Can stress effect sleep quality?

[Bearcat42]

I know this may sound like a mundane queston to some but I am wondering if a person on CPAP who is experiencing high levels of stress may experience poorer sleep quality than normal. If you get reasonably consistent results each night using CPAP then why a downturn in the way you feel during the day when all of your numbers are staying the same? I have an AHI of 1.4 and 0 large leaks yet I feel like I did before I started and the only difference is the high stress. I average 8 hours sleep each night and everthing seems good, except how I feel so I am thinking that maybe the stress is getting to me.

[Julie]

I'm sure it can make a difference - tension is tension and can come out while on Cpap as well as anywhere else I think, whether in your face itself (which can change the seal, etc.) or in your breathing or the rest of you both in and out.

[kteague]

I've had periods of time where it affected mine, but it was apparent because my mind was stuck in high gear and I thought about the stressors all night while semi sleeping. Have you been checked out to make sure nothing else is going on, like thyroid trouble, diabetes, or anemia?

[JohnBFisher]

ABSOLUTELY! I do not have a study on this. Rather I have my own experience. Though my case is extreme, there is no doubt that it applies to a lesser extent to others. When I am stressed at work, my central apneas tend to be off the chart. Now, very few people tend to have central apneas. But I also noted the same behavior with my obstructive apneas before the central apneas. And I have to believe the same is true (to some extent) for others. Unmanaged stress tends to adversely impact all of our bodily systems.

[BlackSpinner]

Stress changes the chemical composition of your body.
Stress gets your body ready to run like hell or wrestle the bear to the ground - this does not create feeling conducive to relaxing sleep!

If you are stressed you need to work out - run like hell or wrestle bears to get those hormones out of your system some time in the afternoon so that those hormones have been washed out of your system by the time you go to bed. .

[Bearcat42]

Thats the weird thing about it. I sleep soundly all night long and dont wake up until the alarm goes off and my numbers remain the same but i feel like crap all day. Maybe my subconscience is still going on and on while I sleep, thinking about everything going on. Does that make any sense?

[tattooyu]

100%, YES!

I have panic disorder. Luckily, PAP therapy has allowed me to keep that under control most of the time. I also have IBS, which is a brain-gut disorder, so when I'm in a bad cycle of that, it tends to spike my anxiety. Plus, IBS puts physical stress on my gut. Stress is stress is stress.

For me, stress tends to give me worse numbers but not always. Sometimes I look at my numbers and still feel crappy. That's probably because I am in a bad cycle with IBS or anxiety, despite sleeping soundly (or so I think).

[BlackSpinner]

Thats the weird thing about it. I sleep soundly all night long and dont wake up until the alarm goes off and my numbers remain the same but i feel like crap all day. Maybe my subconscience is still going on and on while I sleep, thinking about everything going on. Does that make any sense?

When I am stressed I seem to sleep less deeply and wake up a lot so I feel crappy in the morning which makes me more stressed.....

[sleepycarol]

It plays an important part for me.

When stressed I become fatigued easily, become grumpy and moody, and oh did I mention extremely fatigued-- I mean bone weary tired that is so deep my body aches. I will go to bed and fall into what appears to be a deep sleep, numbers may or may not look worse, but will feel like crud the next day. Stress also brings on weird dreams. I mean very vivid weird dreams -- and I can almost bet if I wake up and remember parts of the weird dream it means I am going to have a bad day as I will feel really tired and fatigued all day.

I also have IBS and that will cause flairs and may or may not get up in the night.