Sleeping pills

[the baker]

Hello all

After seeing the doctor he says I've had a good week with my AHI 6 days it's never been above 1 .
But I'm o oh sleeping 4-5 hours a night which is not good, at that rate its going to be awhile before I start feeling better.

He wants me to try a mild sleep aid.. Tradazone
But when he told me I had hypopnea the fact sheet he gave me said avoid sleeping pills and tranquilizers because the repress breathing.

Anyone have any experience with this pill


Thanks

[PaulKTF]

You might want to try 5 to 10mg of Time Release Melatonin first and see if that helps you at all.

[the baker]

You might want to try 5 to 10mg of Time Release Melatonin first and see if that helps you at all.

I brought that up he said that melatonin might help if the trouble was falling asleep, my problem is staying a sleep. I get my 4-5 hours in one shot and then wake up and can't get back to sleep..

[ChicagoGranny]

I brought that up he said that melatonin might help if the trouble was falling asleep, my problem is staying a sleep. I get my 4-5 hours in one shot and then wake up and can't get back to sleep..

He's right. You have premature awakening.

Here is a checklist for good sleep:

Good Sleep for CPAPers

- Practice good sleep hygiene (Google it and read several sources; ignore extreme advice.)
- Eat a good diet
- Have a regular, moderate exercise program
- Try to avoid daytime naps
- Practice total abstinence of caffeine including sources like chocolate (sigh)
- Review all medicines, vitamins and supplements you are taking to make sure none are interfering with sleep
- Use the bedroom for sleeping (and sex) only, and make sure the bedroom and bed are comfortable.
- Learn to appropriately handle emotional stress in your life
- Do not listen to your breathing or the sound of the machine as you are falling asleep. (Some people, including me, actually find listening to their breathing and the sound of the machine to be relaxing.)
- Distract your mind by thinking of a pleasant, relaxing activity that you enjoy.
- If you are awakening at night, do not be too concerned. It is actually a normal part of sleep. (It does become a problem though for people who, when they awaken, become frustrated and have difficulty returning to sleep.)
- Use CPAP software, such as the free SleepyHead, to make sure your therapy is optimized
- If you still don't feel or sleep well, make sure you have regular medical checkups to confirm there are no other medical problems

This is a checklist. Some of the things you already do. Some are easy and can be done right away. Others you can work at over time.

CG

[the baker]

That's one of my problems...I lay there listening to the machine and I breath faster and faster focusing on the machine. And it stresses me out

[Bobby269]

For me I split a melatonin into quarters. I sleep through the night.With no trips down a cold hallway. My Ahi's will be below .50.

[jnk...]

sleeping 4-5 hours a night which is not good

In my case, and perhaps for many others, sleep with CPAP for '4-5 hours' does me more good than the sleep I used to get for 8-10 hours without using the machine. But it took a while for my body/brain to accept that fact and embrace use of the machine. At first, I only slept one or two hours a night. Eventually I got that up to an average of seven.

Sometimes temporary use of a mild sleep aid can be more helpful than harmful for someone, as long as it is only used to get a leg up and then use is stopped. Sedatives without PAP would likely be life-threatening to me, but as long as I'm on PAP all night I might consider using one if the need ever arose for some temporary reason.

listening to the machine and I breath faster and faster focusing on the machine. And it stresses me out

I had the same problem at first. Then I chose instead to focus on the beauty of breathing and the beauty of sleep. It is the machine's job to make THAT focus possible for me. So I let the machine do its job. My brain adjusted to what was happening without any conscious help from me. I tried to enjoy the process to the extent I could.

If you are sleeping using CPAP at all times that you are asleep, then you are well on your way and the hard part is over. Future tweaks will likely get you to sleeping longer with it in time.

I wish you the best.

[the baker]

Thanks. JNK

I was wondering.. I get my 4-5 hours of sleep on cpap..but I get frustrated with not going back to sleep so I take my mask off and read or something...and sometimes I fall back to sleep without the machine.....am I doing more harm than good when I fall asleep without the machine???

[chunkyfrog]

Yes.
If you are likely to fall asleep, use the cpap WHILE AWAKE.
It is not "cheating"--it is covering your bases, because you WILL fall asleep.

[Traveljunkie]

I use 10mg Melatonin about 4-5 times a night with no ill affect. I have also used organic medical grade CBD Tincture Oil, 15mg/ml. (No THC) and it can be bought without a medical marijuana card. Put it under your tongue, or on a piece of bread or cookie if you don't like the taste, It can take a couple days for your body to respond to it and you can use more or less. Recommended dosage is 8 drops under the tongue

[jnk...]

. . . fall back to sleep without the machine.....am I doing more harm than good when I fall asleep without the machine???

Yes. And for many of us, especially so during the last part of the sleep period when so many of us especially need the pressure to keep our airway open.

Every obstructive apnea has the potential to increase overall stress on our bodies. So the goal is eventually to get ourselves to the point of never sleeping without the machine.

That said, there is no reason for any of us to beat ourselves up over not being there yet, especially when first starting out. We slowly but surely get ourselves to the point of always sleeping with CPAP and having our pressures optimized for the lowest average AHI we are able to achieve over time. If we ever wake up and find our mask off, we don't panic or grieve, though; that would be counterproductive to sleep. We simply put our mask on calmly and roll over, without checking what time it is, in case we can get more sleep.

My personal opinion (often not a popular one around here with this particular subject) is that melatonin as a supplement is only useful if someone has impaired ability to produce melatonin naturally within himself or if someone has such bad sleep-hygiene habits that he is impairing his own natural melatonin production--which impairment sometimes happens with bright light or certain forms of electronic light near time for bed. Our bodies produce melatonin to induce sleep, not so much to keep us asleep, as I understand it. Therefore, melatonin has very limited usefulness, if any usefulness at all beyond placebo effects, for later in the night for healthy people. It is best to learn the sleep-hygiene habits that induce natural melatonin production whenever that approach is possible and practical rather than depending on a supplement, as a general rule. And drugs and drug-related chemicals beyond nutritional supplements most often have negative impacts on the quality of our sleep, not good ones. Much as we would hurt our overall sleep quality using alcohol to get to sleep, we also would hurt ourselves using other drugs to do so.

Don't get me wrong; drugs are very useful when needed for real reasons. Using any drug as a crutch for sleep maintenance, though, does not usually pay off short term and especially does not do so in the long run as a long-term strategy.

[Jerseyguy]

I'm on Trazodone 100mg for sleep, was on Ambien prior to my sleep apnea diagnosis. Most nights if I try to wake up before getting 7 hrs, it's hard so you shouldn't have a problem staying asleep.

I of course have trouble keeping my mask on at times so it worries me but I'm still here so...

[jnk...]

Not all docs are up-to-date on trazodone.

Updated treatment guidelines from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine published in 2018 don’t recommend trazodone for chronic insomnia because there is so little data to support its use. In addition, a May 2018 Cochrane review found that there's no evidence to support the use of any antidepressant to treat insomnia, including trazodone.--https://www.consumerreports.org/insomni ... -you-take/

[ChicagoGranny]

Not all docs are up-to-date.

None of them are. There is too much research being published for any doctor to keep up with. Someday, we will be telling our symptoms to IBM Watson Health.

[jnk...]

Not all docs are up-to-date.

Someday, we will be telling our symptoms to IBM Watson Health.

Why? Did Google get fired?