Please help - cpap question

[lynneat]

Please help. I want to post and don't know HOW! This is the question
without cpap his legs would move then he would start breathing again. Docs want to give him meds to stop legs from moving...that is how he restarts breathing!!!
with cpap he breaths nonstop but legs STILL move.. That is ok but he isn't rested SO TIRED!!! eyes ache...no rem sleep!! We need help! Thanks.

[Polar Bear]

Hello lynneat and welcome.
You have posted ok.
Are you talking about your husband?

As I am understanding it - your husband would stop breathing, his legs move and this would start him breathing again.
When he uses the cpap he breaths ok, but there is still the problem with his legs moving so he's not getting good sleep.
Do his legs move of their own accord, or does he move his legs because he just must move them... he cannot not move them.

Has a diagnosis of WED - RLS been made by his doctor.
Does he take any medication specifically for the symptoms of WED/RLS.

If it helps, here are the questions listed by a doctor to determine if it is WED:
1. Does your husband experience the urge to move?
2. Is the need to move overwhelming to the point that he cannot resist moving his legs?
3. Will the urge to move increase if he is in a confined position?
4. Does he have symptoms both sitting and lying?
5. How long does he need to be at rest before his leg symptoms begin?
6. Does his symptoms only begin when his legs are in a specific posture?
7. How quickly does he get relief when he start moving/walking?
8. Does his leg symptoms occur when he is walking?
9. If he has obtained relief with walking, do the symptoms ever return while he continues to walk?
10. When are his symptoms worst?
11. When are his symptoms least?
12. Does he find his symptoms are less in the morning?

I am assuming that if he has a cpap then he has been seeing his doctor with regard to sleep difficulties.
Has doctor discussed WED/RLS and has any WED medication been tried.

[Rustsmith]

Hi, lynneat. In addition to PB's excellent suggestions, I would like to add a few comments based upon my own sleep apnea/WED testing.

1. What your husband has may be PLMS (Periodic Leg Movements during Sleep). However, 80% of people with PLMS also have WED. The two conditions are also treated using the same medications. So this is the right place to be, even if he does not technically have WED (while awake).
2. I remember seeing a comment by a physician a while back that said the best source of information about whether a person has PLMS is not to ask the individual (because they are asleep when they move and do not know). The person to ask is their "bed partner". Your observation of his leg movements while asleep is a key part of the initial diagnosis of PLMS.
3. When your husband got his CPAP, did he have a lab study or a home study. Some home studies only look at the breathing part to diagnose sleep apnea. A proper overnight sleep study includes sensors on the legs to detect lower leg movements. In my case they found that my legs were moving so much that I averaged an "micro-arousal" every 6 minutes. During these micro-arousals, the person may not be aware of momentarily awakening, but it disrupts sleep and keeps you from getting into the proper levels of deep sleep that are needed.
4. Therefore, you BOTH should visit with his sleep doctor and you should tell the doctor about the continued leg movements after starting CPAP. If your husband had a home study, this should be enough information for the doctor to order a full lab study with insurance coverage. With the information from a lab study, the doctor then has enough data to justify treatments for PLMS and/or WED.
5. One last question is whether your husband has trouble getting to sleep. One of the biggest problems with WED is the insomnia that it creates. Obviously this is not an issue with pure PLMS.

I went to my sleep doctor to treat my insomnia. I ended up with both CPAP and treatment for my severe WED. Treating the WED has changed my life because I found out that it was causing problems during the day that I was not even aware of because I had learned to live with it. Treatment has dramatically changed my life, so do not let him delay if you need to revisit the sleep doctor (and BOTH of you need to visit with the doctor).

[ViewsAskew]

Hi lynneat,

It sounds like you are not sure how to create a new topic. When you are in the section/Forum you want to make your post, look at the left side of your screen, just above the list of existing topics and just below the name of the forum for the button:

New Topic

And click on it. That is how you start a new post. I moved your original post to its own topic thread.