http://www.currentpsychiatry.com/art...s.asp?AID=4581

I tried this link for the article, but it ask a log in.
Anyone have the article to copy and paste.

I am scheduled for a sleep test for daytime sleepiness and chronic fatigue.
Di

Di, If you 'learn' anything, I would certainly appreciate hearing about it. Please and thank you.

Di,

I'm new to this forum, but I have just a note of caution for you. I was sleep tested 2.5 years ago, and have been on a CPAP respirator since then. Since I'm a bit overweight (5'10", 230 lbs), obstructive sleep apnea looked like a no-brainer. It's too bad nobody tried testing for hypothyroidism until now. I just got diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and have a goiter with 6 nodules. Make sure you are screened for obstructions as well, especially if you have difficulty swallowing or choke easily. I'm wondering now that I'm on Synthroid if I'll need that CPAP Respirator much longer.

If you don't get over your daytime slumps after some treatment like CPAP, make sure you push your primary care physician into actually looking down your throat. My doc gets a break because I already had an 18" neck size- I can't hold her to blame for everything. It's still hard for me to discern what should be there and what shouldn't. I was told by others (patients that I knew, all overweight) how great I would feel after using the CPAP for a while, but there was obviously something else going on, and it's taken until now to find it. Insurance companies like this particular treatment because the long term costs are cheap if it actually works, and the diagnostic procedure is relatively cheap and non-invasive. There wasn't even an RN on duty at the lab where I was sent (in Kansas.) That may vary state to state.

Good luck. I hope this works for you. But don't give up trying to pin this down if it doesn't.

Regards,
DJ

I found daytime sleepiness usually to be caused by not sleeping enough at night.

I understood that it is not a matter of "how much sleep", but whether you attain a healing "depth" of sleep. Am I wrong?

sally

Hi all thanks for ideas,
DJ,
I had the test, it came back fine. I have been hypothyroid for years. I have put weight on, although most of my life I was always about the same size 12/14.

I am carrying a lot in the upper gut and chest size, upper arms, face, I have not had blood work recently. My Mom was diabetic.
I do have the seasonal stuff, I have always had low motivation, but I admit I am up at night...Depression, losing my daughter.

Tonight my anxiety is real bad. I did forget to take my thyroid meds several times on vacation, and the Lexapro, too.

I wish I could get my self put together, feel like humpty dumpty....
Thanks gang,
di

Sally, it's both really. Sleeping for a long time isn't enough if the sleep is only light or frequently disturbed.

You are right Sally - although you will be sleepy during the day if you do not get enough rest. I can sleep 24/7 if I don't take stimulants..... I do not go into the deep restful sleep that my body needs and I stay sleepy all of the time... While waiting for my last medication to be approved I was sleeping about 20 hours on average. Staying awake was very difficult and it doesn't matter how much caffeine, herbal supplements, nothing helps.

I had hypothyroidism for 25 years. I believe my sleep apnea began about 10 years ago...have been on CPAP for almost 5 years. So I'm not sure that the two are connected physically although the symptoms are much the same.