Where did the nights go? (Not a problem - just a difference)

[RocketGirl]

It's interesting what a body gets used to. I'm a newbie and found it easy to adjust to cpap, and after about six weeks with Snuffles (my machine), I'm feeling better bit by bit. But there is one thing that still startles me. It's not a problem, really, just a change (well, ok, it's been an unsettling change): Where did the nights go?

This business of sleeping soundly all night is something I don't think I've experienced since I was in my 20's. I'm used to waking easily and frequently, and that was always my "normal." My family used to say I could go from sound sleep to dressed and out the door in under 60 seconds, if needed. I never realized how important one's sense of the passing of time can be. It is very strange to me, and was genuinely unnerving at first, to wake up after a whole night, and not remember the passing of the night hours.

[rested gal]

It is very strange to me, and was genuinely unnerving at first, to wake up after a whole night, and not remember the passing of the night hours.

Never had thought of it that way. An interesting take on the importance of a sense of the passing of time. "Night time" in this case.

I can see how such a drastic change (for the good) in sleep, with no more wake ups during the night, and no more intermittent sense of "time passing" during the night, could be an unsettling realization indeed in the morning. For awhile, anyway.

As strange things go, what a very nice one to have to get accustomed to.

[cpaptex]

I know what you mean. Some nights are very "restful", others are full of dreams. I haven't had either of those things happen to me in what seemed to be forever it's great to have that "restful" feeling once again. I do wake up from time to time to take a sip of water. A habit that I developed over the years. But I don't wake up as often and I don't need to go to the bathroom like I use to. Most nights, I don't even get up anymore. When my AHI jumps up, I do notice the difference, and its not good.

[jamiswolf]

Rocket Girl,
When you first posted, I wasn't quite sure I understood the issue...I mean intellectually I did, but viscerally not. I've been awakening in the night for so long it has become my "normal". But I have a new machine that is finally allowing me to sleep better and finally last night, I fell asleep and when I opened my eyes, the sun was up. It actually did disorient me a bit until I looked at the clock and processed that I had slept through the entire night w/o an awakening.

I don't have a smartcard for my ST yet so no data...but I would love to know what it might have looked like.

I hope this will become my new normal. I can give up the nights to have better days.
Cheers,
Jamis

[BlackSpinner]

It's not a problem, really, just a change (well, ok, it's been an unsettling change): Where did the nights go?
.

Yes for me that first "non night" was really startling too. The first night it took me at least 2 hours of fidgeting and double checking to deal with all the strange gear. I said to my self "Ok I will try this for an hour" then my alarm went off and it was morning - no bathroom trips, no waking up and adjusting pillows, no dreams - it was morning. It was like that for several months. It felt strange.

Now I am waking up a bit more, sleeping less, my body has adjusted to getting enough O2 and sleep. But still - no bathroom trips and once I fall asleep usually not many wake ups.

[teknomom]

It is very strange to me, and was genuinely unnerving at first, to wake up after a whole night, and not remember the passing of the night hours.

I remember having that same experience when I first started on O2. A couple of nights went by with no experience of passing time. I went to sleep and then woke up! I didn't remember turning over or moving at all. That felt odd. I'm back to my old night time self again, but tonight I start on my machine and I'm wondering if I'll get back to that really sound sleep again.

[tbrown2]

I know for me I was always a very light sleeper and like you I could go from asleep to dressed and ready to go in no time. My boys hated how light I slept as they would not even try to get in late because they knew I would be awake and wanting to know if they forgot the house rules.
After just a few weeks on my machine I am sleeping through the night only waking just before my alarm goes off. My wife shared with me this morning that something in the house fell startled her and the puppies awake. She got out of bed investigated the noise and came back to bed without me ever moving. I had slept through the whole thing. That was very disconcerting to me.
I know I am sleeping more soundly and the exhaust from my Forma FFM blows such that all I hear is white noise from the escaping air. I hope I will find a happy medium of sleeping through the night while maintaining my situational awareness.
It is very nice not waking up with medicine head or still exhausted though..

[BlackSpinner]

Actually the one that had the hardest adjustment was my daughter.
She grew up with "mama Bear" as she called my snoring. The week I got my machine she went out to a party and came home at 3 am, a little tipsy, and woke me up in a panic because she couldn't hear "mama Bear" and thought I had died on while she was out.

It was quite some time before she stopped checking me every time she came home late. It just spooked her to walk into a silent house at 3 am.

[jnk]

It is a trade-off well worth making.

For me, the antidote to that unsettling feeling was developing some focused appreciation of the increased quality of the days. Bluer sky. Greener grass. Etc.

I could sit and examine any given moment of the day and find beauty, charm, and serenity in it.

If I took the time to do that regularly throughout the day, I no longer missed the night, since any given postPAP day carried at least three times the vividness of any given prePAP day.

Appreciating the beauty of being fully conscious requires, for me, purposefully taking the time to become conscious of the beauty of the moments throughout the day.