Is and SSRI like Zoloft safe to take with apnea?

[tattooyu]

Please only answer the poll if you are currently taking an SSRI

I did a few searches on the board, but I couldn't find an answer, hence the new topic.

Fairly soon, I may be going on an SSRI for anxiety/Panic Disorder/possible PTSD (my baby boy, Andrew, passed last September; he was a preemie) and was wondering if anyone had any personal experience with taking an SSRI (Zoloft, Lexapro, Celexa, Prozac, etc.), and did it effect your AHI numbers and sleep architecture positively/negatively/neutrally?

My approach will pairing that up with cognitive therapy, as the combination of medication and therapy has a much more successful outcome. I'm also putting in a call to the sleep doctor this morning to get his opinion on it as well.

[twokatmew]

I didn't vote, because I've been on Lexapro for a few years and was only diagnosed with OSA this past May. Before Lexapro, it was Remeron, and prior to that, I took Paxil. Consequently I don't know how SSRIs mess with sleep architecture. I take daily Prednisone, which makes sleeping more difficult, and now I'm taking Evista (for osteoporosis) which causes profuse sweating (and I suspect interrupts my sleep as well). I do know that when I was on Remeron (30mg as the 15mg was too sedating -- antihistamine effect is greater at lower doses of Remeron) I slept much better. Lexapro, I've heard, can interfere with sleep, so I take it in the morning. I'd go back on Remeron in a minute for the sleep affects, but my doc says I'd gain more weight on it, whereas Lexapro isn't quite as "fattening" an SSRI.

BTW Kenny, I'm so sorry for your loss. You seem very proactive in dealing with stress and anxiety. Way to go!

[jdm2857]

My doctor spoke with my sleep doc before prescribing an SSRI to be sure. The sleep doc was fine with Effexor and Celexa/Lexapro. We didn't discuss any other SSRI, but they all are much more similar than they are different. (Effexor, which affects both serotonin and norepinephrine, is technically not an SSRI.)

I am now feeling better, but since I stared Celexa and CPAP around the same time, I don't know which is responsible for what. I knew that might happen at the time I started both, but I was feeling bad enough to not want to delay anything that might help. After a few more months I might try to taper off of the Celexa to see if I still need it.

[teresamichele]

I didn't vote since I've been on Prozac for OCD for years and CPAP for two weeks. No idea if one impacted the other yet. The psychiatrist seems to think I'll be able to back off the Prozac and the Ritalin but we'll see.

I will tell you - with the OCD (which, in some ways, mirrors the symptoms of PTSD in some people), Cognitive Behavior Therapy was The Best Thing Ever. I saw results after the first session.

[carbonman]

TTY, when I made my journey to and through the gates of
my personal hell, I was fortunate to have an experinced guide.
The therapist I worked w/was very talented in CBT.
In the darkest parts of that journey I used Lexapro as a tool.
I used it for 3mths. It helped me accomplish what I needed to do.

In retrospect, I will be hard pressed to ever take another
SSRI again. I think that it contributed to my OSA problems.
They killed my libdo.

Do what you have to do. Use it as a tool not a crutch.

Sounds like you have a well thoughtout plan.
Do the hard work, it will be worth it.

All the best on your journey.

[tattooyu]

Thanks for the answers folks. I debated on whether or not to create a poll. I guess it couldn't hurt. I'm sure I'm not the first person who has apnea that the psychiatrist has seen.

Carbonman, I am a bit nervous (but then again I do have anxiety issues) about taking a medication. I'm hoping to use it to help me get through the daily grind while I'm healing with therapy and then taper off. From what my shrink friend says, she is under the impression that the side effects are *usually* temporary. It made your apnea worse? How so?

teresamichele, I appreciate your comments greatly. My gut feeling tells me that CBT is the way to permanently adjust your mind to help possibly cure, or at least manage, a disorder like OCD or Panic Disorder.

[teresamichele]

teresamichele, I appreciate your comments greatly. My gut feeling tells me that CBT is the way to permanently adjust your mind to help possibly cure, or at least manage, a disorder like OCD or Panic Disorder.

