AboutDave J. (Scoop0901) Expertise I can answer questions on sleep disorders, in general, and sleep apnea, specifically. I've been actively involved in providing direct support to individuals, family members, employers, and others on the topics of sleep and sleep disorders for more than six years, keep up-to-date on valid, peer-reviewed research, as well as treatment options.
I can answer general questions including, but not limited to polysomnography (PSG or sleep study) techniques; health issues associated with sleep apnea; compliance with a CPAP or BiPAP machine, mask selection and fitting; insurance coverage; ADA issues; and more, but cannot provide diagnosis over the internet.
Why can I answer only general questions? The question would be better asked why I will not answer specific questions. That's the easy part. Your health is unique, or, in redundant terms, "individually unique," meaning that while there's a lot of research that has been conducted in the world of sleep over the past few decades, there is none that can foretell any specific individual's future. What may hold true for your friend, for instance, may not be true for you. It's just like if both you and your best friend like to drive. You both want to own your own vehicles, having the freedom to move about a will, but your taste, your selection in vehicle is vastly different. For example, you may prefer an environmentally-friendly sub-compact car that gets 50 miles to the gallon, but your neighbor may prefer a H2 Hummer. The same holds true with health care issues. While one person may suffer issues X, Y, and Z, as fully supported by research, you may suffer issues D, T, and S, never experiencing anything the other person experienced.
Experience
As to my experience, let's start back on January 1, 2000, one of nine days I spent in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) unit of a Northeast Philadelphia hospital. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, along with a couple other sleep disorders, not to mention some very serious, very nasty health conditions related to many years of undiagnosed, therefore, untreated sleep disorders.
After somewhere around three months of fiddling with the equipment, adding a heated humidifier to the gear, and finding the right mask for me, I became 100 percent compliant with my BiPAP therapy. I have seemingly experienced what seems to be all the same, nay, all the classic problems everyone else who's ever used a CPAP, BiPAP, or other xPAP device has experienced, suffers. Things such as mask problems, humidification problems, among others.
I established a community education and support group, Awake in Philly, in Philadelphia, PA (USA), in May 2000, to help support and educate others about the true costs of sleep issues, including sleep disorders, sleep deprivation. We also work to educate the public, employers, and government and elected officials, as well as health care professionals about the dangers of these issues.
Since getting diagnosed, I've become a very vocal, very pro-active sleep activist, dedicated to helping others before they suffer the many woes that too often accompany untreated and undiagnosed sleep disorders and sleep deprivation.
In addition to working locally, I always think globally, yet act responsibly in all I do, yet have managed to extend the reach of my work nationally. I am involved with Awake In America, Inc., an all-volunteer national non-profit focused on sleep and sleep disorders. An all-volunteer organization is one where the people involved are committed to the efforts, and one in which no one is paid or compensated for their work with the organization, where all funds may be used for operations and actual work to fulfill the organization's missions. I know of no other non-profit corporation that can make that bold statement.
Awake In America was organized to assist others around the country to quickly and effectively launch support groups, but also to work on community awareness of sleep disorders, serve as an outreach source, among other issues. Awake In America also launched the only national xPAP Donation and Relief Program, which is designed to assist individuals without insurance or the financial means necessary, obtain equipment and supplies essential to treating diagnosed sleep apnea. We also have a national Sleep Study Relief Program, again, the first in the nation, and the only one of its kind in the nation.
Having spent more than 20 years as an investigative journalist and editor, I do careful, tedious research on all issues involving sleep and sleep disorders. I question everything in studies and reports, challenging findings, wanting to see if everything using strict scientific methods, uninfluenced by funding flowing from specific interest groups.
In the almost nine years of helping others, through Awake In Philly and Awake In America, as well as my personal blog on sleep, The Sleep Blog, I've done a tremendous amount of reading, much of which in the same books used to train sleep techs, as well as many of the same books that are on the shelves of many sleep specialists.
I've dealt with countless people, via email, instant messaging (IM), and on the phone, sometimes, basically doing the equivalent of providing a shoulder for them to lean or cry on. In the end, I offered ideas to help them overcome their challenges, and fortunately, I've been able to help a large majority of those people, but some required the hands-on, in-person approach of a physician or sleep specialist.
Question Hello again. Just wanted to ask if you have heard of anyone that has tried 5htp for apnea? I have read it can help.
Thanks
Answer James:
I've not heard of anyone who has tried it, though I've heard of others who have tried a variety of other supplements and later abandoned the supplements for lack of results.
In regards to 5-HTP, though, you may wish to review some medical literature on the supplementr, or, if nothing else, the article on About.com, written in plain English, about findings regarding 5-HTP made by researchers at the Mayo Clinic. That article may be found at: http://depression.about.com/cs/altmed5htp/f/5htp.htm -- and specifically, at the very least, the following paragraph:
"Some reports suggest that purity may a potential problem for 5-HTP as well. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have urged caution in the use of 5-HTP. In the September 1998 issue of the journal "Nature Medicine", scientists at the Mayo Clinic reported finding low levels of impurities in retail samples of some dietary supplements containing 5-HTP. One of these impurities was identified as "peak X", an impurity reported several years ago in a product containing 5-HTP that was used by two siblings who developed eosinophilia and their mother who developed the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS). Mayo Clinic scientists notified FDA about their findings shortly before publication of this report. FDA analyzed several samples of bulk 5-HTP and finished product. FDA investigation has confirmed the presence of "peak X," as reported in the "Nature Medicine" article. Moreover, additional analyses by FDA, although limited in scope, found that some 5-HTP-containing dietary supplement products or ingredient sources of 5-HTP contained one or more additional impurities. No cases of EMS resulting from 5-HTP use have been reported, however."
Do note, though, that it does induce sleep and that many sites selling the supplement caution against driving -- much the same way individuals with untreated sleep apnea and/or excessive sleepiness are warned -- against driving. Nowhere in any of the information I've ever seen is it suggested that it may be beneficial in the treatment of sleep apnea. One site selling the supplement, did, however, suggest "some" people purchased it to treat apnea, but never indicated any possible reason. By not listing any benefit, the site is remaining on this side of the fuzzy grey line the FDA drew about unsubstantiated claims regarding dietary supplements. In order to make a claim, the manufacturer would need to have the supplement undergo at least one serious, intensive clinical trial whose findings are accepted by the FDA.
Best wishes with your sleep issues.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
-dave
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| Dave Jackson * http://sleep.scoop0901.net * Phila., PA.
| "It is funny about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the very
|best you will very often get it." -W. Somerset Maugham
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DISCLAIMER: Any information shared in this email is not intended to replace medical advice, nor is any information to be is interpreted as an attempt to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
