I have both. Two separate issues. Sleep Apnea deals with the mechanics, ie. physical obstructions that prevent/disrupt normal sleep. Had that before PD. CPAP made a HUGE difference. Wanted benefits so much took methodical approach with regards to adapting to the mask. Short exposures during wake hours for a few days. Then naps before 1st night time use. Doing this at least eliminates one sleep issue. Winding down with proper sleep hygiene also helps. Personally, sleep not impacted much by my PD.

Sleep Apnea in itself can be serious and worthy of attention, even if it doesn't solve all your sleep problems.

Hope that helps?

Cheers!

I have sleep apnea and my MDS said getting and using was more critical than parkinsons. I take 2 tabs of extended release carbidopa/levodopa 50/200 and .5 mg of clonazapan.My sleep has improved .

This is Dave responding. I have sleep apnea along with PD. I have used a c-pap unit for at least 15 years. It worked well and improved my quality of sleep until the last 3 or 4 years. Now I wake up 2 or 3 times per night. I think my problems are caused by the medicines I am taking that cause sleep disturbances. And it is a real problem because some of those meds make me sleepy and some cause sleep problems. Talk about an internal battle. God bless you all.

I could be facetious and say, "let's sleep on it" - I guess I just did...but I have "sleep attacks" and they are kind of scary when they happen during a conversation, from one word to the next and without warning.

If I am with people I don't know I will say I have a sleep disorder right at the beginning. Those who already know me and my immediate family were clued in a long time ago and aren't upset as a result. And yes, they all have witnessed at least one occurrence. The usual response is "was my conversation THAT boring?" We are all prone to poke fun at it rather than get upset.

I also get incidents when I can feel a sleep attack is about to begin. When those occur I can prepare for them by just excusing myself away from a conversation or social situation.

I also exhibit the symptoms of a classic case of sleep apnea and sometimes wake up (about halfway) feeling not rested and as if I had been softened up with baseball bats during the night. I am having a sleep study in about two weeks to see if apnea is the problem.

I am averse to addressing the condition by adding more meds - I have heard and witnessed some side effects of med mix and match and I approach anything that suggests adding to what I already use with a good deal of caution. There is simply no way to test all possible mixtures of meds and that must be considered.

In summary, my feeling is that if you have the "double whammy", face it directly. Let people with whom you interact regularly know it exists. That can't cover every possible situation, but it takes care of a large part of them. After that it has to be a judgement call based on the individual situation - I personally advocate bringing it up right from the beginning.

Yes I have both.. I use a cpap. I have had sleep apnea much longer than PD, maybe that makes a difference.