Getting up at night...any tips

[roym]

Hi
I am so happy I found this board. You all have helped me immensely. I see my AHI <1 every day for the past 5d and feel refreshed when I wake up

One thing still bothers me. I tend to always get up ~4am even when my mask is on. Sometimes I take it off. And end up going to bathroom (not sure which is the cause and effect. BTW this happened even before I had CPAP.
After I come back to bed I can sometimes sleep and sometimes not. Mostly not because of all the silly thoughts racing in my mind. I just toss and turn.
ps: I tend to sleep ~11pm.

Does anyone have tips for this? It maybe off-topic since I had this issue even before I put on CPAP but my doctor mentioned that sleep apnea may be causing you to wake up at this time (he said that sleep apnea effects are maximum in the wee early hours). Since I am on CPAP I would have thought no issues now but still present.

thanks!

[mjbearit]

I get up around that time to go to the bathroom myself. And quite often I cannot fall back to sleep. Not to make light of it, but sometimes you just have to go! If you quit drinking anything a couple hours before you go to bed it will supposedly help, but I just don't worry about it. If I get only 4-5 hours of sleep for a couple of nights I will eventually be so tired I will sleep through or go back to sleep.

[retired_guy]

Back in the day, I would get up 4 or 5 times a night..... That's a problem. Now, getting up once a night? That's called "taking a short break." As to why you have trouble falling back asleep because of all the stuff running through your mind? That's probably your mind working really hard to make the "self prophecy" come true. You have "told" yourself that since you got up at 4:00 you won't be able to go back to sleep, so your brain is busily working diligently to make that happen. You need to "tell" yourself something new: I would start by setting the alarm clock (oh dread) to 8:00 am and "tell" myself I must get up at that time. You could also investigate some gentle meditation techniques to get Mr. Brain to chill out a little.

[herbm]

What retired_guy said. I was getting up a lot pre-CPAP. I wasn't always falling back asleep quickly.

Now, I get up about 1 time per night and sometimes don't fall immediately back to sleep.

Mediation, self-hypnosis, day dreaming, just lie there quietly and know you are resting and doing the right thing (getting time on the machine until you sleep).

Try to become as comfortable (at first) as possible and then stay basically still -- giving yourself some rule for tossing or turning (30 minutes or an hour.)

Just breath.....or just breath and count the time of each breath (to hypnotize yourself) until you are ready to just let it go.....

[Peter_C]

Back in the day, I would get up 4 or 5 times a night..... That's a problem. Now, getting up once a night? That's called "taking a short break." As to why you have trouble falling back asleep because of all the stuff running through your mind? That's probably your mind working really hard to make the "self prophecy" come true. You have "told" yourself that since you got up at 4:00 you won't be able to go back to sleep, so your brain is busily working diligently to make that happen. You need to "tell" yourself something new: I would start by setting the alarm clock (oh dread) to 8:00 am and "tell" myself I must get up at that time. You could also investigate some gentle meditation techniques to get Mr. Brain to chill out a little.

(INSERT LIKE BUTTON HERE)

[JimZZZ]

My solution is talk radio. After the inevitable middle of the night bathroom break, I get back in bed and set the sleep timer for 30 minutes on some political talk radio program. The call-in conversations prevent me from thinking and make sleep a welcome escape. Somehow it works.

I also take 3mg of timed-release melatonin just before going to bed. Has anyone else tried melatonin?

[justMongo]

With OSA, pre-xPAP, the rise in blood pressure seen in apnea events should create more urine due to higher pressure gradient in the nephron.
I only slept 4-5 hours when I started xPAP; but, I still felt better than 8 hours in bed with untreated OSA.
Now, I sleep about 7.5 hours with perhaps one bathroom break; and it does seem to be near 4 AM.
I am able to get back to sleep soon after.

I think some keys might be: Shortest time possible out of bed. I use red light so my brain doesn't stop making melatonin.
(Blue light is the worst - and white light has blue in it.)
If I have to, I put my headphones back on and listen to either music or a German Language lesson.

[robysue]

I tend to always get up ~4am even when my mask is on. Sometimes I take it off. And end up going to bathroom (not sure which is the cause and effect. BTW this happened even before I had CPAP. After I come back to bed I can sometimes sleep and sometimes not. Mostly not because of all the silly thoughts racing in my mind. I just toss and turn.
ps: I tend to sleep ~11pm.

You need to find a way of either turning those silly thoughts racing through your mind OFF (so you can get back to sleep) or a way to ENJOY those silly thoughts so you don't start tossing and turning.

Which to do depends on what you mean by "silly thoughts" racing through your mind.

Seriously though: I'd suggest spending a bit more time out of bed before returning to bed. Do something quiet and relaxing for a few minutes (as in maybe even 15-30 minutes) while you are waiting for the mind to get sleepy enough to go back to sleep.

Or (negative) thoughts start racing through your mind only after you get back to bed, you may need to get back out of bed for a few more minutes and focus your attention to doing something soothing, calming, and relaxing.

Does anyone have tips for this? It maybe off-topic since I had this issue even before I put on CPAP but my doctor mentioned that sleep apnea may be causing you to wake up at this time (he said that sleep apnea effects are maximum in the wee early hours). Since I am on CPAP I would have thought no issues now but still present.

You've only been on CPAP for 5 days? In that case, it's still very early in your PAP therapy. Give it more time. In a month or so that 4am wake+bathroom break may be a thing of the past.

As for why this is still happening: It could just be that you have a long established habit of waking up at this time. Pre-CPAP there may have been a real reason to wake up---nocturia is a symptom of untreated OSA. But you also got used to waking up around 4am every night and going to the bathroom. And we are creatures of habit as well as need. So now there may not be a "need" to go, but the mind is still in the habit of waking up at 4am. And your brain is thinking, "if I'm awake anyway, I might as well make a trip to the bathroom." Lots of folks will go to the bathroom when they wake up, even if there is no pressing "need to go".

[herbm]

robysue said: "turn off" or "enjoy"

That's the ticket. <LIKE>

[HoseMan]

Same here.Check out Meletonin.It work'd.If you have problem falling back to sleeptake one&you will.No side affect's.I do suggest starting with a low dose first.But,please do your research 1st before starting.I get mine thru Puritans Pride