Some wild ass speculation: Depression runs in my family,

[hedgehog]

so I never questioned it when what I now realize was a low grade chronic depression bloomed into full fledged clinical depression. I had the atypical type: I wanted to sleep all day and I gained significant weight. I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea. I thought the doctor who ordered the tests was just blowing me off, but I did the sleep study to prove him wrong and move on to the next thing. After seeing the results, I have to ask, was sleep apnea the stress trigger that set off my depression? (After all, aside from being exhausted, consider the frustration and self incrimination from never getting things done.)

More to the point, what if a lot or all cases of atypical depression tied to apnea?

[mopinko]

1. i have been raving about sleep for a long time.

i think that anyone admitted to a psyche ward should be required by law to have a sleep test. i think that every person who suffers from serious depression should have a sleep test.
apnea is not the only disorder, but it is sure the most common. sleep depravation is THE most treatable cause of depression. it is damn criminal that anyone would be treated with big time meds, or would have an awful life without considering this possibility.
here they are building fancy new sleep units everywhere. hope this spreads.

all that said, c-pap is a pain. mine is not doing me all that much good, but i have some other issues that i am dealing with. nonetheless, i have been using like a good girl for a couple months now, and i can deal with it. DH needs one, and he is downright freaked out by it. claustrophobic. that is the number one barrier, right there. i think taking a little ambien, like i do, does help. don't think the docs know that trick yet.

good luck to you. hope that treatment is effective, and not too annoying.

[Lorien]

2. It's not all that uncommon for sleep apnea and depression to go hand in hand

my father has both, and so do several other people that I know. I have chronic fatigue syndrome because I pop awake when my brain starts to go into REM mode and I'm severely depressed. But unfortunately my depression hasn't lifted even with the help of sleep aids. I hope that getting a treatment for your sleep apnea DOES greatly improve your depression though. That would be wonderful!

Try everything. I know how hellish it is to never get the things done that you need to. I feel like I'm perpetually a decade and a half behind on bloody well everything. I can't keep up because of the exhaustion, fatigue, and lack of motivation from perpetual numbness. If one doctor doesn't work try another. If they don't work, try an alternative physician. I think that incorrect diagnosis keeps too many of us sick for far too long; if you're gut is telling you that your depression could be sleep related, then I think there's a good chance that you're on to something.