May finally have an answer for my fatigue after CPAP

I just wanted to share this here as I have continued to struggle with a lot of fatigue even after successful treatment of my sleep apnea with a CPAP machine and I know a lot of people here have as well. I've done all the diet and exercise stuff over the years without any noticeable difference. I also went on anxiety/depression meds last fall thinking maybe that was effecting things more than I thought it was. Still not feeling great. I took Nuvigil for a few days but didn't notice it doing anything outside of causing me some high blood pressure and slight nausea so I stopped.

One of my children had been recently diagnosed with ADHD and I noticed a lot of similarities in myself, with the one exception that I'm rarely ever hyper and usually the exact opposite. I decided last week to do some googling on ADHD and fatigue and found that many adults with ADHD have difficulty with daytime sleepiness and difficulty waking in the morning as well as sleep disordered breathing. The more I read about other issues with focus and inattention the more I was convinced this is definitely something I'm dealing with, and my psychiatrist agreed that I have all the hallmark symptoms of Inattentive ADHD. He's starting me on a low dose of a typical ADHD stimulant drug so we'll find out if it's going to help or not. Of course one of the side effects is insomnia and talking to other adults who have it, they often have to take meds to help them sleep at night with or without the stimulants so I may end up needing that in the end as well.

I know there are a million different things that can cause excessive fatigue, but this isn't one that I ever would have considered or suspected. Just thought I'd share this here in case it helps anyone else. It's still too early to tell if or what course of treatment will be effective for me, but I really do feel like I just found a huge piece of the puzzle.

Feeling hopeful for once.

Thank you for sharing. If you want to try something other than medications for insomnia if that develops, I have found the tips at the site below helpful to me. The method is called cognitive behavioural therapy or CBTi. There are a number of links and assessment tools at the site that you may find helpful.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia

I'm so glad you're feeling hopeful for a change. There's considerable value in continuing with your CPAP treatment while you're doing the new drug regimen. The CPAP will treat your disordered breathing (apnea) and protect you from developing a host of other, serious, chronic illnesses and your new drug should address the ADHD and fatigue. Which all goes to show what a motivated patient can accomplish. Keep up the good work!