Fear of sleep or dying in your sleep

[RogerSC]

Well, I figure that I'm going to die some time. Can think of worse times and ways to die than in my sleep. But that's my rational mind talking. Not as much of a factor when I'm sleeping *smile*.

[Noctuary]

..

[chunkyfrog]

Fear that manifests when the apnea is untreated is easier to address than an irrational fear of the treatment.

[tmoody]

My sleep doctor firmly believed that the first month of therapy was all about adjusting that subconscious mind to the fact that it was now safe to sleep deeply and your stupid body was not going to try to commit suicide on its watch.

I think you have an insightful doctor, who thinks about more than airways and pressure gradients. I completely agree that it's important to learn to trust the treatment and, more importantly, to trust my body to respond to it.

I slept in more or less blissful ignorance with my old Resmed S8 Compact, that didn't even report AHI, for nine years. When I switched to DreamStation APAP and discovered that my AHI was typically over 10, I started to become alarmed. When I learned that I had a fair number of centrals in the mix, I became more alarmed. The more alarmed I got, the higher my AHI went. When the doctor, in a quick phone call, advised me to stop checking my AHI, I felt better...and later discovered that my AHI went back down. It didn't go down to where it should be, and there were still centrals, but it did go down significantly.

Now I'm trying to learn to trust ASV, and to check the numbers to establish a biofeedback loop, hoping to retrain my autonomic nervous system to breath properly again.

[SleepyEyes21]

I imagine it would be likely to lead to that in time IF you remain untreated. If you use Cpap then there's little to worry about. Your doctor was speculating, maybe even just guessing, so there certainly isn't any direct automatic path from having apnea to developing anxiety... if anything, it's the other way around.

Hi Julie,

I'm not understanding what you are trying to say at the end of your third sentence, referring to ' apnea developing into anxiety and being the other way around.' Can you explain that a bit better for me please?

Thanks

[SleepyEyes21]

Doesn't sound logical to me......unless the person KNOWS they have Sleep Apnea and they have persisted in avoiding therapy.

Like many/most people, I had never heard of Sleep Apnea before my doctor mentioned it and got me scheduled for a sleep study. Most of us THINK we're sleeping just fine until we learn how this condition affects our bodies. Once I started therapy, just putting on my mask tells my brain it's time to go to sleep.......and that's what happens.

While you may not consciously know it, your unconscious knows you try to die in your sleep many times. Your body knows a lot of things you may not be aware of.

My sleep doctor firmly believed that the first month of therapy was all about adjusting that subconscious mind to the fact that it was now safe to sleep deeply and your stupid body was not going to try to commit suicide on its watch.

BS - your comments here are questionable at best. Please try to stick to the facts and stop spreading skewed information.

NO pap machine is going to save you if your heart stops, or another major medical event kills you in your sleep. Fact.

[Sir NoddinOff]

To the people who think dying in your sleep isn't too bad. Just TODAY, near where I live, there was a 79 year old guy who fell asleep at the wheel of an SUV... he ran head-on into a car with a family in it. He killed an 8 year old boy and messed up the rest of the family pretty bad. He managed to survive last time I heard - ie. noon our time. Think about that for awhile. Anybody who doubts this story, send me a PM and I'll shoot you the link.

[palerider]

To the people who think dying in your sleep isn't too bad. Just TODAY, near where I live, there was a 79 year old guy who fell asleep at the wheel of an SUV...

*amends wish list to read: want to die asleep in my bed*

[grayghost4]

A Home !

[BlackSpinner]

Doesn't sound logical to me......unless the person KNOWS they have Sleep Apnea and they have persisted in avoiding therapy.

Like many/most people, I had never heard of Sleep Apnea before my doctor mentioned it and got me scheduled for a sleep study. Most of us THINK we're sleeping just fine until we learn how this condition affects our bodies. Once I started therapy, just putting on my mask tells my brain it's time to go to sleep.......and that's what happens.

While you may not consciously know it, your unconscious knows you try to die in your sleep many times. Your body knows a lot of things you may not be aware of.

My sleep doctor firmly believed that the first month of therapy was all about adjusting that subconscious mind to the fact that it was now safe to sleep deeply and your stupid body was not going to try to commit suicide on its watch.

BS - your comments here are questionable at best. Please try to stick to the facts and stop spreading skewed information.

NO pap machine is going to save you if your heart stops, or another major medical event kills you in your sleep. Fact.

You might try a reading comprehension course. It will help you a lot. So read it again and stick to what I actually said.

[Julie]

SE21 If you have apnea, you may develop anxiety from feeling so incompetent and useless all the time, feeling you have to be alert when all you want is to sleep. I wasn't saying apnea itself literally creates anxiety at a medical level. But I do think you've misinterpreted what Black S. said... try again.

[chillAtGVC]

you may develop anxiety from feeling so incompetent and useless all the time, feeling you have to be alert when all you want is to sleep

I think that neatly describes the way I was.

[Noctuary]

To the people who think dying in your sleep isn't too bad. Just TODAY, near where I live, there was a 79 year old guy who fell asleep at the wheel of an SUV... he ran head-on into a car with a family in it. He killed an 8 year old boy and messed up the rest of the family pretty bad. He managed to survive last time I heard - ie. noon our time. Think about that for awhile. Anybody who doubts this story, send me a PM and I'll shoot you the link.

I'm pretty sure when the topic of "dying in your sleep" comes up no one means falling asleep at the wheel, or while the stove is on, making the final approach at Reagan Intl., etc. But a quick, peaceful death is very desirable.

[ChicagoGranny]

Far too many people do die in their sleep......while they're driving......and their screaming passengers are wide awake....

You butchered that one, Den. The correct quote - "He died peacefully in his sleep,while his passengers died screaming."

[Wulfman...]

Far too many people do die in their sleep......while they're driving......and their screaming passengers are wide awake....

You butchered that one, Den. The correct quote - "He died peacefully in his sleep,while his passengers died screaming."

I think I made the point. And, someone on the forum used to have that specific phrase (you quoted) in their profile.
But, there are far too many of those situations and both genders.
Some time back I did a Google search on something like "fell asleep while driving"

https://www.google.com/search?q=fell+as ... 8&oe=utf-8

http://drowsydriving.org/about/facts-and-stats/


Den

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