Is it normal to wake up 2 hrs. early every morning?

[YELLOWBUG]

I have been on cpap for a little over a week now & I have been getting about 2 hrs into my sleep & have to take the mask off & shut the machine off & go back to sleep. I got a new mask yesterday & slept all night well until 3:30 & I woke up wide awake and could not go back to sleep, so I got up. I usually go to bed at 10 & get up at 5 still tired. I went to bed last night at 10 & woke up at 3:30 wide awake. I am just wondering if this is normal this early in treatment.

[KeziasPurr]

yellowbug,

I've been on Bipap for a little over a month now. I experience the same thing as you. Ever since I've been on Bipap, I've awoken earlier, wide awake, with energy to last the day.......or at least until lunch.

I go to bed about an hour earlier than you, so I'm getting 8 hours of sleep, but you are only getting about 5. Which doesn't seem like enough. Some people are good to go with 6 - 8 hours of sleep, but 5 is pushing it a bit.

I'm no sleep expert, but hopefully someone here in the forum will have some advice on how you can get more sleep. Personally, I use Ambien CR. But I know that a lot of people don't use sleep aides, so they do not become addicted to them.

Good luck in your pursuit of sleep. ZZZZZZzzzzzzz

Lisa

[Sleepy-eyes]

Don't worry.............nothing about this treatment is "normal". Your sleeping habits will be forever changed. There will be some good changes and some you don't care for. But it'll be different. As I understand it, you'll settle down to an acceptable routine in a year or two.

[DreamStalker]

May not actually take that long. I started last August and I noticed I was wide awake about 2 hours earlier than normal. Over the last couple of months I have noticed that I have gradually reclaimed those 2 hours of sleep ... but as is often the case ... your milage may vary

[Hurricane]

I usually go to bed after the 11 o'clock news, and most times awake about 3.00 am, don't get out of bed but I'm aware of of time etc. my mind starts working usually use this time for thanking the almighty for all my blessings,then slumber back to cat nap type of sleep. My numbers are all good as far as the therapy goes, and usually feel rested during the day, by the way I do get up at 6.00 am, and being retired, try to stay off the couch and do projects, or just keep busy to tire myself to keep my sleep cycle for nite hours rather than the couch watching tv, to sum it all up I believe I'm getting more benifit of better sleep, and though I may get shorter time in sound sleep I'm getting more rested than before CPAP, since September when I started CPAP I only had maybe two weeks where I slept thru the whole night waking up in the morning and saying wow, I slept straight thru,hoping for more of those days to come.
Ed

[javaide]

i refer to comments by keziapurr wherein he says that he is using ambien cr. for fragmented sleep. iw ould be extremely grateful, if you could please let me know as to how long you have been using and whether it helps 7-8 hours sleep. also what are the side effects. Is it addictive.

[KeziasPurr]

Javaide,

I've been using Ambien CR for about a year now. I sleep about 8 hours, but I still wake up a few times during the night, so it's not the perfect drug.

As for its addictive qualities; I've never tried to quit taking it so I don't know.

The side effects for me are actually pretty funny. Anything I do around the house while I'm on the med. (like when I wake up during the night), I have no memory of the next day. My family tells me about conversations we've had the night before, and I can recall none of it. I've also had slight hallucinations while on it. Like when I take it and don't go straight to bed, things begin to move that shouldn't be moving. But that's only happened once or twice.

Hope this helps!

Lisa

[NightHawkeye]

Is it normal to wake up 2 hrs. early every morning?

Seems to be for me. I normally get up after about 6 hours now. Part of it involves an awareness of the mask and air pressure, part of it is knowing those extra hours of sleep are when aerophagia sometimes begins to get bad, and part of it is just a wacky schedule because of teenagers. This has been going on for a year or so already, so I don't really expect it to change much.

I do truly enjoy those rare opportunities when I manage to get eight hours of sleep though. I'll also say that even with only six hours of sleep I'm much more alert during the day now than I had been for years previously. It used to be a constant struggle to stay awake during meetings at work, but I can't think of a single instance when I've come close to drifting off recently. I also used to get up multiple times during the night to go the bathroom, but nowadays never get up at all.

I could use a little more sleep on a daily basis, but have settled into a routine which, however imperfect, is far better than previously.

Regards,
Bill

[mikemoran]

This is not uncommon. Its just that you are getting as much rest in a few hours than you were getting in a full nights sleep. You have spent alot of years accomodating to your OSA. Think of it like a faucet filling up a bucket.

With OSA the rest just drips in and it takes forever to fill and never gets full enough. With therapy the faucet is turned on full and the bucket fills up faster but only to the level you are used to. Over time you relearn to sleep and the length of sleep gets longer and you adjust to having more rest. Everything is a good sign for you.

[FLMike]

I have been experiencing the same thing! Thought it was just me - glad to hear others have the same issue. Have generally been waking at about 3:30 rather than my usual 5 am. I have taken the mask off and drifted in and out of sleep for an hour or so, but then feel worse. Think I will try to adjust my hours a little.

My wife gets her machine tomorrow, so I know we will have a few restless nights until she gets used to it.

[sleepyWI]

Patience and determination are the key here. I had the same experience. I would wake up early with the feeling that I had been asleep all night only to look at the clock and see 1 AM. Its pretty discouraging. In my case is was a combination of slow adaptation to the therapy, finding a mask I could live with, and finally a small adjustment to my pressure. I used Ambien for about a month which really did help me get used to the whole process but I do not need it anymore (and to be honest I liked it a little too much which worried me). Now I still wake several times during the night but I simply roll over and go back to sleep (and try not to look at the clock). Rather than removing my mask at 2 AM (which I did alot!) I can now keep it on all night. Time and determination! You can do this! Its worth it!

[lyss]

This is why I love this forum.

Today makes one week for me and I have been experiencing the same thing. In fact this morning is the morning I realized it didn't matter. I did some readjusting my machine last night and went to sleep almost immediately, and woke up two hours before my alarm, and i actually felt awake. At first I was irritated that it was so early, and then I realized I felt fine. Taking the mask off and going back to sleep makes me feel not so great though so I have been fighting that.

Good luck!

[dsm]

YellowBug,

What you are experiencing is common - many people have reported similar.

Been through it myself & have actually discovered that if my machine pressure is set to 10/13 (I have a bilevel machine) will wake up very early. But, when set at 9/12, will wake up less in the night & can sleep a bit longer. At 8/11 sleep seems to be even deeper & longer but am also just a bit sleepy in the daytime.

It never ceases to surprise me as to the effect our nightime breathing has on us and how clearly obvious the effects are.

DSM

[roster]

[quote="YELLOWBUG"]............. I got a new mask yesterday & slept all night well until 3:30 & I woke up wide awake and could not go back to sleep, so I got up. .....................