How many times is normal?

[davelikesbeer]

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my allergist and while we were talking, it came up that I still wake up 3-5 times per night while on XPAP. I don't recall the last time I've had a full night of sleep without waking up. I'm wondering if it is an achievable goal or am I setting myself for failure by trying different masks and sleep strategies. My allergist seemed to think even 3 to 5 is too many times and adversely affects my health.

I would like to know what is "normal". How many times does someone without apnea or other sleep disorders wake up in the middle of the night?

Dave.

[Pugsy]

I don't think I have ever seen a "normal" number for awakenings. Personally once or twice is all I can experience and not feel the ramifications the next day. I see a huge correlation between fragmented sleep and how I feel the next day.
Can you put a finger on the cause of the wakeups? How long do they last? Have trouble going back to sleep?
How many hours asleep using the machine?

[jabman]

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my allergist and while we were talking, it came up that I still wake up 3-5 times per night while on XPAP. I don't recall the last time I've had a full night of sleep without waking up. I'm wondering if it is an achievable goal or am I setting myself for failure by trying different masks and sleep strategies. My allergist seemed to think even 3 to 5 is too many times and adversely affects my health.

I would like to know what is "normal". How many times does someone without apnea or other sleep disorders wake up in the middle of the night?

Dave.

What is your AHI avraging a night, how about your leaks?
It could be because your treatment is not where it should be right now but then it could be other health issues. People with Diabetes often wake up in the night having to use the rest room.

[xenablue]

Jabman, I suspect what you say about diabetics could be true, but only in cases where the glucose isn't kept under good control.

I've only woken up twice, in a year on CPAP, for a bathroom visit.

Cheers,
xena

[Perrybucsdad]

Can you post a pic of your data for a typical night? That might help some of us see what is going on.

[davelikesbeer]

I'll pull a report when I get home, but typically my AHI is below 1.0.

When I wake up, I don't go to the bathroom. I usually wake up, roll over, adjust my mask if necessary, then back to sleep.

I'm now road testing a Swift LT to see if it is mask related issues. I felt I had to adjust my Swift FX too often.

Dave.

[RandyJ]

Since starting cpap I wake up 0 to 1 times per night when I sleep 6 to 8 hours.

It seemed too good to be true at first but I am almost used to it by now.

[moresleep]

I'll pull a report when I get home, but typically my AHI is below 1.0.

When I wake up, I don't go to the bathroom. I usually wake up, roll over, adjust my mask if necessary, then back to sleep.

I'm now road testing a Swift LT to see if it is mask related issues. I felt I had to adjust my Swift FX too often.

Dave.

Your "arousals" are of the type that many experience but few remember. I know that if my Swift II starts leaking, at some point in the sleep cycle, even though I'm not fully awake, I instinctively reach up and rotate the barrel a bit to stop the leak. I have only a vague recollection of this happening and suspect it has happened a lot of other times when I don't remember it at all. I hadn't thought of this diminishing the quality of my night's sleep, but maybe it does.

[chunkyfrog]

In my youth, I think I slept straight through the night.
Gradually, I awoke more and more often during the night.
Eventually, I felt like I was awake more than I was asleep.
Now, I'm asleep most of the night--thanks to my machine.
When I awaken, it is usually to make a minor adjustment; and I soon go to sleep again.
I feel very lucky to have my sleep back. I wish the same for all of you.

[jabman]

Jabman, I suspect what you say about diabetics could be true, but only in cases where the glucose isn't kept under good control.

I've only woken up twice, in a year on CPAP, for a bathroom visit.

Cheers,
xena

yea xena, you are right, I should have been clearer. That is what I was thinking when I wrote that.

[davelikesbeer]

...
Your "arousals" are of the type that many experience but few remember. I know that if my Swift II starts leaking, at some point in the sleep cycle, even though I'm not fully awake, I instinctively reach up and rotate the barrel a bit to stop the leak. I have only a vague recollection of this happening and suspect it has happened a lot of other times when I don't remember it at all. I hadn't thought of this diminishing the quality of my night's sleep, but maybe it does.

I'm thinking of writing an Android application that would allow me to simply touch the screen on my phone to record the time of each arousal. Then I can correlate then with the data pulled from my APAP. I'm wondering if they correspond to pressure increases.

It could also be a partner issue. Maybe my wife is moving waking me up. One experiment I plan to try is to sleep in the guest bedroom.

I just want to change one variable at a time, and right now, that variable is the mask. With only one night on the Swift LT, it's too soon to say if it helps.

Sadly, there are many things I think can cause arousals for me and it will take a while going through them all to see what works.

[davelikesbeer]

Can you post a pic of your data for a typical night? That might help some of us see what is going on.

Hmmm....how do I post a pdf or anything for that matter? I don't see an attach or upload button when I post a message.

[Pugsy]

how do I post a pdf or anything for that matter?

Must be hosted on a website with a link to it or you can take a screen shot of the report image
Here is how I do it.

Open the image to full size so it is easily read.
I use Vista snipping tool to create a screen shot and crop the image at the same time.
Prt/scr key will also take a screen shot if using XP. If laptop is used sometimes the Fn key has to be pushed at the same time as the prt/scr key
I think windows 7 Home Premium has the snipping tool, Basic may not.
Once the screen shot is created save it in jpg format.
Upload the image to a host site. I use Photobucket it is free, there are others.
Once the image is uploaded then copy the ENTIRE IMG address. Be sure to include the opening and closing IMG in brackets. Paste that copied address into a post here.
Use the preview button. If you can't see the image try again because if you can't see it we can't.

[cherylann]

I wake up three or four times a night as well. For me, I'm pretty sure it is the mask - I just can't get comfortable with my face wrapped in hard plastic. Honestly, I was sleeping way better before I even knew I had sleep apnea.

So I don't know what to tell you about how many times is normal. Everyone has made some good ideas, but I guess we just have to persevere to find the anwer.

I'd just like to get all this behind me so that the next time a man says "How many times a night is normal?" I know he's not talking about a health condition.

[davelikesbeer]

Okay, here is a typical night (thanks Pugsy), although the AHI is a little higher than normal. My average AHI over the last 112 days is 0.5. You can see the saw tooth pattern of pressure. I certainly don't wake up for each of those pressure increases, but perhaps some are causing me problems.