Waking up in the middle of the night

[JJJ]

Before my sleep study in late March I complained to my sleep doc about waking up several times in the middle of the night, although twenty years ago I would go to bed and the next thing I knew it was morning. After the diagnosis of severe sleep apnea my sleep doc and the DME both assured me that once I was on CPAP therapy waking up in the middle of the night would be a thing of the past. I got my CPAP machine in early April, and have used it ever since with good results. My sleep doc and the DME lied. I wake up just as much now as before. Yet, the fewer times I wake up the better I feel the next day.

I know there are others here who suffer from the same thing and there has been some discussion. I am starting this thread in the hope that we can combine our collective knowledge on this topic and make a wiki page from it.

I'll start with my personal experience with medications. I tried 50 mg diphenhydramine hydrochloride (Bendadry [tm]) and it helped, but not much. I also tried melatonin, which also helped a little. My best results with melatonin have been with 3 mg at dusk, then 20 mg time release at bedtime. I have also used doxylamine succinate (Unisom [tm]) and it helps more than diphenhydramine hydrochloride as a soporific, but it lasts too long. None of the combinations has completely solved the problem. My best results are with 3 mg melatonin and 50 mg doxylamine succinate at dusk and 20 mg melatonin time release at bedtime. That combinatioin gets me down to four or five arousals.

I would like to hear about:

how often you wake up
medications that you have tried and the results (both prescripion and OTC)
sleep hygiene things that have helped, or not helped
studies, articles and other reports of scientific inquiry
anything else that you know about the subject

I am not concerned here about inability to get to sleep or to return to sleep after arousal (general insomnia). Those are interesting issues, but they deserve a different thread. I just want to hear about waking up in the middle of the night.

[trish6hundred]

Hi JJJ,
I still get up a few times at night, (sometimes only once,) but I don't remember being told that It would improve or get worse and it hasn't gotten any worse. I take 2.5 mg of sublingual melatonin at around 10:00 PM and that helps me a lot. I don't take any other meds for sleep because I don't like the side affects. I hopes this information helps you.

[PollCat]

I guess the real question here is "Why do you wake up in the middle of the night?"

The only time I wake up in the middle of the night is to use the euphemism and that only occurs when I've had a lot of liquid shortly before bed.

[PaulaO2]

You know, it could just be the way you are. Meaning it is just something your body does. And it's not that they lied. It's just they were mistaken. Their theory was that your waking up was due to apnea events. So if your data is saying your AHI is low, then it is something else.

Have you tried to make a note (as in write it down) as to what time it is when you waken then check the data to see if anything was going on at that time? That would narrow things down slightly.

I don't often wake up once I go to sleep. And if I do, it's just for a minute or less until I fix whatever woke me up. But as a person with insomnia, I know a few things about sleep hygiene.

The main thing is to do nothing in bed but sleep and sex. No reading. No television. No eating. The idea is to train your body that when you lay down, it is time to sleep.

Then there's dietary things like no caffeine 4hrs before you go to bed.

[PollCat]

The main thing is to do nothing in bed but sleep and sex.

I'd add my 2-cents to this statement, but I'd probably get in trouble!

[Sleepster]

Before my sleep study in late March I complained to my sleep doc about waking up several times in the middle of the night, although twenty years ago I would go to bed and the next thing I knew it was morning.

This was my major complaint when I went to the doctor and was sent for a sleep study.

I would wake up about every two hours. I stopped caffeine, took benadryl and melatonin. Those things helped me get to sleep, but they didn't stop me from waking up. I also practiced good sleep hygiene which included exercising about 2-4 times per week and getting out of bed to read when I couldn't fall back asleep.

At my sleep study the tech mentioned what he called "weird" behavior. At times my heart would race and I'd begin taking deep breaths, "as if my body was anticipating an apnea". I noticed these symptoms myself.

After I started therapy these symptoms continued but they abated gradually. I still wake up throughout the night, but less often. I also find it much easier to get back to sleep and rarely have to get out of bed to read.

I've gotten lazy with my exercise routine and I feel that if I were getting more exercise I'd sleep better.

I've been on CPAP therapy for just over 11 months and I'm still noticing improvement in these symptoms.

Here's my theory: My body had been fighting obstructive sleep apnea for at least two decades. It fored these habits as a response mechanism. Now that I'm getting CPAP therapy the symptoms are fading. They'll continue t fade. I'll never sleep like I did when I was a teenager. But things will get better. And the more I stress over it the harder it'll be to get a good night's sleep.

