Hypnic Jerks vs. APAP

[Mike2112]

I picked up my prescription APAP machine about three weeks ago and to say I have had a difficult time with acclimating to it would be a gross understatement. I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (in the order of 37 episodes an hour) in the early part of May after a sleep study held back in January. During the sleep study I was awakened by the attendant during the night and told that she was going to put me on "THE MACHINE"!! I was first fitted with a nose mask, but after tossing and turning for an hour and a half the attendant came back and switched it out for the full mask. I struggled with this full mask for about forty minutes until my body / mind gave out and I had a full on panic attack. I advised the sleep clinic that I was outta there...and called home to be picked up. I had no idea that I had apnea at that time, but I knew another minute on that machine and I would have lost it completely! The panic attach lasted for about 10 hours as I had no Ambien, and really not much idea what was happening to me (which was for me the scariest part of it all). Eventually my wife got me to fall asleep, although at that point it was from pure physical exhaustion after having been in a hypertensive state for so long. I had, during this panic attack, endured these hypnic jerks every time I lay my head down. I feared this machine for, in my mind, causing all this pain and suffering!! So months later I have the machine at home, have gotten used to the feel of the DreamWear nasal mask even gotten used to breathing with the pressure...but I can not seem to get over these hynic jerks that always startle me awake in a panic when I wear the mask!!! If I have them while wearing the mask, I will have then the rest of the night even if I take the mask off. I have taken sleeping pills and Ambien together to try to push through these things and reset my mind to stop the fight or flight response, but they are so strong and intrusive that they over power the drugs. Has anyone else had this happen to them? Any success stories?

[Wulfman...]

I picked up my prescription APAP machine about three weeks ago and to say I have had a difficult time with acclimating to it would be a gross understatement. I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (in the order of 37 episodes an hour) in the early part of May after a sleep study held back in January. During the sleep study I was awakened by the attendant during the night and told that she was going to put me on "THE MACHINE"!! I was first fitted with a nose mask, but after tossing and turning for an hour and a half the attendant came back and switched it out for the full mask. I struggled with this full mask for about forty minutes until my body / mind gave out and I had a full on panic attack. I advised the sleep clinic that I was outta there...and called home to be picked up. I had no idea that I had apnea at that time, but I knew another minute on that machine and I would have lost it completely! The panic attach lasted for about 10 hours as I had no Ambien, and really not much idea what was happening to me (which was for me the scariest part of it all). Eventually my wife got me to fall asleep, although at that point it was from pure physical exhaustion after having been in a hypertensive state for so long. I had, during this panic attack, endured these hypnic jerks every time I lay my head down. I feared this machine for, in my mind, causing all this pain and suffering!! So months later I have the machine at home, have gotten used to the feel of the DreamWear nasal mask even gotten used to breathing with the pressure...but I can not seem to get over these hynic jerks that always startle me awake in a panic when I wear the mask!!! If I have them while wearing the mask, I will have then the rest of the night even if I take the mask off. I have taken sleeping pills and Ambien together to try to push through these things and reset my mind to stop the fight or flight response, but they are so strong and intrusive that they over power the drugs. Has anyone else had this happen to them? Any success stories?

It's hard for us to even make an attempt at GUESSING what is wrong or how to help you without any information to go on.

What is the exact make and model of the machine you're using and what are all of the settings?
When you have all that figured out, please put it in your profile so we won't have to keep asking.

Are you using any software to monitor your therapy?
If not, get "Sleepyhead".......it's free and there are links and references to it all over the forum.

Don't know if this information will help, but here's a link to a Google search.

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


Den

.

[Titan]

Hypnic jerks are common and normal - they occur just as transitioning to sleep.
I get them at times, especially after a stressful day. For me it gives an odd feeling for a few moments after, which I now associate with a sensation of relaxation. It usually then means I am going to sleep better than usual for the night, and in fact I look forward to nights when I get them!


Assuming you are indeed having hypnic jerks, and assuming your therapy is otherwise OK, eg you have enough starting APAP pressure (6+) so you are not just feeling short of air, it sounds like you have come to associate your jerks with panic.

Try rethinking it as a normal and good thing, and go with it as a stage of relaxation in a natural process of going off to sleep.

[kteague]

... I had, during this panic attack, endured these hypnic jerks every time I lay my head down. I feared this machine for, in my mind, causing all this pain and suffering!! So months later I have the machine at home, have gotten used to the feel of the DreamWear nasal mask even gotten used to breathing with the pressure...but I can not seem to get over these hynic jerks that always startle me awake in a panic when I wear the mask!!! If I have them while wearing the mask, I will have then the rest of the night even if I take the mask off. I have taken sleeping pills and Ambien together to try to push through these things and reset my mind to stop the fight or flight response, but they are so strong and intrusive that they over power the drugs. Has anyone else had this happen to them? Any success stories?..

Your description makes me wonder if what you are experiencing is actually hypnic jerks. What does your sleep study report say about limb movements? What meds are you on, if any?

[JohnnyBravo]

I've had hypnic jerks all my life with apnea, which have made the treatment hard. They're bad, they give me bad insomnia. But i've also found they're caused by apnea itself. Maybe we just have an overactive/oversensitive nervous system. I have not find a solution for them, doctors just treat apnea. I take clonazepam which helps.