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Old 09-22-2011, 05:57 PM #1
kittycapucine1974
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Unhappy Sleep apnea symptoms with negative sleep apnea test results

Hi, everybody:

I usually fall asleep easily at night, thanks to the different medications (MSIR, Inderal, Keppra, and Klonopin) I take for my health problems (full body RSD and epilepsy). However, I easily and frequently wake up during the nighttime and I have trouble falling asleep again. I sleep in a fetal position on one of my sides because I cannot stand sleeping on my back or tummy. I also sleep with my mouth open, which is probably the reason why I drool a lot on my pillow. This is really annoying because, in the morning, I do not feel rested; on the contrary, I feel really, really tired. Sometimes, it is extremely hard for me to keep my eyes open. I want to mention this problem started years ago, well before I started taking the medications for my health problems, so I do not think these medications are responsible for my sleep problems.

I have many symptoms of sleep apnea, even if I am not an obese female. A pneumologist tested me for sleep apnea, but he claims the results are negative. Are sleep apnea tests reliable? Could there be false negatives?

Thanks for your answers.
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Old 09-23-2011, 12:22 AM #2
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Kitty,

I do have sleep apnea. My husband thought he had it but during his testing he was given good news. Both of us have the problem of not feeling rested in the morning. I to have epilepsy and at times I am unable to sleep and feel really sleepy the next day. How long have you been taking Keppra? There are some days I don't even feel like getting up out of bed for long periods. And then there are days and nights I am unable to sleep.

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Old 09-24-2011, 01:30 PM #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kittycapucine1974 View Post
A pneumologist tested me for sleep apnea, but he claims the results are negative.
Hi kittycapucine1974,

Was this an actual sleep study done in a sleep lab?

Doc
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Old 10-21-2011, 04:38 PM #4
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Hi, Darlene:

Quote: "How long have you been taking Keppra?" I have been taking this medication since May 2009. The dosage was slowly increased. Today, I am taking Keppra 500 mg (three tablets twice daily). The night time dosage is taken with another epilepsy medication, Klonopin 2 mg: one tablet daily.

I often have trouble falling asleep. Once I am asleep, I have trouble staying asleep. If I wake up during the night because of noise or other reasons, I will have a very hard time falling asleep again. If I wake up at about 3 AM or after, I am almost sure I will not be able to fall aslep and stay asleep again.

I sleep on my left or right side (I change sides regularly), with my head on a little pillow. I sometimes sleep on my back, but I do not feel comfortable doing so. I absolutely cannot sleep on my front side because of my RSD knee pain, even if I put pillows under my knees.

In the morning, I discover, every day, that my pillow is really wet because I drooled a lot on my pillow during the night.

My strong tiredness (from the time I wake up to the time I fall asleep) almost always comes with strong migraine headaches. I also feel some low key fever.

I need some sleep medication but, of course (lucky me! ), no doctor will prescribe this type of medication for me. I have the feeling doctors think sleep medications are bad, just like guns or nuclear bombs.

So how am I supposed to fall asleep?

I cannot put on some soft music or music with the noise of nature in the bedroon in which I sleep because it bothers my mother, who has been sleeping in my bedroom for decades because she does not get along with my father.

Her waking up half a dozen times during the night to go and pee also bothers me, but what I hear is something like "It is not your house. You can move out." With the very little money I earn, I cannot afford to pay rent. Maybe I should move out and live with the homeless; I will sleep better on the streets.

Why can my brother have his own room and not me? It is well known that French people (my father is French) and Chinese people (my mother is Chinese) prefer boys. My brother gets everything he wants, even though he earns a lot more money than me.

Even the cats are treated better than I am. I love the cats that are mine, but is that a valid reason to mistreat me? I am not a demon and I strongly believe I have as much value as my brother.

Thanks so much for your information.
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Old 10-21-2011, 04:46 PM #5
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Hi, Dr. Smith:

A pneumologist did an overnight sleep test on me while I was hospitalized for that night time test, but I do not know if it is complete and accurate. I doubt his qualifications. He studied in Lebanon and he was not even able to diagnose my asthma, disease which a lot of other doctors (specialists and primary care physicians) were able to diagnose. I have the feeling this idiotic pneumologist does not believe me when I describe all my symptoms to me. He treated me like a liar.

This test was not done in a sleep lab. I was hospitalized (can you believe it?) in the maternity ward, even though I was not a pregnant woman ready to give birth. Like I said, I am infertile.
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Old 10-23-2011, 11:19 AM #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kittycapucine1974 View Post
This test was not done in a sleep lab.
I don't know what kind of test it was or how it was done. Mine was in a sleep lab by a sleep specialist. They stuck about a zillion electrodes all over my head & body, which were plugged into monitors & stuff, and they had a camera & microphone on me all night. If I even whispered, the technicians could hear me and we could have a conversation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_medicine

The dx was based on the number of times per hour I stopped breathing (I don't recall the exact criteria, but I do recall that it can vary with different labs/doctors), and analysis of the data collected from the electrodes/monitors. My apnea turned out to be fairly serious; I now require/use a c-pap machine & foam wedge.

Most (if not all) tests are fallible in one way or another. If it's (pardon the sick humor) keeping you up nights , it's up to you if it's worth pursuing.

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Old 10-27-2011, 01:24 AM #7
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I am taking Keppra, about the same as you are. One side effect is drowsiness at times. I am also on Lamictal. At times I am the same as you are on sleeping, usually I lay there and try to relax even more, most of the time it seems to work. I to sometimes sweat in the night, my husband (a nurse) says it could be my blood count.

Try drinking some hot herbal tea (caffeine Fee) it seems to relax a person with sleeping problems. We get it at the store under tea aisle, it is under Celestial Seasoning.

At my sleeping test the tech said using music doesn't help, but I too like the music. What they do say is sleep under a fan hitting you face.

The reason I had the test done is I stopped breathing as I was snoring at night, the doctor tested me at is was positive. Two years later I have been tested again and I still have it as bad.

Hopefully you can find out a solution to your situation soon. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

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Old 10-27-2011, 02:17 PM #8
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Quote:
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What they do say is sleep under a face hitting you face.
I'm sorry, Darlene, could you please clarify that?

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Old 10-28-2011, 12:51 AM #9
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Thank you for letting me know, I corrected it.

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Old 10-28-2011, 08:11 AM #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Darlene View Post

What they do say is sleep under a fan hitting you face.
Thanks, that's interesting. I can remember falling asleep under a tree with a light summer breeze on me in days gone by. I occasionally sleep with a fan on me now to help with night sweats, but my c-pap mask covers so much I doubt enough breeze gets to my face!

This won't help everyone, but one thing that can knock me out really fast (usually under 5 minutes now) is some kind of massage or other physical stimulation (vibration, rocking, whatever). It only needs to be a small contact point/area on a hand, arm, foot, leg... I would guess it's from some kind of release of endorphins combined with a type of self-hypnosis. It began when my wife tried to help alleviate headaches or other pain by massage, which gave me something to focus intently (and intensely) on & hence bypass the pain signal. Over time (practice) very little is required. If we're lying in bed she can just rub my forearm with her thumb for a few minutes and I'm out cold. Touching the fan with my foot or resting my hand on the c-pap (vibration) can do the same thing (but there's a lot to be said for the human contact).

HTH,

Doc
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