The other night I set a record of six hours without waking. On the other hand, it could just be that I don't remember waking. There's no way to tell the difference without a sleep study, and the instruments used for the sleep study will interfere with that very measurement, so there's in effect no way to figure that out.

[southernlady]

I had no trouble going to sleep...had LOTS of trouble staying asleep...that is a type of insomnia and can cause sleep deprivation in it's own right. I tried different medications...then I decided to do some research of some of the prescription medications I took every day. Discovered one of the meds I was taking for pain and is suppose to help you sleep can ALSO cause wakefulness in the middle of the night...it wasn't a common side effect but it was a known one. Once I weaned myself off that medication, I started sleeping thru the night about half the time...the other half, I do wake long enough for a middle of the night potty run. But unlike before, I am able to go back to sleep.

Liz

[Duckdog58]

My bladder gets me up 1-2 times/night. I have no fear that is going to change for any reason because of a totally different and unrelated medical condition that will have to wait a while to be addressed.

[JJJ]

Thanks for the replies.

@sleepster:
I have been on CPAP only six months, so maybe my problem will eventually improve as yours did.

@southernlady:
Your reply made me wonder about my medications, something that I had not considered before. I checked side effects and it is possible that it is the enalapril maleate (Vasotec [tm]). According to my friend Mr. Google, insomnia is a side effect for only about 1.5%, but maybe I am in the group. I can't stop taking it until I figure out an alternative, so it will be a while before I can test this. In the meantime, thanks for the heads up.

@everyone else:
I was certainly interested in my own problem, but I also want to consolidate all the possible things that someone with this problem should consider. I was thinking of compiling it into a page that could go on the wiki. So please contribute, even if your suggestion doesn't sound like it fits my personal issues.

[dcgrafix]

Before my sleep study in late March I complained to my sleep doc about waking up several times in the middle of the night, although twenty years ago I would go to bed and the next thing I knew it was morning. After the diagnosis of severe sleep apnea my sleep doc and the DME both assured me that once I was on CPAP therapy waking up in the middle of the night would be a thing of the past. I got my CPAP machine in early April, and have used it ever since with good results. My sleep doc and the DME lied. I wake up just as much now as before. Yet, the fewer times I wake up the better I feel the next day.

I know there are others here who suffer from the same thing and there has been some discussion. I am starting this thread in the hope that we can combine our collective knowledge on this topic and make a wiki page from it.

I'll start with my personal experience with medications. I tried 50 mg diphenhydramine hydrochloride (Bendadry [tm]) and it helped, but not much. I also tried melatonin, which also helped a little. My best results with melatonin have been with 3 mg at dusk, then 20 mg time release at bedtime. I have also used doxylamine succinate (Unisom [tm]) and it helps more than diphenhydramine hydrochloride as a soporific, but it lasts too long. None of the combinations has completely solved the problem. My best results are with 3 mg melatonin and 50 mg doxylamine succinate at dusk and 20 mg melatonin time release at bedtime. That combinatioin gets me down to four or five arousals.

I would like to hear about:

how often you wake up
medications that you have tried and the results (both prescripion and OTC)
sleep hygiene things that have helped, or not helped
studies, articles and other reports of scientific inquiry
anything else that you know about the subject

I am not concerned here about inability to get to sleep or to return to sleep after arousal (general insomnia). Those are interesting issues, but they deserve a different thread. I just want to hear about waking up in the middle of the night.

I have been having sleeping issues since before I was a teen but they got worse as time went on, I would watch all my bodies drink them selves to sleep & then I would finish the night by myself with eyes wide open.
I also ended up with the most over active & the largest Bladder the Urologist had ever & showed my video of the inner wall of my Bladder & explained that the bladder wall should be mostly smooth & pink but mine was heavily textured with built up while mussel that contracts much harder then a normal bladder making it very painful but due to other issues passing urine doe to a flap of flesh acting like a 1 way valve in the urinary tract & that is what has giving me a muscular bladder wall (if I could do that to get some washboard abs.

At its worst I would get up 17 to 23 times in the night to drain the bladder & at the time had some endoscope surgery among many other things shoved up there that make you pee razer blades for a while & it did improve some & may need more surgery but they only wanted to take as little as possible because if the were to take too much I would loos the tap control & be stuck on a bag for the rest of my life. 1 week of all the camera crews & endoscopes with lazes was enough for me.

I am now taking 175 mg of Elavil (Amitriptyline) & have for years & now also taking Zopiclone 7.5 mg & may need to take one more if I still can't get to sleep.
Oh & did I say I have headaches that never go away with out pain killers. there are more meds so you could call me the walking med storage.