Fragmented sleep

[green wings]

Sam, how long do you usually stay awake when you wake up in the middle of the night?

[SamStamport]

Thanks so much!

[JJJ]

Before starting CPAP in April 2012 I was waking several times a night. After being on CPAP for several months with no improvement I went to see the sleep doc. She suggested that some people develop a psychological need to wake up, i.e., after years of waking several times a night my brain continues to wake me even if it does not need to. She did not offer any remedy. Today I still wake four or five times a night, although usually I can roll over and go back to sleep in a few minutes. The longest I can sleep is about three hours, and usually only a couple hours. The sleep period gets shorter as the night proceeds.

I've tried everything, including over the counter medications (diphenhydramine HCL, doxylamine succinate, melatonin), but none of them has much effect, even if I take way more than the label instructions say, or if I take all of them. I think I'm immune to them. I've never tried any prescription sleep aids (scary).

In spite of this the CPAP has been beneficial. I used to nod off half a dozen times during the day. Now I go most days without nodding off, and if I do it is only once, briefly. But on rare occasions when I have been able to sleep for more than three hours without waking I feel great the next day. I suspect that my sleep periods are too short to get much REM sleep.

[Sleepster]

My situation seems opposite from yours. The small mask has fewer leaks than the large one.

I guess everyone's face is different.

Small (nasal) masks are less likely to leak precisely because they are small. However, my mouth was falling open, and that's the source of the leak. When a chin strap doesn't remedy the problem, a switch from a nasal mask to a full face mask is the solution.