Sleep aids

[Stutz]

First have been on CPAP for about 10 years. Recently went from a CPAP to an auto and through tweaks and some other things have managed to get my ahi from around 5 to less than 1 most nights. However, one of my early concerns was that I wake up 2 or 3 times per night, usually without reason. To try and circumvent this I began using melatonin and then nyquill. While it did keep me alseep, I seem to notice not being rested. I also noted the lack of dreams, which signified not REM sleep. I discontinued the sleep aids and the dreams came back. I then looked at some informatin on the internet and it does tend to show that some sleep aids prohibit some REM sleep. So my question is how to I get to sleep all night but still get the quality of sleep that one should expect? By the way I do excercise daily and have lost weight, all not no avail with the sleep. Open to any ideas. Thanks in advance. By the way my treatment on Auto is 9 minimum and 13 high. Sleep study showed needing 11, which the auto stays at on average.

[khauser]

What machine are you using? Your profile statement "Its Encore Pro" refers to using Encore, which is software, and implies you might have data. Are there any clues there?

I recently became aware of detected snoring. Fiddled with things a bit and the snoring went away, and I am sleeping deeper as a result.

That's a place to start (not snoring, but looking at the data)...

[kteague]

Did these wakings begin with using the auto or were they already happening?

[cosmo]

I have similar problems. No problems falling asleep but multiple awakenings each night. I can fall right back to sleep fortunately. Sleep meds didn't help and made things worst. This happened in both CPAP and APAP mode.

I came to the conclusion that I'm SOL and will just have to live with it That or find some sort of holistic approach to it. I will be in search at a later time.

[avi123]

Once in a while I take 5 mg of Zolpidem (generic Ambien) to help me fall asleep. I am wondering if this drug affects dreaming b/c it is prescribed successfully for sleep to those with central sleep apnea syndrome:


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2670330/

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare ... rders/3594

As to Nocturia causing me to wake up and go to pee twice or three times per night I started to take Flomax which I think helps cut down the number of wakening.

I see here that some women also benefit by taking Flowmax:

http://www.healthcentral.com/prostate/c ... 2726/44972

[Stutz]

Sorry I updated my profile. I use the sleepy head software and view it quite often. There is nothing that alerts me of why I wake up. I have tried ambien but like the other thing, I don't think you get good sleep. Without being in a sleep clinic its hard to know if you go into rem sleep. I believe using sleep aids like nyquill zzz, ambien, melatonin might get you to sleep but hinder the kind of sleep you get. Does anyone else that has tried these things feel the same? Is their something to take that seems to help sleeping through the night but also help sleep quality?

[Todzo]

First have been on CPAP for about 10 years. Recently went from a CPAP to an auto and through tweaks and some other things have managed to get my ahi from around 5 to less than 1 most nights. However, one of my early concerns was that I wake up 2 or 3 times per night, usually without reason. To try and circumvent this I began using melatonin and then nyquill. While it did keep me alseep, I seem to notice not being rested. I also noted the lack of dreams, which signified not REM sleep. I discontinued the sleep aids and the dreams came back. I then looked at some informatin on the internet and it does tend to show that some sleep aids prohibit some REM sleep. So my question is how to I get to sleep all night but still get the quality of sleep that one should expect? By the way I do excercise daily and have lost weight, all not no avail with the sleep. Open to any ideas. Thanks in advance. By the way my treatment on Auto is 9 minimum and 13 high. Sleep study showed needing 11, which the auto stays at on average.

Hi Stutz!

First of all I believe that you should consider rigging to use your nightly PAP data a necessity. We all change over time and life is unpredictable. If you know what is going on in the night you are much better enabled to follow those changes.

With a recent weight loss of my own came unstable breathing. My AHI is normally below two. The unstable breathing showed up as times of increased and unstable respiration. Sometimes clear periodic breathing. I had been working on the diet and exercise thing for years. I had reduced stress. I think the unstable breathing at that time was mostly the result of the weight loss.

Unstable breathing will not show up as AHI because you do continue to breath, indeed you likely breath much more. The increased breathing effort, however, will likely result in respiratory effort related arousals. It fractures your sleep leaving you unrested.

A pressure reduction made the most sense however in my new small city I have had a lot of trouble finding good doctors. So first I tried the Auto-PAP mode of my PAP machine using the newest “bumped” setting from about a year ago (15 cm/H2O) as the high setting and my original setting (13 cm/H2O) as the low setting. During the several hour test the data showed that I snored and the machine responded by raising the pressure. Well I know from doing pulse oximeter guided eucapnic breathing training that the first indicator that I am breathing too much is a stuffy nose. For me Auto-PAP is not a good option.

Over the course of the next 65 days I reduced my CPAP pressure in steps of 1 cm/H2O and ended up at 8 cm/H2O. Staying at each setting for a week or so gave enough “in the home” data to make a good decision about the next try. Frankly I think the normal “one night in the lab” methodology is seriously flawed. Sleep in the lab is not the same as in the home. We do change over time and sleep differently from night to night and this needs to be taken into account. Each new pressure is a new situation for my breathing reflexes to train to.

You might try going back to CPAP and using your nighttime data to zero in on the best pressure.

Less stress in the daytime will result in better quality sleep in the night time.

I have found that long term (several hours a day) low level exercise on a treadmill, cycle, walking, or riding bicycle do help the nights sleep.

May you find good rest!

Todzo