Waking up and not being able to fall back asleep at night

npolite wrote:Is it also possible that my body is just stopping at times to take breaths of air. I'm just wondering if there is anything in which the passageway is open but my body is stopping the breathing.

There is such a thing called Central Sleep Apnea (CSA or CA) in which the brain, for various reasons, does not signal the body to take a breath. It is normal to experience some of these events during sleep (at least as reported by home sleep machines). Your sleep study reported 4 CA's during the time you thought you were asleep. Typically, that would not be cause for concern.

Let's see what the GI says.

Here is an update.

I went to see the GI on Friday and have to run a round of tests including new bloodwork, an Ultrasound of the abdomen and an Endoscopy (scheduled for Sept 18th). Over the weekend I actually slept well 9 hours both Friday night as well as Saturday night. I was using those Woody knows nose inserts which actually helped. I did get up twice for water on Saturday night but that was because I had some chicken wings for dinner while watching the football game. Last night though was back to the same issue. I was unable to get to sleep until 12:30 and tried going to bed at 10:30. I was up at 3am and then at 5am. I needed to wait for another bowel movement before being able to sleep. I didn't feel constipated but just was unable to sleep. There are three things I can think of that varied from the good nights sleep vs. last night.

Things that were different last night
1) Had the windows closed.
2) Used a spice rub on the steak I ate for dinner
3) Tomato salad
4) 1 bottle of beer with dinner

I generally don't think I have an issue with Tomatoes (at least up until this point) but I only eat the cherry tomatoes from our garden. I'm going to cut that out and the spice rub to see if it makes a difference. The beer may or may not have had any impact as I have this issue on days without drinking a beer at dinner and I maybe at most drink one bottle a week.

Also the GI prescribed taking Prilosec twice a day until the Endoscopy. The directions say once a day so I don't know if there are two different doses or if this is safe to take twice daily. I will be calling today to verify.

npolite wrote: Also the GI prescribed taking Prilosec twice a day until the Endoscopy. The directions say once a day so I don't know if there are two different doses or if this is safe to take twice daily. I will be calling today to verify.

If you're taking the OTC Prilosec, the instructions tell you to take only one a day and for no more than 14 days. But when doctors prescribe it, they often prescribe higher doses and/or longer periods. I was on 20 mg. for quite some time (not so much for heartburn but concern that I was aspirating reflux). Last month, the ENT increased it to 20 mg. in the AM and 40 mg. at night. Still, always good to check with your doc if you have questions.

curems wrote:

npolite wrote: Also the GI prescribed taking Prilosec twice a day until the Endoscopy. The directions say once a day so I don't know if there are two different doses or if this is safe to take twice daily. I will be calling today to verify.

If you're taking the OTC Prilosec, the instructions tell you to take only one a day and for no more than 14 days. But when doctors prescribe it, they often prescribe higher doses and/or longer periods. I was on 20 mg. for quite some time (not so much for heartburn but concern that I was aspirating reflux). Last month, the ENT increased it to 20 mg. in the AM and 40 mg. at night. Still, always good to check with your doc if you have questions.

Yep I am taking the OTC 20.6mg. Will check today to verify.

npolite wrote:
2) Used a spice rub on the steak I ate for dinner
3) Tomato salad
4) 1 bottle of beer with dinner

I generally don't think I have an issue with Tomatoes (at least up until this point) but I only eat the cherry tomatoes from our garden. I'm going to cut that out and the spice rub to see if it makes a difference. The beer may or may not have had any impact as I have this issue on days without drinking a beer at dinner and I maybe at most drink one bottle a week.

Probably a good idea to limit until you go through the GI work-up. Everyone is different in these regards, but my wife, who has frequent heartburn, says they affect her. Stress and lack of sleep seems to do me. It may help with these events being stressful in nature.

Also the GI prescribed taking Prilosec twice a day until the Endoscopy. The directions say once a day so I don't know if there are two different doses or if this is safe to take twice daily. I will be calling today to verify.

