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Can't figure out what is wrong with my sleep??

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sleeptech +0 points · over 5 years ago Sleep Enthusiast

Obstruction is usually at its worst during REM sleep. Your body hyper-relaxes most of your muscles to stop you acting out your dreams (it sort of anaesthetises you). This applies to the muscles of your upper airway too - they become super floppy and therefore are at their most prone to collapse. So what you say makes sense. REM-isolated obstruction is not uncommon.

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singingkeys +0 points · over 5 years ago Original Poster Sleep Commentator

So I would pretty much end up on CPAP for life if that's the case?

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sleeptech +0 points · over 5 years ago Sleep Enthusiast

Not necessarily. It depends upon the nature of your specific obstruction. You may be able to use positional therapy, and weight loss may have very good results for you. I apologise if this has been mentioned before but I don't really want to read all of the other posts to check.

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singingkeys +0 points · over 5 years ago Original Poster Sleep Commentator

Well, I'm 5'8 and was up to 165 pounds. But I'm mostly muscular, so I'm at maybe 10% body fat. Most people that look at me say that I don't look like I have any extra fat. Over the past couple of years, I think I gained about 20 pounds or so simply because of the cafeteria food at that workplace, which I'm no longer at. Plus, I wasn't exercising that regularly. Now that I have started back again, the weight is dropping and I'm down to 158. I don't think my weight is a contributing factor. I have tried to sleep on my stomach and side, but I find that it still happens when I do that. Once it happened when I was laying on my stomach. Before that, I figured it was OSA from simply sleeping on my back.

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SleepyMommy703 +0 points · over 5 years ago Sleep Commentator

It sounds like it's worth trying the CPAP out, but some of what you are describing sounds very similar to things I deal with. Especially the jumpiness, hearing noises, waking a lot. While my CPAP is treating my apneas I haven't felt any better in regards to fatigue. And I still wake frequently. I recently was diagnosed with ADHD of all things and I do believe that is the culprit for my overall fatigue and sleep issues. Yes, I still have apnea and I'm still treating it, but being a light sleeper and the intense wakings/jumping to sounds/movement, etc. seem to go along with the sleep issues people with adult ADHD seem to have. I'm sure it's not the only cause, but it sounds familiar enough I figured I'd share.

Good luck!

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singingkeys +0 points · over 5 years ago Original Poster Sleep Commentator

Hmm, that's odd. I've never had any type of ADHD diagnosis. Did a 30+ question quick test online and it only had 13%, so very negative. I don't exhibit any of the potential symptoms, either.

Even if I take two melatonins beforehand and it makes me absolutely sleepy, I'll wake up feeling like I'm just going to bed. I may worry a little here and there about a few things, but I don't think it is anxiety. Something is physically happening during the night to make those oxygen levels and heart rate bounce up and down and I just can't quite put my finger on exactly what it is. What I do know is that I can't spend the rest of my life not driving because I'm tired, so I'm going to have to figure out something rather quickly. I can do complex tasks at home, type 100 words per minute on the computer, play games with a ton of multitasking, etc. I can do tasks around the house, go work a long day at work and get stuff done out of habit once I'm used to them, but I can't "focus" while driving. My cognition just isn't there for that. I have no idea why. I seem to be able to do everything else fine (apart from being tired and wanting to go to sleep while sitting) but driving. I consider myself a risk because of that and willfully do not drive so that I'm not putting myself or anyone else's life in danger. Until I start feeling like the active 30-something that I actually am, I have determined to not drive anymore. I lift weights, not overweight, no known health issues other than fatigue. It is definitely happening in my deep sleep and I'm popping awake sometimes rapid-fire and seconds apart.

My body has a habit of failing to turn off until sometimes after midnight. Attempts over the years to "reset" my sleep schedule have failed miserably. However, it definitely isn't resting well enough no matter how much I sleep. I get up in the morning and feel exhausted. Eventually it will progress and I'll be tired through about mid-day. In the later afternoon, I'll start picking up energy and by late afternoon or early night, I'm wanting to something like weight lifting (have a home gym in my room). Then after that I'll be a little tired. I'm sleepy by 11pm or 12am, but my body doesn't want to officially go to sleep around those times. Even if I go to bed earlier, I'll have just have more of those awakenings and I'll feel just as bad (or sometimes worse) when I try to sleep 8-10 hours compared to something like 6 hours. I presume that it is because I'm getting less time in deep sleep, but still resting some in other stages. I love sleep, but with issues like that, it is a little scary to me because it makes me wonder about health problems down the road if I can't figure out what it is.

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