Central Sleep Apnea

[cooter]

My Dr has me on morphine and percs for my pain. Now my sleep study I just had shows sever Central apnea, and he says, more than likely it's due to the opiates I'm on.

My question is, if I filed a claim for the apnea, will they deny me cause its the meds that causing it or will they just try to get me off of the meds so I wouldn't have apnea?

Coot

[brokensoldier244th]

Im attaching the letter that my doctor wrote me for sleep apnea. She's opined on other SvC issues before for me, so she's read my file, and i keep her in the loop. How does this look, thus far?

[cooter]

As a matter of fact John, I have been gaining weight since I been on the opiates and depression med "Effexor". I've developed a sweet tooth, and it's strange cause all this time I have never liked sugar, except when I was a kid. Now I eat 2 bowls of ice cream a day!

Are you going in to have the study done, or are you testing yourself at home? They gave me a choice but I didn't want to mess with it, just in case something went wrong. A little tip. You might want to bring an extra pillow, a watch, cause there's no clock in the rooms, and maybe a book to read, if your a night person. They want you to get at least 6 hours of sleep for the test to be accurate. One more thing John, you might want to take a drive to see where you will be going before the testing. Reason is, you have to report there at night, usually around 8 or 9 o'clock, and if your not a night driver, you may run into problems finding the place, and be late. The first one I went to, I got confused and was late. I'm not a night driver at all. ha

During the test, don't be surprised if they wake you up in the middle of the night and place a mask on you. If they do, that's a sign you have apnea. I was like you, waking up every hour of the night, and when they placed the mask on me, I slept like a baby. Hope you can sleep with the mask on cause it is uncomfortable for a while.

Have fun getting that gunk off your head when you get home. ha....

Coot

I am going for sleep study in December. I wake up about five times a night and wife says I snore (she does too). I do know that clonazepam and valium will make apnea worse. If you want to gain weight take elavil. Opiates and all these anti-depressants cause people to gain weight. You are being sedated. The drugs like neurontin also cause weight gain.

[cooter]

The letter looks perty good. John's post mentioned "Elavil" causes weight gain as well. You might want to look into that too.

If you can get a statement from a sleep Dr backing this letter from your family Dr, that would even be better ammo as well. Opiates can make you tired and sleepy all the time, and having sever apnea will just double the whammy. I'm surprised you can even drive without being drowsy and unsafe. Make sure you send in a statement from yourself showing how this is effecting your lifestyle. Especially, the meds your on and what side effects their causing you. Good Luck...

Coot

Im attaching the letter that my doctor wrote me for sleep apnea. She's opined on other SvC issues before for me, so she's read my file, and i keep her in the loop. How does this look, thus far?

[brokensoldier244th]

im on CPAP now and I don't drive long distances, so im adjusting well. ive yet to see the sleep report that was filed from my study two weeks ago, so Ill have to go in and see if I can get that.

CAS

The letter looks perty good. John's post mentioned "Elavil" causes weight gain as well. You might want to look into that too.

If you can get a statement from a sleep Dr backing this letter from your family Dr, that would even be better ammo as well. Opiates can make you tired and sleepy all the time, and having sever apnea will just double the whammy. I'm surprised you can even drive without being drowsy and unsafe. Make sure you send in a statement from yourself showing how this is effecting your lifestyle. Especially, the meds your on and what side effects their causing you. Good Luck...

Coot

[cooter]

Make sure you get the actual test summary, the one with all the results. The sleep Dr will need this for his interpretation.

im on CPAP now and I don't drive long distances, so im adjusting well. ive yet to see the sleep report that was filed from my study two weeks ago, so Ill have to go in and see if I can get that.

CAS

[john999]

That is a good letter from your doctor about the Apnea being SC'ed. Damn good letter for a claim for Chronic Pain Disorder as well.