Hey Folks, Stumbled on this site/post while desperately searching for answers as I have this same issue. Have been on CPAP for almost 5 years now. Had some trouble adjusting to it for the first 3 months but since then, no issues.
I do experience sleep issues relative to anxiety every 3-5 years. I'm actually dealing with this now.
The primary experience I have is the same mentioned hear. It causes me to become very anxious and I've developed a fear of going to bed.
I'm 95% certain the problem is associated to anxiety. I think these events probably occur normally but I don't notice them because I'm in a more relaxed state of mind and continuing to fall asleep.
During times of high anxiety, I'm aware of all bodily sensations that normally wouldn't get a second thought.
My sleep doctor suggested changing the EPR setting on my Resmed S9 Elite. It was set to 3 and I lowered it to 2. That night, I had no issues.
However, because my anxiety is still high and I'm going through an online CBT-I program (and I just broke my ankle so sleeping with a boot on) my CA's during sleep initiation are a problem again.
I don;t know this for certain but after all the research I've done, the answer is likely to be lowering my base level anxiety.
