The article mentions sleep, which is very important to us all. But something not mentioned is that the symptoms of Sleep Apnea can look a lot like ADHD, and if you have sleep apnea and ADHD then you get a double whammy. Sleep apnea can start at any age, which could be one reason why your attention suddenly got worse. If you're waking up unrested, or have any of the other signs of sleep apnea, get it checked out. In my case my doctor resisted testing "because I wasn't obese," (more or less, perhaps I'm being unkind), so you may have to work at it. But an in-lab sleep study will give you a clear diagnosis. I have seen reports of people who were able to stop ADHD medication once their apnea was treated.
I was treated for sleep apnea 3 times trying to get ADHD treatment.
I eventually found a dental/nasal engineer guy and his testing was more thorough than the sleep studies I undertook. I paid for his device (300 bucks or so) but in the process he gave me a lot of techniques and understanding. He diagnosed me as borderline, despite 2 sleep studies telling me it was severe and chronic. Largely through blood oxygen levels and mouth position.
as someone who has been down this road, this doesn't sound scientific... but I'd love to be proved wrong. sleep studies (PSGs) are rather detailed, and that price doesn't align with medical-grade oral appliances
I dont know what you pay for either scenario. But where I am, sleep studies are heavily government subsidised, and cost me less than the oral appliance, which did not attract any subsidy.
The issue there is that theres an extreme incentive to push you back to another sleep study. The people who run the sleep studies also sell/rent government subsidised CPAP machines. And the sales pitch is very forceful.
On my large treadmill of doctors doing anything they could possibly do to not send me to a psych for an ADHD assessment, I was offered the option of the oral appliance. I found that gentlemans practice, knowledge and understanding of the issue to be quite thorough.
His approach was more engineering than science for sure. I don't doubt the sleep studies results, in that I was getting extremely poor sleep. I doubt the interpretation of the results towards a diagnosis of extreme OSA.
What really got me my best sleep was ADHD stimulants. Its like I have a normal humans circadian rhythm now. But spending 6 months on the oral device, learning about jaw positioning, sleep positioning and other things, probably did me better than a CPAP machine would have.
Probably some important context, is that the doctor who referred me to 2 sleep studies and a whole bunch of other shit, had diagnosed me with subclinical thyroid problems. And on the basis of that diagnosis was unwilling to ever refer me to a psych because he believed his diagnosis explained all of my symptoms that OSA did not. I do have subclinical, treated, genetic hypothyroidism. My current doctor is inclusive of that diagnosis, and doesnt use it to exclude others.
sleep studies don't really have significant rates of false positives. it's not unreasonable to want to treat OSA due to it causing executive dysfunction as a side effect.
yeah, the DME market is weird which is why I just bought my equipment outright. but the point of repeating a study is to ensure you're being treated. if the government is paying for it, they aren't going to do an extremely expensive test for fun.
based on your description it sounds like you may have both ADHD and OSA, so I'm glad you're doing better
oral appliances aren't really a first line treatment and can cause issues with one's bite and TMJ. in the US, sleep board certified dentists can make a custom appliance that reduces these risks. $300 sounds like a budget for a toy by comparison...
more engineering than science? isn't engineering a science?
doctors aren't perfect but the alternatives are rarely better. if this person isn't a medical professional, they can't "diagnose" anyone
>but the point of repeating a study is to ensure you're being treated. if the government is paying for it, they aren't going to do an extremely expensive test for fun.
Welcome to Australias Medicare lmao. Visit > referral for test > Visit for test result is how GPs make money. They get a cut from the government at every step regardless of how much is billed to me directly. We arent far away from needing a royal commission to investigate how many of these yoyo visits are required.
>based on your description it sounds like you may have both ADHD and OSA, so I'm glad you're doing better
The OSA is real. The OSA is definitely mild and not extreme. It is also heavily influenced by sleep position and my jaw.
>custom appliance that reduces these risks.
The device was customised to my Bite profile. He had better options, but the 300 dollars was what I had. He had options up to 2k. He was also certified, as I had a referral to see him.
>more engineering than science? isn't engineering a science?
Engineering is applied science.
Not even my only medical issue fixed by visiting that professions engineer either tbh. I had a crown fail, and a dental engineer refitted it for 15 dollars, told me the cement he used would last 20 years and isnt made any more. 20 years later my toddler popped it out.
