Is It Sleep Apnea or Depression? Or both?

I have been having a lot of problems lately. And I know there are correlations with sleep apnea and depression, so I want to get to the bottom of things.

Here have been some of my issues:

1. Little motivation to do a lot of things (particularly when they involve something I am uninterested in).
2. Low energy
3. Slight ADD like symptoms
4. Inability to hold a job thus far (at least in part, due to the disinterest of the work itself: trying to find a career I like, but many people have a higher threshold for doing things they don't like than I seem to)

So....it's often hard to tell whether this is related to the sleep apnea (which I currently have not been using my machine to treat) OR if it's just a general depression. Or both?

Either way: I have to get to the bottom of this.... What can I do from here? Will anti-depressants work? Or do I have to find a way to treat the apnea? (which I actually made another topic about)

You need to find a way to treat your apnea. You need to find a doctor to quarterback all your symptoms. You should never just take antidressants. Very dangerous and very addictive. Find a doctor willing to take the time to go through all your symptoms and treat the root cause and then any symptoms that don't subside. Best way to approach your problems.

Dr Tony

Just curious. Saw you had issues and I won't attempt to be able to provide help but it does seem that you have had a sleep study and were diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (hence the machine). Why are you not using the machine? Seems to me that if sleep apnea were causing some of the issues you are having, treating it would at least eliminate apnea as a cause or perhaps mitigate your other issues. Also, you can change your username easily by clicking on the icon on the top right of every screen immediately to the left of the search icon. Good luck. Oh yeah, the root cause of your issues is best found in conjunction with a doctor as suggested by Dr. Soileau.

I read your post and have had some of the same issues. Started out with a diagnosis of depression years ago and sleep apnea recently. I recommend you see a doctor and therapist for depression as they can be helpful in tandem. My apnea became worse in the past year due to incorrect pressure and mask leaks (requiring refitting to a better size). My doc treats my cognitive problems with stimulant medication as I have problems with memory, attention and learning. This additional tweak has helped a lot. The last study showed little delta and REM sleep activity which I would like to address and hope that time, proper Cpap use and lifestyle changes will improve. In my case l suspect the apnea came first and early in childhood, but no way to be sure. Please address the depression because it makes self-care harder to do, not just for apnea, but even for everyday things such as eating properly, personal hygiene, bill paying, etc.