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Sleep Fragmentation not caused by Apnea

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March 1st, 2011
I have been trying to deal with a rare sleep disorder for 10 years now. I have gone to a leading sleep clinic for diagnosis and help but they have failed me, so hoping someone on the net might offer some help.

I have been suffering from some pretty bad fatigue for some time. I had done the normal route of the local sleep clinics and they at first did not see anything typical wrong with me (restless legs, apnea etc), so I got referred to Toronto Western Hospital. I have since underwent several sleep studies and tests over the years. They did eventually find moderate apnea and have been on a CPAP machine now for well over a year. This did help a bit but still am very very tired all the time. They did a repeat study and found that I have an issue where my brain pops in and out of sleep about every 3 minutes all night long. I fall asleep real fast again but they explained this interrupts my normal sleep cycle and likely is causing me to not regenerate properly when sleeping.

I have been prescribed Imovane that I can take every night if I want to help stop this but it again seemed to help but did not fix the issues. My sleep problems I think have resulted in physical depression and recently went on a low dose of Ciprelex for that but to be honest this seems to have made me so tired I can barely function.

My family doctor has been great, running tons of tests to rule out other causes but still no relief.

I have tried taking melatonin (resulted in a lot of migraines), I also took 5-HTP for a while and it helped a bit but no miracle cure.

I welcome any suggestions.
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First Helper debib
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CarolineEF
replied March 1st, 2011
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Hi exhaustedguy and welcome to ehealth: I think that some people just may not require much sleep...Me, I can get by with 5 or six hours...My husband has to have 8 or 9.....My thought would be, why worry....Accept who you are and make the most of it...Maybe by doing this that you will be able to conquer the problem that blocks this from happening...Truthfully, if I couldn't sleep I wouldn't worry about it...I would read or search out things on the net that I didn't know about life......Either way, good luck....Take care...

Caroline

Caroline
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exhaustedguy
replied March 2nd, 2011
Thanks for the reply Caroline. Well my issue is not about how much sleep, it is about it being interrupted every 3 minutes. Dr said it is like my wife poked me in the ribs ever 3 minutes all night long. More or less sleep does not affect this as the sleep itself is interrupted.

It is hard to accept this as I am constantly exhausted and think this results in depression. Quality of life is not that great being in this state all the time.
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Mommanavin3
replied March 2nd, 2011
I apologize greatly to you! Oh dear how aweful that would be. Have the doctors recommended no caffeine? as this stimulates all brain activity, and increasing physical activity thru out the day? My husband has a similar thing, and we found him not drinking any caffeine (energy drinks, tea, pop, coffee) and him exercising an hour in the morning and doing strong cardio exercise for an hour before bed, and a relaxing shower, helped him greatly, along with sticking to a strict schedule. Now, a newborn changed that a bit, but he is seeming to get back on track again. I can see how you have paired the two together it makes perfect sense, lack of sleep results in imbalanced hormones, which would increase depression risk. And, you may need to go on a strong sleeping pill because its not you- its your brain, and until they can regulate your brain acitivity, you may need to find a different method. Also, the pill they have you on for depression caused major problems for me. Migraines, blinding, etc-- so if you are not satisfied, have your doctor take you off it and try Seroquel, 100 mg before bed. This is an anti-depressant but aids in sleep. SHould help a bit Smile
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CarolineEF
replied March 2nd, 2011
Community Volunteer
exhaustedguy wrote:
Thanks for the reply Caroline. Well my issue is not about how much sleep, it is about it being interrupted every 3 minutes. Dr said it is like my wife poked me in the ribs ever 3 minutes all night long. More or less sleep does not affect this as the sleep itself is interrupted.

It is hard to accept this as I am constantly exhausted and think this results in depression. Quality of life is not that great being in this state all the time.


Hi exhaustedguy....I hurt for you...I cannot imagine how difficult it would be waking up every few minutes...I wish I could give you some good suggestions, but I can't...I thought it was something different...Either way, good luck and I hope that it gets better...Take care...

Caroline
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debib
replied March 16th, 2011
sleep problems
caroline,no offense intended, but you obviously don't know crap about sleep. i have suffered from insomnia problems for years. it's very difficult to find doctors to take you seriously. i am exhausted. my immune system is poor. i have depression. i have rls and take meds for it. the are many meds that exacerbate my rls..seroquel for one. i totally avoid caffeine. excessive exercise is not recommended before bedtime. low levels of light are recommended to increase the natural levels of melatonin. i myself cannot take melatonin off the shelf-messes w/ my rls. at times i jerk so hard at sleep onset tht i 'fly' out of bed. i take klonipin for that(only .5mg.-anymore than that, i messes w/ my rls). sleeping pills don't really help, except for halcion. for some reason drs. won't prescribe it anymore. i don't have sleep apnea- i don't even snore. by the way i was a director of a sleep lab. anyway, i don't think you're qualified to give advice about insomnia. the brain and its sleep is still a field that isn' very well covered during med school unless you specifically study sleep disorders or neurology.
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Jbehr
replied March 21st, 2012
One in the same
my neurologist says my sleep lab shows I awake every three minutes as well and that I have very active legs, light snoring but no apnea. I went in for Narcolepsy testing since I was dignosed when I was 17 with acute narcolepsy but they never filed the results of the sleep lab. Well they can't diagnose anything for the stayover narco testing because of the anti-depressant I was on. Since I am pregnant the only thing I can take is melatonin but it says no to take if you are on an antidepressant.
Long story short I feel your pain, unfortunately those who have never been a victim of constant fatigue and exhaustion can not understand what it is like. Iknow that this in itself is depressing. However I have noticed a difference in my wakefulness since I started prozac.
Best of luck, and please keep me updated if they figure anything out!
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