First 100 days

[novatom]

I just passed a milestone last night- my 100th night since starting CPAP at the beginning of the year. I'm a bit discouraged at this point though. When I went to the sleep clinic initially, it was because I had chronic insomnia. I would sleep for about 3-4 hours each night, then wake up wide awake and, in so many cases, not be able to get back to sleep.

My sleep study showed I had moderate sleep apnea with a score of 28. But I never thought my real problem was with my breathing, it was with my insomnia. The Doctor suggested that the reason I would wake up wide awake is that an apnea woke me up and my body reacted with a shot of adrenaline. I took that at face value and was hopeful that CPAP would resolve this issue.

The first couple weeks I did notice a change in my sleep patterns and much of the time, I was able to get back to sleep after waking up.

Now, unfortunately I see that my sleep pattern is the same as it was before CPAP. I sleep my usual 3-4 hours and then wake up wide awake and am not able to go right back to sleep. When this first happened after using CPAP, I mentioned this on this board and some respondents suggested that my body was reacting to the 3-4 hours of sleep on CPAP as better quality sleep than before and because of this, my body decided that 3-4 hours of quality sleep was an improvement.

I dunno... it's just a bit discouraging that I'm back in my usual routine. I know 100 days is not a big amount of time compared to others on this board, but I had hoped that the CPAP would have improved the length of my sleep by now.

[worn_out_in_lebanon]

Sorry to hear it hasn't helped with the insomnia. It's probably helping a bunch of other things though, so still a good finding.

How is your "sleep hygiene". Blackout shades, noise, tv/phone/pc after hours, caffeine use, etc.?

[novatom]

My sleep hygiene is the same as it was before, I keep the shades drawn, no caffeine after 3 PM and I usually turn off the TV at least a half hour before going to bed. The only difference between now and before CPAP is that I'm usually more likely to stay in bed longer with the mask on while trying to go back to sleep whereas before CPAP, I was usually quicker to get up and go into another room to read.

[OpalRose]

novatom,
Are you still using a pressure of 6? What has you AHI been lately?
OpalRose

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Early arousal with an inability is a problem I have pretty regularly. No, CPAP didn't fix it. I can usually tough it out on 4-5 hours of good sleep (CPAP did help THAT).

The only way I could consistently get 7-8 hours a night was with the help of the Ambien CR fairy. And after a while, that would quit working. And getting off of it is a hellish 3-4 days without sleep - then it's like something snaps and I can sleep fine without it. For a while.

Right now, I'm OK with the early awakenings a couple days a week.

OMMOHY

[worn_out_in_lebanon]

My sleep hygiene is the same as it was before, I keep the shades drawn, no caffeine after 3 PM and I usually turn off the TV at least a half hour before going to bed. The only difference between now and before CPAP is that I'm usually more likely to stay in bed longer with the mask on while trying to go back to sleep whereas before CPAP, I was usually quicker to get up and go into another room to read.

I'm probably a little more extreme than most in this dept. Especially from before I figured out apnea was a factor, and I was trying to get a handle on sleep in general.

For me, not only shades, but "blackout" shades. No blue lights in the bedroom at all (alarm clock, etc.)

White noise machine.

Red led night light in the bathroom. Red led bulb in the bedroom lamp. (actually a multi-color bulb with remote, I just switch it to red)

TV okay up until bedtime, but usually nothing with too much action/horror/etc. to wind me up, if it is right before bedtime.

A 1mg sublingual melatonin at bedtime.

75 degrees, only a sheet on me, nothing heavy.

Memory foam mattress so the spouse kicking around doesn't disturb me (the old mattress used to wiggle like jello...) The tv commercial with a glass of wine on one corner and someone jumping up and down on the other corner convinced me it could help.