Effect of all nighters

[Linus]

I have been up almost all night for the last two weeks for a project at work. My hours of sleep have been so messeed up. I have been getting 4 hours of sleep from around 3 am to 7 am. I am glad for CPAP because my sleep is deep and restful, but I thought I would indicate an observation. My events are rising and the duration of the events too are on the rise.

I am back to a normal 8 hour sleep regimen. I am working to get back into my regular sleep schedule too.

I was wondering if anyone else forced to stay up all night has seen an increase in their numbers? Do they return to normal levels quickly once you get back top a normal schedule?

[RipVW]

I have noted that whenever I am expecially tired or run down or not getting enough sleep, my numbers do increase. Guessing that this is just a normal reaction to fatigue.

[Julie]

Don't forget that many machines don't track data properly if you don't have enough hours at one time (usually 4). If you haven't slept long enough, your data could definitely be all over the place, so I wouldn't necessarily put a lot of stock in it.

[cinco777]

I have had sleep sessions as short as 22 minutes with accurate sleep event reporting (from a smartcard download) via EncorePro (EP) and EncorePro Analyzer (EPA). In March & April, many of my sessions were 1 - 2 hours in duration, all with accurate sleep event reporting via smartcard to EP and EPA. My machine is a Respironics M-Series Auto with AFlex. The only session (a short leak test I did of a new mask) that did not give me any data (nothing was written to the SmartCard) was 5 minutes in duration. Additionally, my machine has internally logged the therapy hours and any associated sleep events for all my short sleep sessions, including the 22 minute one.

[ozij]

1 even in a single one minute session is an AHI off 60. What makes that "accurate"?

If you have 4 events half an hour after you fall asleep, and sleep for an hour, your AHI will be 4. If you have no more events and keep on sleeping for 4 hours, you'll have an AHI of 1. That's math. I simply ignore shot sessions.

Linus, I agree that it's probably the fatigue. It may also be tossing an turning -- when my mind if fired up I don't sleep restfully, and when I toss and turn I stop breathing -- the machine the machine records that as hypopneas or apneas.

The work situation you described must have been very stressful on both you mind and body -- just concentrate on treating them well now.

O.

[Kiralynx]

My sleep has been very interrupted the last few nights. My Mom ended up in the hospital again, and I was sitting with her at night so that my father could get some rest.

Mom has slipped into a very irrational state of mind, and spent the nights screaming every 10-15 minutes. So, although I had my machine, and a place to lie down, I was dozing, rather than sleeping. And, when I got home and could settle into my own bed, during the day, the <bleeping> phone was ringing off the wall with people calling to see how she was.

She's home now, and Dad has hired a sitter at night for a bit so we can both get some rest. My AHI hasn't gone up much... but the pain issues which led to my being diagnosed with apnea in the first place are advising me, in no uncertain terms, what interrupted sleep does to my body.

[cinco777]

Ozij wrote

even in a single one minute session is an AHI off 60. What makes that "accurate"?

If you have 4 events half an hour after you fall asleep, and sleep for an hour, your AHI will be 4. If you have no more events and keep on sleeping for 4 hours, you'll have an AHI of 1. That's math. I simply ignore shot sessions.

You may be confusing "representative" with "accurate". My CPAP machine accurately reports the sleep events it detects whether it is a short session (22 minutes) or a long session (1, 2, 3, 4,... hours). The length of the session makes no difference in the reporting "accuracy". My CPAP machine's DETECTION METHOD may not be 100% accurate (compared to a PSG, which isn't 100% either) but it works the same for a short session or a long session. The length of the session does not affect its detection and recording/reporting accuracy. It is our choice to decide if a session, short or long, is representative. We may decide that a session isn't representative because we were sick/hungover/stressed out/hurting/etc., but we mislead ourselves if we say that the data isn't accurate. Someone can claim, for a short (or long) session, that the recorded/reported data is not representative. However, I would disagree (as I have done in this post) with someone saying that the recorded/reported data is not "accurate" because it is a "short" session (and only sessions of 4 hours or more are needed for "accuracy").