It's certainly something you manage, not cure. To be honest, though, I'm okay with that, since it makes me realize I'm working for it. I've become so much more convinced of my self-worth through CBT. I used to say things like, "I'll never finish *insert project here*" and "I'll never get my weight under control" and I let myself stay in unhealthy relationships and/or let myself feel guilty when I finally broke away from people who were unhealthy. I also would - when I did something stupid - say "I am SUCH an idiot!" I knew I wasn't an idiot, but she made me stop saying it, because it sounds so bad to other people and even if I know I'm not an idiot, it reinforces the idea that I'm the only person who ever makes mistakes. That, of course, is totally not true.

Now, if I have to say *something* I say, "I am SUCH a goofball!" I figure that's true if I'm doing something stupid or not!

Feel free to PM me if you need an ear, though.

[Section1]

I take Zoloft and some others and can't say they have an effect on my sleep. I will say this, mediations can have different effects on different people. As a RN at a hospital I see this all the time, a medication can help one person, have no effect on another, and cause some very undesirable side effects on others. Work closely with your Doc and keep him/her updated on how you respond to treatment. Hope everything works out for you.

[tattooyu]

Thanks again everyone.

theresamichele: When I was active in CBT therapy, I did feel a lot better. I just don't think my therapist took the right approach and ended too soon. My new prospective therapist sounds really good. We hit it off on the phone right away.

Section 1: I totally understand what you are saying and agree. I just wanted to get a spectrum of different opinions. My family tends to get the mild side effects with a medication. Not always, but usually.

[OneCatBelleSundance]

During my journey to discover the cause of my awful fatigue I learned the Prozac I was taking at night was causing me to sleep lighter. While I've taken Prozac for years it was at the suggestion of my psychiatrist that I only started taking it at night a couple a years ago because it was chewing up my stomach when taken in the morning. Apparently the combination of the HCTZ and Synthroid and Prozac were just too much for my stomach. My pharmacist suggested I go back to taking the Prozac in the morning but take it an hour or so after the other drugs and eat something with it. The Nurse Practitioner I saw at the Sleep Doctors office also told me that Prozac can lighten sleep.

Don't know if the same affect is true with Zoloft but I suggest you check.

Lesson of my story: Doctors don't know anything about medicine side effects. If you want good information ask your pharmacist or go on-line.

[teresamichele]

Don't know if the same affect is true with Zoloft but I suggest you check.

It's also possible that he could take Zoloft and be fine. Side effects do not normally impact everyone.

The best resource for information about the medication you're prescribed is the sheet that you get from the pharmacy. It will generally list warnings, possible side effects, and things like that.

[tattooyu]

OCBS, thank you for your input. It's funny because information says that SSRIs can cause sleepiness OR insomnia, so it depends on how your chemistry reacts to a particular medication I suppose.

HCTZ causes stomach issues? I take Diovan HCT for blood pressure and have had unexplained digestive issues (above and beyond my normal IBS)!

[teresamichele]

OCBS, thank you for your input. It's funny because information says that SSRIs can cause sleepiness OR insomnia, so it depends on how your chemistry reacts to a particular medication I suppose.

Yup. I have experience in the pharma industry so I'm pretty familiar with how people react and don't react to drugs. Sometimes it depends on your chemistry and sometimes depends on the chemistry of the medication. What I mean is, for some people, the brand name works better and for others, the generic does. I take a medication that is in generic from several companies. I have to get my refills from a certain pharmacy because the generic offered by the other pharmacy just doesn't seem to work!

Bodies are crazy, crazy things!

[always_tired]

I was already on Wellbutrin for years before sleep apnea, but it is known to interfere with sleep so I take it first thing. My psych also had to up the dose recently because of the stress of unresolved sleep apnea and the loss of my spouse. You wouldn't hesitate to take an antibiotic for a severe infection so look at the SSRI in the same light. You probably will only need it a short time. Some of us have to stay on them indefinitely because the depression makes a permanent change in brain chemistry for some people.

My doctor also tried Effexor to help "energize" me since that is one of the side effects. I slept more hours than I was awake. It tooks us 2-3 months to realize the Effexor was causing that. A co-worker took a small dose of Effexor early in the morning and she claimed it interfered with her sleep at night. You roll the dice and take your chances on the side effects.

[OneCatBelleSundance]

HCTZ causes me stomach problems and can make me light headed. Prozac makes my hands shake and gives me really wild dreams. But, I'm one of those weird people that suffer common side effects from just about every drug I take. Everybody is different but I think it is important to know side effects can occur.

While insurance companies will try to tell you that brand name drugs and generics are the same they're not. The binders used to hold the drugs together can be different and than can affect the side affects you get.