Many doctors will prescribe the medication 2X until after endoscopy. This way you are treated for most common conditions if something is occuring. They later work with you to determine the proper medication/dosage needed, if any. Sometimes, you don't always get the instruction on the proper way to take the medication. You should take it around 30 minutes to 1 hour before meals. I think I recall reading that the meal should contain some protein. However, you should verify if this last point is accurate.

Best,

Mike

Hi All,

I went in for the Endoscopy on Friday and the Dr found I had an inflamed stomach. I had two biopsies (Listed as Gastritis and Normal examined duodenum) and I am waiting within the next week for the results. I started that day with the Prilosec 2 times a day. It has been only 3 days so far on the 2x dosage but I haven't seen a difference. The one thing I did notice is my bowel movements are easier now. I still feel the heart palpitations after I eat though and sometimes while I am lying in bed.

As far as the sleep is going, I am able to fall asleep but still get up a few times a night. I am using the Woody knows pieces that go into the nose. This has helped a little but I get a bit sore on the nostril that actually doesn't have any issues when I breathe. During the past 2 weeks I was on vacation and was able to fall asleep within a matter of a few minutes. Last night being back to work for a day I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't fall asleep again

I'll update the group once I have more information on the biopsy.

If Prilosec doesn't help you might try Nexium. I didn't think that there would be much difference but Prilosec didn't work well for me and the RX drug Dexilant (pricey) did but I can't afford Dexilant....I elected to try Nexium just in case it might work because it is a little different...and it works quite well.

Just something to think about if you find that Prilosec doesn't seem to work well.

I got a call yesterday afternoon from my GI doc and he says I have an infection in my stomach. I'm going to take antibotics for the next 10 days (3 sets of 20 pills 2x a day) and it should clear up. I'm hopeful that will resolve some if not all of my issues. I'll post again in a week on any changes.

I'd be interested knowing if your heart palpitation stopped after the stomach issue is cleared up.

npolite wrote:I got a call yesterday afternoon from my GI doc and he says I have an infection in my stomach. I'm going to take antibotics for the next 10 days (3 sets of 20 pills 2x a day) and it should clear up. I'm hopeful that will resolve some if not all of my issues. I'll post again in a week on any changes.

Let's hope the antibiotics clear up the stomach issues.

npolite wrote: During the past 2 weeks I was on vacation and was able to fall asleep within a matter of a few minutes. Last night being back to work for a day I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't fall asleep again

We did talk earlier in this thread about work being a stressor which might be negatively affecting your health. Perhaps it is time to make that appointment with the Sleep Psych to work on ways to reduce the stress in your life.

Hi All,

Thought I would post back here. I'm about 1/2 way through the meds for the stomach infection and it's been kind of rocky. My stomach still hurts and I think one of the pills has raised my HR a little ~70-80 BPM. Last night I put on the breathe right strips and felt tired. Went to bed around 10:15ish. Just as I was drifting off to sleep I woke up and noticed my mouth was open. I felt extremely tired but started. I had to take an Ambien to get me back to sleep. I'm wondering if I have an issue not just with the deviated septum and rather with my throat. Is it possible that opening my mouth is collapsing my airway? I know I need to fix the nose but not certain that is causing all of the issues. I don't notice any irritation in my nostril that has the issue when I have the strips in. Would it be worthwhile to ask the ENT to do a sleep study in a place where they can monitor me or would this be something that the ENT would see from visualization?

Also would it help to try to elevate the mattress to see if that helps? I just don't know what to use for that test.

When the Ambien kicks in though I can sleep around 5-6 hours or so but not over that.

Again I appreciate everyone's help with trying to get to the bottom of this.

npolite wrote:Hi All,

Thought I would post back here. I'm about 1/2 way through the meds for the stomach infection and it's been kind of rocky. My stomach still hurts and I think one of the pills has raised my HR a little ~70-80 BPM. Last night I put on the breathe right strips and felt tired. Went to bed around 10:15ish. Just as I was drifting off to sleep I woke up and noticed my mouth was open. I felt extremely tired but started. I had to take an Ambien to get me back to sleep. I'm wondering if I have an issue not just with the deviated septum and rather with my throat. Is it possible that opening my mouth is collapsing my airway? I know I need to fix the nose but not certain that is causing all of the issues. I don't notice any irritation in my nostril that has the issue when I have the strips in. Would it be worthwhile to ask the ENT to do a sleep study in a place where they can monitor me or would this be something that the ENT would see from visualization?

