7 Drugs That Can Cause Obstructive Sleep Apnea (as researched by Doctor Steven Park, MD, of New York, NY)
1. Antidepressants, including Pamelor and Elavil. An unknown side-effect: they decrease REM sleep. What this means is that you won’t get proper rest and recovery and you’ll develop learning/memory problems
2. Mood stabilizer (for bipolar disorder, seizures, and migraines) Depakote. It causes weight gain–significant gain over one year for 44 percent of men and 24 percent of women.
3. Anti-psychotics such as Zyprexa, Abilify, Risperdal, Seroquel. They cause weight gain in many patients and may lead to diabetes.
4. Inflammation-controller corticosteriods such as Prednisone–a very common prescription med. It can lead to arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma, as well as significant weight gain for a large percentage of chronic users.
5. Antihistamines such as Allegra and Zyrtec. They can cause weight gain and lead to being overweight.
6. Insulin. Contrary to what may be expected, it causes weight gain, even though the increased sugar control would be expected to be associated with weight loss.
7. Older beta-blockers like propranolol, atenolol, and metoprolol. They can cause weight gain.
Doctor Steven Park, MD, who did the research that led to this popular list said that he was impressed by how many side effects there were with all of the listed medications.
He also noted that the list was only of seven, and their side effects were common. He said that he expected there to be MANY MORE prescription medications that have sleep and weight disturbing effects, and cautioned the doctors who presribe these meds.