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Sleep apnea and attention deficit

I have been having trouble with attention deficit symptoms that have progressively worsened over the past 2-3 years. I was talking with a friend who said that he used to have similar problems and that he was finally diagnosed with sleep apnea. Once he started using a CPAP machine, his apnea was much better, his wife would not have to sleep on the couch, and his cognitive functioning was markedly improved. The research on sleep apnea that I have been reading indicates that sleep apnea can cause attention deficit troubles.

I am pretty sure I'm a good candidate for sleep apnea, as I reflect two of the three common risk factors: overweight, middle-aged, male. I'm 25, so I'll let you guess which two I fit. I'm 5'10 1/2" and weigh in at around 230. The most basic treatment for sleep apnea is to lose weight. After that, tests and such have to be run that would be a strain on my student budget. I have health insurance, but $300 for a test that I wasn't planning for is a little steep.

So, all that being said, anyone here have experience with sleep apnea? Did you experience attention deficit troubles as a result? How much did correcting your sleep apnea help your attention deficit symptoms? What treatments helped you? Did simply losing weight help or do you use a CPAP? I don't think I am a candidate for SA surgery, but if anyone has any experience with that, I would like to hear about that as well. I have contemplated taking medication for the attention deficit symptoms, but I would much rather fix the problem than treat the symptoms.

Thanks in advance.

Berko's picture

geomantic, I know the feeling....

emuelle1 wrote:
geomantic, I know the feeling. I spent a good part of today tweaking my blog template and tweaking an html file for Outlook Today.

I find that in my own mind, I feel like I have been productive because I have been laboring away at some PHP code or javascript or some other such thing. In reality what I mean is "I had these files open all day" and although I did make progress on them, it's not the same as if I had actually focused hard on it.
emuelle1 wrote:
unless it becomes a deadline.

I can focus like a madman when I am on a deadline. That's why I have treated it as a discipline problem for a long time. At the end of the semester though, it's common for me to be up for three-five days straight (naps of a couple hours don't really count) finishing the four papers I have known about all semester and preparing for a final exam that I will end up half-assed studying for and flying by the seat of my pants. Lucky for me, I'm smart and information has a tendency to just "stick." This is not meant as a boast; Part of improving is knowing yourself and compensating for your deficiencies. Recognizing strengths also helps you recognize where you have been patching your deficiencies instead of fixing them.

 
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