Also would it help to try to elevate the mattress to see if that helps? I just don't know what to use for that test.

When the Ambien kicks in though I can sleep around 5-6 hours or so but not over that.

Again I appreciate everyone's help with trying to get to the bottom of this.

You seem to be worried about your heartrate....anything between 60 and 100 is considered normal. Anxiety and stress will cause palpitations. The more you worry and keep checking your HR the worse you will feel. IF you indeed have an acid problem, raising the head of your bed will help. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifes ... q-20057979

Hi npolite. Reading your post, I was surprised how similar my problems have been to yours. I often have the symptoms you describe. My husband (a physician) and I have been trying to figure this our for about 10 years. I don't apparently have any heart problems either. My main symptoms are heart irregularities (pounding and skipped beats) and weird episodes of stomach acid leaking into my sinus, throat and bronchial tubes during REM sleep.

It sounds to me like you may have a condition called UARS (Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome). There are many good articles on the internet about this, but most doctors don't recognize this condition. Google it. Diagnosis of this condition is made via a SPECIAL sleep study where a catheter is placed in your esophagus while you sleep. A regular sleep study will usually not find this condition. There is a book called "Sleep Interrupted" by Dr. Steven Park that describes the problem very well and what to do about it. The best recommendation is CPAP.

One other thing: You might want to have your SERUM CALCIUM checked. This is a simple blood test for possible parathyroid problems. Parathyroid problems will also cause gastric reflux and heart arrhythmia at night. But, again, most doctors don't know how to correctly read these tests and if your calcium is 10 or over, they will tell you this normal, when it is not. So if your calcium is 10 or over and your doctor does not suspect hyperparathyroidism, then go to a website called parathyroid.com for information. I don't think this is what you have, but it is worth ruling out - it is not all that common. This condition is also easily fixed.

I have had both. I had the parathyroid issue fixed 3 years ago after my doctors did not find it for over 12 years. After this, my symptoms were much better, but I still had some problems. That is when we found Dr. Park's book. I am working on getting successful CPAP therapy now.

I hope this helps.

I usually eat a snack before I go to bed because my morning blood sugar is much, much lower. However, when I had to skip it a few nights, I found that I was getting more sleep. Not a lot more, because the Restless Leg Syndrome wakes me, but I think there is an issue between eating and waking at this time for me. I'd give it a go for a week, not eating after 6 or 7 p.m. and see how it goes.

Here is another update. I am 5 days off the Antibotics. While taking Prilosec twice a day it seems to help with the stomach pain but the heart pounding still comes and goes as I eat. I am able to fall asleep ok but get up at hour 4 or 5 during the night in order to drink a glass of water. I have been paying attention to my mouth being opened and extremely dry.

I scheduled my deviated septum surgery for Nov 10th. I also spoke with the ENT this morning about the issues with the sleep study. He said he would discuss with the doctor who wrote the study up since the numbers don't match. I basically asked him if this is causing me to snore as I think I am waking up because I am dehydrated at night from it and he says it may or may not resolve the problem.

Is there any chance my bed may be so firm to the point that it makes me not relaxed enough that when I wake up to be able to fall back asleep? I have a Simmons Beautyrest. At the time I thought it was a great firm bed but now I don't know. Like I mentioned earlier I started noticing myself feeling tired all of the time a year after I purchased the bed. I can't fall asleep on my side as I guess it is too firm. The times that I do wake up on my right side I feel like my right side is tingling which goes away after around 1/2 hour. I'm all for buying a new mattress if that will help but I don't want to spend a lot of money if it doesn't do anything.