Fear of sleep or dying in your sleep

[davep700]

My sleep doctor suggested that untreated sleep apnea may work to wire the brain to fear sleep and and try to be alert while asleep. Do you think that if I have a fear of falling asleep (and possibly dying in my sleep) and often wake up fearful/anxious that this is the realm of an anxiety disorder solely or is the apnea help lead to this over time?

Lorazepam helps create relaxation but my psychiatrist is against using this before bed because it can cause respiratory depression.

[Julie]

I imagine it would be likely to lead to that in time IF you remain untreated. If you use Cpap then there's little to worry about. Your doctor was speculating, maybe even just guessing, so there certainly isn't any direct automatic path from having apnea to developing anxiety... if anything, it's the other way around.

[Wulfman...]

My sleep doctor suggested that untreated sleep apnea may work to wire the brain to fear sleep and and try to be alert while asleep. Do you think that if I have a fear of falling asleep (and possibly dying in my sleep) and often wake up fearful/anxious that this is the realm of an anxiety disorder solely or is the apnea help lead to this over time?

Lorazepam helps create relaxation but my psychiatrist is against using this before bed because it can cause respiratory depression.

Doesn't sound logical to me......unless the person KNOWS they have Sleep Apnea and they have persisted in avoiding therapy.

Like many/most people, I had never heard of Sleep Apnea before my doctor mentioned it and got me scheduled for a sleep study. Most of us THINK we're sleeping just fine until we learn how this condition affects our bodies. Once I started therapy, just putting on my mask tells my brain it's time to go to sleep.......and that's what happens.

However, if a person's therapy is not optimized (still having too many AHI events), I can see how that MIGHT affect the brain in that way. Best solution is to use software and get the therapy optimized as soon as possible.


Den

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[BlackSpinner]

Doesn't sound logical to me......unless the person KNOWS they have Sleep Apnea and they have persisted in avoiding therapy.

Like many/most people, I had never heard of Sleep Apnea before my doctor mentioned it and got me scheduled for a sleep study. Most of us THINK we're sleeping just fine until we learn how this condition affects our bodies. Once I started therapy, just putting on my mask tells my brain it's time to go to sleep.......and that's what happens.

While you may not consciously know it, your unconscious knows you try to die in your sleep many times. Your body knows a lot of things you may not be aware of.

My sleep doctor firmly believed that the first month of therapy was all about adjusting that subconscious mind to the fact that it was now safe to sleep deeply and your stupid body was not going to try to commit suicide on its watch.

[Arizona-Willie]

I hope I < do > die in my sleep and never see it coming.

Can't think of a better way to go ... well there is that traditional " best way to die for men " which the ladies object to strongly.

[Wulfman...]

I hope I < do > die in my sleep and never see it coming.

Can't think of a better way to go ... well there is that traditional " best way to die for men " which the ladies object to strongly.

Far too many people do die in their sleep......while they're driving......and their screaming passengers are wide awake....

Good to see you, Willie. Take care.


Den

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[palerider]

I hope I < do > die in my sleep and never see it coming.

Can't think of a better way to go ... well there is that traditional " best way to die for men " which the ladies object to strongly.

Far too many people do die in their sleep......while they're driving......and their screaming passengers are wide awake....

seems irresponsible of their passengers not to wake 'em up...

[Wulfman...]

I hope I < do > die in my sleep and never see it coming.

Can't think of a better way to go ... well there is that traditional " best way to die for men " which the ladies object to strongly.

Far too many people do die in their sleep......while they're driving......and their screaming passengers are wide awake....

seems irresponsible of their passengers not to wake 'em up...

One of the forum members (years ago) had a version of that saying in their profile.

Actually, it's come up in the threads many times over the years.

viewtopic/t111299/search.php?keywords=s ... passengers


Den

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[robysue]

I hope I < do > die in my sleep and never see it coming.

Can't think of a better way to go ... well there is that traditional " best way to die for men " which the ladies object to strongly.

Far too many people do die in their sleep......while they're driving......and their screaming passengers are wide awake....

seems irresponsible of their passengers not to wake 'em up...

It's the passengers and the driver in the other car that are screaming ...

