Central Apnea, Methadone Withdrawal, and Other Trials and Tribulations

[Yankiwi]

I don't like to sit around either. When I was a teenager (long before I knew I had RLS) I used to say "standing burns more calories than sitting" if someone asked me to have a seat. Maybe my body new something that my mind didn't.

[debbluebird]

Well, you aren't going to believe this. I went to bed around 10 pm, fell asleep. I was very tired. No creepy crawlies in my arms, but just slightly. I was able to ignore it. Up to bathroom around 2am. Back to sleep. It's now 8 am. So I'm guessing 9 plus hours.
Last night I took one Mirapex and one Gabapentin around 7 pm. Then about 9, two sleeping pills, one gabapentin and 100 mg of Tramadol. At 2 am last Gabapentin.
I am so relieved. I took a little job yesterday to help this person out. I'm supposed to be there at 10 am. Also many days with her all summer.
I am so grateful for last night. I have only added the tramadol the last couple of nights. Hope this continues.
Ann, I hope yours gets better soon too.

[ViewsAskew]

Great news. I think mine is slightly better, too. Not enough to proclaim success, but I was able to sleep about 8 hours one night and about 5 hours last night. That is good and I'll take it over the 1 to 2 hours we were getting.

[debbluebird]

I worked really hard today, physically. When I do that then my RLS/PLMs are usually worse. I've had a couple sensations just sitting here. Will see how the night goes. My husband doesn't want me to switch to the Norco tonight. He just wants me to take it on Sunday night, since the second night last week was terrible. I will work a couple more hours tomorrow.

[debbluebird]

Last evening wasn't that great, which happens to me when I'm too physical. (like over exercising) Anyway, the night wasn't too bad. Slept about four hours, but then had arm sensations. I was up for about an hour. Decided to try and go back to bed. Luckily it went ok. Arms were better. Slept another four hours. So I felt ok today. I hope this trend continues.

[badnights]

I hope this trend continues.

Me too

[debbluebird]

Tonight is my night of not taking Mirapex, so I took the Norco. It just doesn't do a thing for me. So here I sit, legs going and awake. Only 1am. Good news, arms are fine. No sensations, thank goodness.
I go back to my doctor tomorrow to fill her in, plus I want to ask about the ferritin, that is 793.
Anyone have any thoughts on that ?

[debbluebird]

Another question? My doctor said that mmj would cause central sleep apnea. Would the kratom do the same?

[ViewsAskew]

That sux. I honestly do not know about the kratom and breathing - a quick Google search might help, but people might not know since it likely hasn't been studied at all. I did find this quote, though, "In animal studies where rats were given mitragynine, those rats had no respiratory depression." So, looks like it might not be an issue.

Per the ferritin - I remember thinking WOW when I saw your level - 793! No idea what to say about that...

[debbluebird]

Yeah, I stopped my iron about a month ago now, because I was worried. Then had the blood test a couple of weeks later. I originally thought, if it was around 400, that would be ok. So I don't know.

[debbluebird]

Regarding the breathing, it's more about it affecting my brain. My brain forgets to tell me to breath. That's central sleep apnea.

[ViewsAskew]

Yes, but for some reason I thought you had mixed - both central and obstructive. You wouldn't want anything to depress any breathing - that is what opioidsl. I couldn't find anything definitive, by the way, that marijuana would induce/worsen central apnea and saw some research that it might help - but didn't say if it would help both obstructive and central.

[debbluebird]

Yes, I do have both. But it's the central that I have to manage.

[ViewsAskew]

Right - but you wouldn't want anything to worsen the obstructive, even if it didn't hurt the central, right?

[debbluebird]

Right.
Only got two hours last night. It was my night to take Norco and not Mirapex. This seems to be a trend.
Primary doc now wants me to stop it and go back to pulmonary doc, who also does sleep, etc. She doesn't know what to do with me.
Also, since I've only been taking one Mirapex .125 mg, to try and cut that in half and see what happens.
I don't see that there are very many choices left.