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I've been using an APAP for about 5 weeks now. For the first 3, I could use it about 6 or 7 hours. Recently I've been waking up after 4-5 hours of sleep. I am completely awake and often go and read (or write - I'm working on a book.) I stay awake for 1-3 hours and then go back to sleep. When I go back to sleep I cannot fall asleep with the APAP - I usually take it off and sleep another 2 hours or so. Is anyone else having this experience? How do you deal with it.
wiredgeorge
+0 points
·
about 7 years
ago
Sleep
Enthusiast
I have been on Bipap therapy for a number of years now. I typically sleep about 5 to 6 hours and once or twice a month see 7 hours. Four hours isn't unusual and I just wake up and feel great and don't go back to sleep. I think perhaps some people need less sleep and the deep sleep afforded by therapy is often enough. That is my theory hehe.
Yeah, I've played around with partial nightly use. At one point I started going to bed WITHOUT it, then putting it on midway through the night when I woke for my nightly pee break. These days I do what you do-try to get at least 4 hours with it on, then often remove it at the end of the night. Still am starting to feel better, so what the heck.
You really should use your machine all night. Trust me, you are damaging your health by only using it part of the night. I’ve known several people who recently died from sleep apnea. It’s serious business. Debbie Reynolds daughter died from sleep apnea (I think she played Princess Leah in Star Wars??). My heart was damaged because I was DX so late and had severe Central Sleep Apnea.
Hours of sleep is also relative to the age and lifestyle choices. Over the years my sleep hours have gradually reduced and I still feel great. Have you tried to meditate or just relax before going to sleep? This helps me calm down whenever I come home after fighting fires at work.
Hey Determined -- I had the same problem when I started. I would wake up every couple of hours -- wide awake, and couldn't fall asleep again. I got really stressed out about it.
But I had a good friend help me understand that it takes time and patience to rearrange my sleep habits. I had to chill out and just go with the flow - read, stretch, pet the cat -- or my new thing -- audio books. Over time I began sleeping longer and longer stretches -- up to seven or eight hours some times. But I "plug in" whenever I sleep, even a ten minutes power nap. Best of luck to you!
Hugh (central apnea, resmed asv, amara
view mask, remzzs liners, so clean2)
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