I was watching you on Oprah today ... My father, 76, has been suffering from severe sleep apnea, which was diagnosed about a year ago. He initially had problems adjusting to the mask, tried many of them, even the mouthpiece that his dentist made. No success - he doesn't do well in tight areas. Finally, after much hard work on his part, he is sleeping with the mask. The problem is, after a year of these issues, we are sure there are other sleep issues going on along with his apnea. As you mentioned on Oprah, there are 88 different sleep disorders. He's had every test in the book, from blood tests to brain scans - all results have been negative. Nothing can explain what he's still going through. He cannot get through the day now; his fatigue is overwhelming. Once a very active man, he has aged so quickly, it's scary, and frustrating for
our family and of course for my father. He is not able to work, drive or do anything but stay home. He stands weakly with his head down and his eyes closed. He's so fatigued, he can't even speak at times and has no appetite, and often gets the sweats. This is affecting my mother, who is exhausted, and can't get any rest because my father can't sleep or nap, even though he's exhausted. This is the worst thing I've witnessed. My father has no quality of life and says he can't go on living like this. He's just existing. Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.
I am not sure what your question is, so I will simply comment on your father’s condition. If all the tests, as you say, "have been run" then my first thought would be to talk with his doc about getting off of the CPAP for a few weeks and seeing how he does. In a very small percent of cases I have seen people do worse on CPAP, not better. Obviously I am not saying to discontinue treatment, but I would speak to your doc about a trial off of CPAP to see if symptoms persist. My next thought would be to try and re-set his circadian clock with light therapy and give sleep meds in the evenings and possibly Provigil in the mornings. This may sound extreme, but it sounds warranted in your father’s case.
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