I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in August of 2008. A CPAP machine will not help me and I don't exhale properly. I never stop breathing like a normal person with sleep apnea. My doctor prescribed Nuvigil yesterday, but when I went to fill the script it was over $300 for just one month alone. My insurance only covered $10. :( Do any of you other mama's take something to help you stay awake during the day? Is it script or over the counter? I have tried caffinee, eating something all the time, loud music, being cold/hot and nothing seems to work. It is so bad that I even wrecked my car after falling asleep at the wheel. I am trying to get something done before I hurt myself or someone else.
The medicine the doctor proscribed is Nuvigil. I did get on their website and printed a 14 day free trial. With this I will at least know if it helps or not. They have an assistance program that I am going to check into as well. Thanks for the suggestions.
I am not heavy set and acutally have trouble gaining weight. I'm 5'9" and weight 115 lbs. The doctor said I do not meet the normal profile for someone with sleep apena.
You poor thing! Sorry, I have no magic bullet for you.
Have you tried hard core nutrition and meditation? Miracles can happen just through visualization. You never know.......
i was in your exact shoes several years ago. tons of tests, sleep labs, nothing helped. i finally went to a good homeopath who worked intensively with me to get my organs producing the correct amount of hormones and enzymes. it took some time, but it gave me my life back.
traditional medicine did NOTHING for me. the final word, after years of tests, was 'have you tried caffeine?'
good luck!
khairete
S.
Can you contest your insurance? That is a beneficial medicine you NEED to be normal in society (like Topamax is for migraine sufferers). That is just ridiculous they won't cover it!!!!!! If they complain about the cost, remind them that there are illnesses out there that require medicine that costs $5000 a month. Can you find a new insurance or will no one take you because of the condition? (Gotta love sneaky companies..not)
I would fork over the money for the one month to see if it even helps. If it works then proactively find a solution to get it paid for either with your Ins company to cover or find another alternative. How about excercise and nutrtion. Look online for sleep studies. Often times medication is discounted or free is you are part of a case/group study.
Have you had your hormones checked?
http://www.project-aware.org/Resource/Pharmacy1.shtml
This link should take you to a list of compounding pharmacies in your area, they can give you a list of doctors who prescribe Bio-identical HRT. You may not need hrt, but in general doctors who prescribe Bio-identical HRT will review your hormone levels and symptoms to make sure you are really with-in the limits of normal. Because what is normal and functioning for you, may not be for me. Example: several years ago I was so tired all the time that I would get my kids off to school and have to take a nap. I had my thyroid checked and was told it was 'normal', but I had symptoms of low thyroid. When I discussed this with my HRT doctor, she agreed that just because I was "With-in Normal Limits" on my thyroid level, I was still at the low end of normal and should be treated. I started on Armour thyroid and within a week I felt better.
Thyroid is not the only hormone that can cause issues. Low progesterone can cause sleep disruption, which can cause your DHEA and Cortisol levels to be out of whack as well as your estrogen and testosterone levels.
And you do not have to be pre, peri or post menopausal to have hormone problems. You just have to be a male or female!
I just wanted to suggest looking into why your insurance covers so little. Usually there is a generic or a preferred medicine when they won't cover it. Maybe the substitute would work just as well. If the lack of coverage is due to a high deductible insurance look into a HSA account. Contributions to an HSA are pretax so you would be saving your marginal tax rate. In other words if your prescription is $300 and your marginal tax rate is 25% you just saved $75 by running the cost through your HSA account.
Although you may well have sleep apnea, it sounds like you may also have narcolepsy. Although I haven't read it, I just became aware of an article by Dr. Mercola about the research showing that flu vaccines cause narcolepsy. These types of adverse reactions to vaccines are rarely reported because MDs tend to steer the public away from considering the possibility that a vaccine may cause problems.
I have learned that standard US medical practices are not the only type of health care and that they certainly do not have all the answers. If you feel that the unwanted sleep episodes might be the result of a flu vaccine, you may want to find a homeopathic doctor to see if he/she could prescribe an antidote. I know many people who see both an MD and a Doctor of Homeopathy and benefit greatly from both. Each has there benefits over the other for different situation.
Of course you may not have had a flu shot and there may be another reason altogether, but you might still want to look into a homeopathic solution. Homeopathic medicine is usually far, far more affordable and often far more effective without the toxic side effects.
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Part of me agrees with Suz...homeopaths and acupuncturists can do a lot and help in areas that traditional medicine struggles. That being said, it is expensive too and most insurances don't cover it. So, I would suggest buying the script and seeing if it works, as Lucky suggested. In the meantime, apply for the assistance program and research homeopaths and/or acupuncturists in your area, if you're comfortable with that. You aren't going to save any money doing that I don't think, but you need to know what will work and what won't.
Have you thought about or has a dr. ever mentioned getting your tonsils and adnoids removed? (assuming you still have them both?)
I know of two people now that had this done for the same problem and it fixed it. Something worth looking in to. (FYI - they were children, not sure if that makes a difference or not).
