Waking with palpitations

[SleepRunner]

I am just getting started with CPAP. Surprisingly the equipment doesn't bother me and I sometimes wake thinking I forgot to put my nasal pillow on and then realize it's there happily blowing away.

Unfortunately I more typically wake about 1.5 hours into the night with palpitations and often some hyperventilation symptoms (tingly/burning sensations particularly in my cold feet) that thoroughly arouse me so the rest of the night is a struggle. I've seen my primary care physician and a cardiologist and after some extensive tests they have pronounced me healthy (with the exception of apnea).

Anyone else have these problems? Any advice in addition to "don't give up" using the CPAP? Though I know it's impossible to know how long such problems might persist it would be nice to have some hope that there is light (sleep) at the end of the tunnel (of sleep deprivation).

[trish6hundred]

Hi SleepRunner,
WELCOME! to the forum.
It's GREAT to hear that your Dr. found you in good health other than apnea.!
I don't know the answer to your question but hang in there and someone will be able to help you soon.
Best of luck.

[Shastzi]

Welcome SleepRunner!

Hmm.
I suspect your low pressure may be too low...but first...
Check your SleepyHead graph and see what your pressure is during the times you are showing high resperation rates.
Lets look for leaks too that may be occuring at the same time.

See any corellations?

Good Luck!

[archangle]

First, let's be clear.

Are you saying you've discussed the palpitations and other problems with the doctor and they've pronounced you healthy?

If so, look into varying your CPAP treatment. Check your Sleepyhead results for anything suspicious, figure out what pressures seem to work. Then see about varying the minimum and maximum pressure range.

One thing to investigate is the minimum pressure. With such a low pressure, sometimes once you fall asleep and start having breathing problems, it takes the machine too long to adjust upward and you'll have problems. The machines don't instantly increase pressure.

Also, sometimes, you just don't feel right at low pressure despite the machine not seeing anything wrong with your breathing.

You can also have some problems if the pressure goes too high as well.

Sometimes the machine doesn't find the "right" pressure on auto.

[SleepRunner]

First, let's be clear.

Are you saying you've discussed the palpitations and other problems with the doctor and they've pronounced you healthy?

If so, look into varying your CPAP treatment. Check your Sleepyhead results for anything suspicious, figure out what pressures seem to work. Then see about varying the minimum and maximum pressure range.

One thing to investigate is the minimum pressure. With such a low pressure, sometimes once you fall asleep and start having breathing problems, it takes the machine too long to adjust upward and you'll have problems. The machines don't instantly increase pressure.

Also, sometimes, you just don't feel right at low pressure despite the machine not seeing anything wrong with your breathing.

You can also have some problems if the pressure goes too high as well.

Sometimes the machine doesn't find the "right" pressure on auto.

Hi Archangle

Yep, the doctors pronounced me healthy. Just need to take care of that sleep.

I'm not experienced with SleepyHead yet, but my data from last night showed everything normal (no apneas, no leaks) until about 11:30 when a 30 sec central apnea hit and thoroughly woke me up. That seems suspicious to me. I can hold my breath for 30 seconds, doesn't seem like that should result in a thorough arousal. That had me up for a couple of hours letting the body systems normalize and get sleepy again. But following an event like that (not every night but several times each week) I don't get much sleep the rest of the night.

My profile was wrong. My pressure is 8-15 cm. The machine (after the ramp time) ran at 8 cm all night long and of course made no response to the one long(er) CSA event. I'll keep getting data and see if this is a pattern (my S9 autoset is new - I did have a Devilbiss autopap but I couldn't get any data to see what was going on - so far I love the resmed for it's data even though I don't seem to sleep any better with it).

Thanks for the reply

[archangle]

I'm not experienced with SleepyHead yet, but my data from last night showed everything normal (no apneas, no leaks) until about 11:30 when a 30 sec central apnea hit and thoroughly woke me up. That seems suspicious to me. I can hold my breath for 30 seconds, doesn't seem like that should result in a thorough arousal. That had me up for a couple of hours letting the body systems normalize and get sleepy again. But following an event like that (not every night but several times each week) I don't get much sleep the rest of the night.

A 30 second central apnea can definitely leave you disturbed for a while. You can also have been breathing too slowly before it dropped to a level where the machine flagged it as an "apnea." See if your breathing or minute vent looks funny before the event.

That's one of the reasons it's really important to have airflow waveforms like the S9 gives you. Posting your waveforms around the events might help, too.

Also, check to see if it happens often and you see the same results.

One trick. If you have an event that wakes you up, try turning the machine off and then back just to mark the event in the log. That way, it's easier to spot the event when you look at the data the next day.

Also, stop using ramp if you can sleep OK without it. It makes it harder to figure out what's going on. If you need to taper off, try raising the ramp pressure slowly till you don't need it.

[Tez62]

SleepRunner, just on the cold feet and tingly/burning sensations, that was one of the symptoms I had with SA amongst others, pre being diagnosed, with SA, I saw 5 Specialists for it including a Specialist of Specialist and had every blood test they could run and all said there was nothing wrong with me. I eventually and by accident found I had complex SA. The cold feet are a typical symptom of SA, when we stop breathing we go into the fight or flight response and all our blood goes from our extremities (hands and feet) to our vital organs (heart and brains). In my case my cold feet have got better over the couple of years of CPAP and my whole body is healing. I lost all the hairs on my legs but they are starting to grow back slowly. I'm not saying this is your issue but that these things do take time. What I'm trying to say is no matter what the Doctors say, listen to your body and brain and keep looking till you find an answer.

[SleepRunner]

SleepRunner, just on the cold feet and tingly/burning sensations, that was one of the symptoms I had with SA amongst others, pre being diagnosed, with SA, I saw 5 Specialists for it including a Specialist of Specialist and had every blood test they could run and all said there was nothing wrong with me....What I'm trying to say is no matter what the Doctors say, listen to your body and brain and keep looking till you find an answer.

Thanks Tez62

My experience exactly, if I'm so healthy why these symptoms. I appreciate the encouragement.

[Tez62]

SleepRunner, not sure it you have said how long you have been on CPAP, it took me 3-6 to start to feel the effects of the treatment and after 2 years if I have a bad night I will still feel bad the next day. I know if I went without my CPAP, which I call Silvie, I have the same machine as you, I would be back to where I was within a week and I don't want to go there ever again. I was diagnosed with depression and wasn't far away from dying but we can turn it around and life is actually pretty good after all.

[TBlizz]

I have the same problem with the palpitations & I went to the hospital & cardiologist & they ran every test possible on me & said I'm completely healthy. I just was released from the hospital last Wednesday for the problem. I had the C Pap machine that was set at 14 until yesterday, I switched to the A Pap machine which is set on 14 - 20. This machine adjust to what I need. If you're having the palpitations with C Pap on, you are not getting enough pressure. I hope this helps you