[Morchella]

But getting back on topic...

My apnea absolutely was a factor in ramping my anxiety up to historic levels. No doubt, I have some stressful stuff going on in my life, but I for the past two years I've been reacting to it in a way that I never have before. If I woke up at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, I was often up for the day, because I would immediately get so upset about whichever stressful thing popped into my mind first that I couldn't relax and fall back asleep. Whereas for most of my life, my pattern would be to wake up, think of something stressful, and think, "Ha! That's Tomorrow Me's problem! Right now I get to sleep some more!" and then roll right over and go back to sleep.

Plus I was walking around with a feeling of impending doom, and having occasional panic attacks about another health problem of mine,

Once I made it to 5+ hours of CPAP per night, it definitely took the edge off the anxiety, and now that I'm sleeping through the night with it I feel SO much calmer and more positive, even though I'm still quite tired. There is no doubt in my mind that the physiological stress of frequent near-suffocations was messing with my brain.

[davep700]

In the past I would also wake up not only anxious but sweaty. I hear this is the result of the body working to supply the neurons nutrients, which get hyper-excited as a result of the oxygen desaturations in untreated OSA.

[Julie]

Night sweats are a common symptom.

[zoocrewphoto]

Doesn't sound logical to me......unless the person KNOWS they have Sleep Apnea and they have persisted in avoiding therapy.

Like many/most people, I had never heard of Sleep Apnea before my doctor mentioned it and got me scheduled for a sleep study. Most of us THINK we're sleeping just fine until we learn how this condition affects our bodies. Once I started therapy, just putting on my mask tells my brain it's time to go to sleep.......and that's what happens.

While you may not consciously know it, your unconscious knows you try to die in your sleep many times. Your body knows a lot of things you may not be aware of.

My sleep doctor firmly believed that the first month of therapy was all about adjusting that subconscious mind to the fact that it was now safe to sleep deeply and your stupid body was not going to try to commit suicide on its watch.

Totally agree.

I have often wondered if I became a night owl due to sleep apnea. I don't know when my sleep apnea started for sure. I didn't snore in college, but I looking back, I had some possible symptoms back then, I also know that I was an early bird as a child, and I was still an early person through high school. My sleep schedule went to hell my first year of college. I signed up for early classes, but couldn't sleep before 1am. I would lie there awake if I tried to go to bed before then.

Somebody here mentioned this idea awhile back, and it reminded me of how I am when I am having allergy problems or I am sick. I know I don't sleep well if I am congested. So, before cpap, before sleep apnea diagnosis, I would stay up and avoid going to bed until I was really tired because I knew i wouldn't sleep well and wanted to be as tired as possible. Since my brain knew how badly I was struggling, it is quite possible that it was trying to limit my sleep or get me as tired as possible.

Now,for those of you who believe the brain doesn't know about these problems until we actively think about it,, consider this: The first night after my sleep study, I actually had a dream that my sleep doctor would not let me have a cpap machine for 6 months, and I was angry! In my dream, my brain was saying, get me one of those machines. NOW! After only half a night with a cpap machine, my brain knew it wanted one.

Also, when I sleep with a cpap machine, I fall asleep in less than 10 minutes, probably 5 minutes. I barely remember anything once my head hits the pillow. Without the cpap, I lay there for an hour or more awake. I also wake up more often, and each time takes a long time to fall asleep. Why is this? Mr brain trusts the machine and says it is safe to sleep. Without cpap, not so much. I just had a bad experience last week. I did my monthly drive to Portland and back for a day trip, only my car broke down, after business hours. I had to spend the night, and get my car fixed the next day. Well, I did not have my cpap machine with me as I had no plans of spending the night away from home. So, I was stuck laying there staring at the wall, waiting to fall asleep. Just like I used to do before cpap.

[Violet West]

I never had anxiety about going to sleep . . . until I had a heart attack and AFIB caused (supposedly) by untreated sleep apnea. I was very anxious for a couple of months--was this the night I wasn't going to wake up?

Time and proper treatment and therapy pretty much took care of it.

[Noctuary]

What's so bad about dying in your sleep? I think that's a great way to go.