Combat Ptsd & Sleep Apnaea

[Joe1]

My psychiatrist has just sent me away to see if i suffer from sleep apnea. I feel the sleeping/micro sleeping is caused by the shit load of meds im on.
I am just wondering if any other vet has been tested for this, to see if this is part of the cause of my night terrors and flashbacks.
Any input would be of help.
Joe

 

[Ned]

Joe my girlfriend reckons I have it when I'm extra stressed, and not when I'm doing better. I've not been tested but she's sensible about stuff like that.

 

[reddevil1111]

I have the apnea and it has nothing to do with my flashbacks or nightmares.Treating it does not improve my sleep patterns at all. I average 4-6 hrs sleep on a good night, 2-3 on most bad nights. Meds might make you tired but when the nightmares are more real than the life you live...lets just say I would rather not sleep. And yeah like you I do nap some in the daytime. most might be for 20 to 30 minutes. its just from exhaustion. The rest of the day is spent sucking down pots of coffee.

 

[Ned]

Additional. Since coming off meds the weird dreams have gotten weirder. Not always scary, just too real and too relevant. Too much real detail and always followed by the confused wake-up where it takes a while to work out it was just a dream.
Now that can f*ck up my whole day. Besides the sleep loss.
Dan look at what Jimmy has said about 'sleep hygeine', relevant stuff mate and good advice.

 

[deborah l. boylan]

Hey guys, sleep apnea is caused by physical obstruction of the airway by either the tongue or excessive soft tissue. It prevents people from getting into REM sleep (restorative sleep cycle) because everytime they do they stop breathing so the brain says "hey, I need some oxygen!" and wakes them up, hence the fatigue in the morning. It can lead to hypertension, heart disease, memory loss and over long periods of time, loss of IQ points. My husband suffered with it so bad that he had to have surgery. Some people wear a mask at night with contiuous air blowing in their nose (or mouth) but not everyone is comfortable with that. If you think that you have it get a sleep study done. It really sucks when you can't sleep and it adds to the anxiety and aggitation that so many of us already have. You don't need anything else to give more power to the "beast".

 

[Sarg]

Got it badddddddd! Plus I snore so bad have to have the building inspectors over from time to time to see if I loosened the timbers. Scares the burglers off tho'. Not much I wouldn't give for a decent 4 hours or anything. God, Deb, if my IQ gets any lower, they'll declare me an eggplant.

A Marine buddy showed me the crap he has to wear every night and there ain't no way I could wear that stuff. I'd look like I was in intensive care or sumptin'. Deb, WHAT did they operate on with your husband? Nose? Throat? I'll ask the Doc about that next time I see her.

Sarg

 

[Joe1]

Thanks for all the response. They just seem to be throwing every test they can at me.
One positive is i was diagnosed with Addisons disease last week, which has been great for me as im now getting replacement cortizone. My flashbacks were so severe that they were lsting hours, now they only last minutes. Which is a good thing coz now maybe i wont be diagnosed as being too acute and finally get some help!
Joe

 

[reddevil1111]

Joe, the apnea is a bad thing. the c-pap mask is real hard for a lot of people. I wear one. I didnt have as hard of a time with it as some might. I am used to wearing positive venting masks as well as scuba and o2 masks for parachuting ...not to mention the gas mask. It did make me have more nightmares about some stuff. I would wake and rip it off. But overall it really sucks and it has no help with my sleep quality. The sleep studies always go the same: wow you dont sleep much and we need to keep you longer to get more tests done. after trying to get what they want for 12 to 14 hrs they let me go. Always with real big saucer shaped eyes.

 

[deborah l. boylan]

My husband had a UPPP, which is the short version of Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. Means they took his uvula, the little thing that hangs down in the back of your throat, his tonsils and some extra soft tissue. He also had a septoplasty to straighten the inside of his nose and unblock his nasal passages and then to top it all off, they did a sliding geneoplasty to pull his jaw forword. Yeah, he really had it bad. He was miserable for about two weeks but the difference was amazing! He could actually sleep at night and hardly snored. Its been almost thirteen years since his surgery and I've noticed a little snoring has come back but nothing like it was and he doesn't stop breathing.

I guess it is difficult to get a sleep study done when you don't sleep much anyway or have nightmares that wake you up. Wish that I could help you guys more. I don't sleep so well either but it has nothing to do with sleep apnea. Why is it that the night time seems to be the right time for the demons to come out? Oh well, at least I'm not alone in my insomia.