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Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
#1
Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
I'm in my first month of CPAP therapy and so far, it's working well. My Dr. says my numbers are good and I seem to be on the right track.

I do feel better after a night's rest and am definitely seeing some improvement in my sleep habits. Before being diagnosed with sleep apnea, I would wake up after several hours and not be able to get back to sleep for the rest of the night. It was horrible.

Now I still wake up after a couple hours after going to bed but I am able to get back to sleep reasonably quickly. That, along with getting deeper REM sleep, is making a big difference.

But now I want to sleep longer periods without waking up several times a night-- that's my next goal. I know everyone is different but has anyone else on this board managed to make it to the next stage: the stage of a continuous all night sleep (after going through the "multiple wake up episodes" stage)? Can I look forward to that? That's my ultimate goal.
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#2
RE: Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
It's not guaranteed that you will ever do that again. You have stopped one type of event from disturbing your sleep but you have replaced it with something else that may continue to wake you up. The former is progressively destructive while the latter is more benign and can actually go away in time for certain lucky individuals.

My new norm is to wake at 2:30 and 4:00. I go back to sleep within 10 mins. so I'm OK with that. I look at it as a way to prevent oversleeping without using an alarm clock. There's good in everything if you look hard enough. Wink

Stick around for other reports. I'd love to hear from someone who manages to sleep as they normally did before they were blessed with this malady. It must happen to someone...
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#3
RE: Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
If your wake-up periods are ~1.5 hrs apart, it could be that you're still getting used to therapy and at the end of each natural sleep cycle it's just enough to kick you awake for a couple minutes.

If it's not a semi-regular time, it may be worth looking at the data to see if there are any spikes in leaks or pressure....maybe you're getting a leak that wakes you up? If you are on an auto adjusting machine, I'd say look at the pressure too....maybe you're sleeping deeply enough to throw a small cluster of events and it's waking you with the boost in pressure.

Just my thoughts Smile
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#4
RE: Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
I have nothing else to add other than I got an immediate bump from CPAP therapy (from like 10+ times a night to 2-4) and now, a year later, I am finally noticing this going away, hopefully for good. It takes time.
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#5
RE: Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
In answer to a question that was asked earlier, I will tell you this. My norm now is to sleep through the night without waking up. I have periods on occasion where I get really lousy sleep and wake up multiple times but that is the exception not the rule.

Actually, when I started out I was having problems with air leaking into my eyes and awakening me. It was a FFM that turned out not to be meant for me. Once I finally dumped that mask and got one that did not leak into my eyes, I started sleeping through the night. Before CPAP I was sleeping in 1 1/2 to 2 hour chunks. Yay for CPAP and this forum.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

Admin Note:
PaytonA passed away in September 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#6
RE: Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
Novatom, I'm in exactly the same boat as you. In fact, I only went for a sleep study because I couldn't get past waking up and not being able to get back to sleep and felt like crap for many years. I tried everything, including meditation, sleep restriction, to OTC and prescription meds. I was totally shocked when my sleep study came back with a diagnosis of severe apnea. Now after being on the machine for a couple of months, I feel much better but I still wake up at least once during the night and can't get back to sleep. I think some of this at least, is learned behavior from my pre-CPAP days. I've also read that apnea events cause a shot of adrenalin to be released and maybe this is what keeps us awake. The only drug that has helped me get back to sleep, which is very short acting and with no side effects is Starnoc (available only as Zaleplon compounding for you other Canucks). I'm still using it just about every night but slowly trying to wean myself off of it.
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#7
RE: Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
try somnapure for sleep. It is a natural sleep aid and I have heard a lot of people swear by it. I have not tried it myself.

That being said, after a year on VPAP, I am thinking I have another issue with my sleep like narcolepsy or something similar to that. I wake up, do what I have to do in the morning and then go back to sleep until about 11:30 or sometimes noon.
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#8
RE: Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
I think Psycho Mike is right, its only been a month, I didnt start all night sleeping until about week 6 so give it a little more time before pushing the panic button, good things (and sleep) will come with patience. Stick with your therapy and good luck
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#9
RE: Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
The main thing is not to worryu or think about this too much. The normal sleep pattern contains types and depths of sleep that vary during the night. Some people wake during the periods of light sleep and many simple come near to waking but are not aware that they have.

I think making sure you have a good sleep hygeine routine (see elsewhere) and not using a tablet or computer during the hours before bed. No TV in the bedroom!

Also make sure your daily routine includes a health dose of bright daylight.

I try not to worry about the minutiae too much and go by how I feel on waking and how sleepy I get during the day.
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#10
RE: Want to sleep all night, not continue to wake up
I went for my first sleep study back in 2002 (found the report in my files a week or so ago, that report was 2 pages long, my report from last month was 4, a lot has happened in 12 years!). Anyways, back then I was diagnosed with "mild" sleep apnea, tried the CPAP but didn't like it so I gave up on it.

Fast forward to 2014 and my insomnia has gotten chronic and I'm miserable. The reason I bring up my 2002 study is that I (at least thought I) knew what sleep apnea was all these years but I was convinced that my insomnia wasn't due to sleep apnea because I was waking up and not getting back to sleep. I just didn't think that was caused by sleep apnea. But my sleep doctor did mention that my sleep apnea could have been giving me that shot of adrenalin (you're right, dozydave), which would wake me up and keep me awake the rest of the night.

It's strange what you think you know about this subject can be completely wrong.
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