Central Sleep Apnea

I have "Central Sleep Apnea" because I take opioids to help treat my chronic pain. Norco, to be exact. Without CPAP therapy, I was a complete mess. I'm lucky to be alive. But see... I didn't realize that I had a sleep disorder. Friends and family assumed that I must have had a pill issue because of my mood swings. That bothered me because I never abused my medication. Something was wrong, though. I had no clue, even though it was right in front of me.


Fast forward a few years, and I'm still on the same amount of medication. Guess what? I'm a completely different person. The ONLY reason why is because the quality of my sleep is better. It's been that simple. I was sleep-deprived, severely. It's not that I was taking too much medication — it's that the drug itself gave me this type of sleep disorder. Who knew? Certainly not I. After finally having a sleep study, my pulmonologist told me what was happening. It took a long time to improve slowly, but I never stopped wearing my CPAP mask.


Everyone is different for so many reasons. That's part of why I believe everyone should have a sleep study. I still can't believe how much my life has changed for the better. I wish everyone could feel awake.


Warmly,
— Matt G. (sleepapnea.sleep-disorders.net) Team Member

My brother also was suffering from the same a few years ago. Many treatment methods were suggested by many and tried many of them. But he only received a positive result when he started doing physiotherapy(https://www.physiomobility.com/). Physiotherapy training for sleep apnea patients has gotten a lot of attention. Not only has exercise been demonstrated to improve OSA, but it has also been demonstrated to reduce the severity of central sleep apnea in individuals with chronic heart failure. My brother continues to do the physiotherapy now also even though he is relieved from CSA. Regular physiotherapy can help you in maintaining a healthy life.

Hi there are so many medications that can interfere with sleep, and some of them can even lead to problems with central apneas. If there are pain meds involved, this can be especially challenging. I hope you are working with your doctor to make some adjustments that will help you maximize your treatments without the sleep side effects.

For anyone reading this who is taking pain medications, please read up on how they can influence sleep apnea, especially the central kind. https://sleepapnea.sleep-disorders.net/clinical/opioids-csa

Tamara, community advocate

Yes ~ Dr blames it all on meds. My apnea has been severe as of late with medication issues. As high as 114 episodes per hour to as low as 1 episode per hour. Lost and scared .....