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Up every morning before dawn - Breathworker - 08-01-2024
When I thought I was just dealing with insomnia earlier this year I had major problems falling asleep. Sleeping through the night wasn't as much of an issue because by the time I managed to fall asleep it was almost always in the AM. I still woke up early, though.
Now I have been diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea and wear an oral appliance. Falling asleep now isn't nearly the problem it used to be, thanks mainly to Buteyko breathing, although some nights it may still take awhile.
My biggest problem now is staying asleep. Of course there are the awakenings to use the bathroom, and sometimes I just wake up for reasons I cannot ascertain. (If I was wearing a CPAP machine would it tell me why?) Sometimes I can fall back to sleep, but the difficulty in doing that rivals the difficulty I had earlier in the year in initially falling asleep. I am always awake some time before dawn. I don't check the time but I imagine it's somewhere between 3 - 5 AM. I always see the light begin peering in between the blinds. The other day I did fall back to sleep and when I checked the time it was nearly 8:30. That's the latest I've slept all year.
I have a close friend who was in the Army and is retired law enforcement (from the wonderful urban paradise called Philadelphia). He has sleep apnea and uses a CPAP. He insists he developed sleep apnea in the Army. He says he wakes up every morning between 3 - 5, regardless of what time he goes to sleep.
Is his situation typical or common for CPAP users? I go back to the sleep center tomorrow and I might request a CPAP machine just to try it. I am no night owl and am usually in bed between 10 -11. The oral appliance doesn't bother me too much when I first go to sleep, and I am usually starting to drift off while doing the breathing exercises I do every night at bedtime. However, when I wake up in the early morning AM I am acutely aware and cognizant of it, and it really kind of bothers me then (although I am not sure if that is what is keeping me awake). I was taping my mouth as well (which made forming intelligible words impossible), but when I found out I have a buildup of scar tissue in one nostril that will require surgery, I stopped doing it. I might resume. From what I can see, mouth taping might be easier with CPAP, but of course I can't yet say for sure.
So some nights are not too bad, some just suck. Like I said, I might try CPAP (it's nice to have options), but I am very interested in what all you CPAP users might have to say about this and if you can relate to what I am experiencing. Of course, if there any other oral appliance users out there, I'd love to hear from you as well.
Thanks very much.