through my meds and done my bloods earlier in the year so we know there is nothing underlying causing my tiredness, so thanks for that.
Drgrimes, I am friendly with a girl called Ann at the clinic so will give her a ring this week and wish her happy New Year and just see where I am travelling on the list, so thanks for that tip.
Tez62, it is a private clinic I am having the Titration test done but I will be getting the machine through the Public Hospital.
Once I have the Titration done and get the Prescription, I can then go and rent a machine and buy my mask, then I will be given one by Hospital in about two to three months.
DeepBreathing Thank you for all that information you sourced me. At this point I don't really want to have to hire a machine until after I have had my titration, as I won't be getting an automatic machine and I don't want to get spoilt by the auto and the have to drop back to to the fixed.
I will see how I go over the next week or so.
I really do appreciate that you all took the time to answer me. You are a great bunch on this site.
Happy New Year to all of you!

[DOOM_NX]

Why are you not getting an auto machine? The price difference is so little that it doesn't make sense...