Managing Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches
W. Chris Winter, MD, and Margaret Park, MD, discuss how excessive daytime sleepiness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea is often underdiagnosed due to cultural normalization of fatigue and patient rationalization of symptoms, requiring clinicians to actively screen for sleepiness as a vital sign and consider FDA-approved wake-promoting medications like modafinil, armodafinil, and solriamfetol for those with residual sleepiness despite effective continuous positive airway pressure therapy.
EP. 1: Prevalence and Symptoms of EDS in Patients With OSA
July 28th 2025Panelists discuss how obstructive sleep apnea affects potentially up to 1 billion people globally, with excessive daytime sleepiness being a common but often underreported presenting complaint that patients may not recognize or admit to experiencing.
EP. 2: Risk Factors for Development of EDS in Patients With OSA
July 28th 2025Panelists discuss how the traditional profile of older, overweight men with thick necks remains valid for OSA risk, but clinicians must also recognize that less obvious cases in younger, smaller individuals can be easily missed and require more sensitive screening approaches.
