Serotonin and the Upper Airway in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

The purpose of this study is to determine if a certain medication, alone or combined with another medication, will increase muscle activity in the upper airway in people who do and people who do not have sleep apnea. The medications being studied are paroxetine, a commonly used antidepressant, and 5 hydroxy-tryptophan (5HTP), which also can be used as a dietary supplement without a prescription. Because the effects of paroxetine in previous studies were not very large, we will also study it combined with 5HTP to see if the effect on the upper airway muscles is greater.