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Is it RERA or Insomnia ?
#1
Is it RERA or Insomnia ?
I posted about my fragmented sleep here : http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...nted-sleep

I have been having apneas since august last year, till i started using the CPAP in december 2018. 
Since august till now, even i tried the cpap for a month and half and now trying a bipap, i'm still waking up at night 5-10 times which makes me like a zombie al lday.

Today i learned that this could be insomnia developed from Apnea, i always thought i am waking up because of RERAs and not having enough IPAP pressure.

could someone look at my graphs and tell me if i am waking up because of RERAs or Insomnia ? and what to do ?

thanks
#2
RE: Is it RERA or Insomnia ?
Tomayto or tomaahhhto?

I think the two are linked, and so closely so that they are often mistaken for each other.  Do the RERA's mask the insomnia, or the other way around?  It's a chicken or egg problem.  Insomnia has many causes.  It's a hormone defect (melatonin or anti-diuretic hormone meaning lack of sleepiness or an overactive bladder).  Or, it's an overactive mind.  Or its restless legs.  Or it's poorly regulated body temperature.  High blood pressure resulting in audible pulse.  I could go on, but you get the idea.

If it's related to restrictions in flow, then your mind may awaken itself in response, and that's an RERA.  It might only be one or two strong gasps in order to catch up, but who could sleep through that unless heavily medicated?

The problem here, though, is that your PAP data is not temporally linked to any useful sleep stage data.  It's unlikely that insomnia for reasons unrelated to PAP, or your reasons for needing it, causes RERAs. Instead, if your PAP is not optimal, the flow restrictions cause RERAs and that passes for insomnia.

I don't know if I have made any sense, but it seems to me that we need to see some representative data, that being several days' worth, to see if your PAP delivery is of the kind that is best for your circumstances.  If it is correct, but you're still having RERAs, then you have something else going on.
#3
RE: Is it RERA or Insomnia ?
(01-31-2019, 08:06 PM)mesenteria Wrote: Tomayto or tomaahhhto?

I think the two are linked, and so closely so that they are often mistaken for each other.  Do the RERA's mask the insomnia, or the other way around?  It's a chicken or egg problem.  Insomnia has many causes.  It's a hormone defect (melatonin or anti-diuretic hormone meaning lack of sleepiness or an overactive bladder).  Or, it's an overactive mind.  Or its restless legs.  Or it's poorly regulated body temperature.  High blood pressure resulting in audible pulse.  I could go on, but you get the idea.

If it's related to restrictions in flow, then your mind may awaken itself in response, and that's an RERA.  It might only be one or two strong gasps in order to catch up, but who could sleep through that unless heavily medicated?

The problem here, though, is that your PAP data is not temporally linked to any useful sleep stage data.  It's unlikely that insomnia for reasons unrelated to PAP, or your reasons for needing it, causes RERAs. Instead, if your PAP is not optimal, the flow restrictions cause RERAs and that passes for insomnia.

I don't know if I have made any sense, but it seems to me that we need to see some representative data, that being several days' worth, to see if your PAP delivery is of the kind that is best for your circumstances.  If it is correct, but you're still having RERAs, then you have something else going on.

completely make sense, and that is why i'm confused, am i waking up because of flow limitations or because i developed an insomnia from the 4 months of untreated apnea ?
i posted all my data from the SD card in the other post, it's a link inside the post that shows 30 days worth of apap therapy(that was not successful)
how would i know if it 's flow limitation or insomnia from the graphs?
#4
RE: Is it RERA or Insomnia ?
I have insomnia that is treated with 150mg of Trazodone taken 30 minutes before bedtime. I know for a fact that without this medication I would have had a hard time adjusting to CPAP therapy. With the Trazodone I sleep soundly even through large leaks until about 5am. I go to bed at 10. I found a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist for Insomnia from Nashville that does tele therapy. I had a fifteen minute conference with her and I really enjoyed talking with her. The research says that tele therapy is just as effective as face to face. I think the session is eight weeks long twice a week. She wanted me to get going on CPAP treatment first before we began.


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