Wonder what would cause this situation?

[Mark55]

I had a rough start with the CPAP experience, some of it my own doing (i.e. denying I was afflicted in the first place), but things have settled out nicely since then. I have gotten to the place I can put my nasal pillows on, hit the button, and drop off to sleep just as fast as previously.

During the work week I use it all night most nights. A typical night for me is to retire around 10:30, and mask up at 11:00PM and off to sleep within 10 minutes. I sometimes awake about 3:00AM for a restroom break, and straight back to sleep. (I just disconnect the short hose, and leave the mask on btw.)
I get up at 5:00AM, usually without the aid of an alarm clock, and hang my mask on the bed post,.........another successful night.

Switch to Friday and Saturday night, and things are different. I have always been a night owl, so come the weekend I typically stay up till 1 or 2AM, after going to bed 'early' all week out of necessity. My problem is this,....I mask up and go to sleep just like during the week, but when I wake up between 5 and 6AM for a restroom break, I can NOT go back to sleep unless I ditch the mask. I simply lie there and breathe in rhythm, feeling as if all of this is totally alien to me again. The more I try to drop off to sleep, the more I wake up and start thinking about getting out of bed totally. Since 4 hours of sleep, or less, leaves me feeling like garbage at my age, I typically just don't put the mask back on after I wake up the first time, and go back to sleep until 8:00AM or so.

My diagnosed OSA is minimal/moderate so I am not too worried about sleeping a few hours here and there without the machine, but I am curious how I do so well during the week, and have this 'issue' take place most every weekend. Just throwing a question out there for discussion, and to see if any others have had experiences like this as well.

[Doug_Nightmare]

Try reading a bit to get. your mind away from reality and its anxieties.

[Scluvsrain]

Your body is used to getting up at 5 in the morning during the week. So naturally you’re going to have trouble falling back to sleep after that time.

Is there something special you do during your “night owl” time that can’t be done during other hours of the day?




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zonker]

oh. man! i'm a "mature" gentleman of 64. i was lucky enough that i could retire early. only after retiring did i discover i had sleep apnea. and i consider myself lucky in that timing.

there are other older people on this forum. and i've read their posts, saying they kind of wished they had been diagnosed earlier. not me!

i'm right there with you, mark! had this sleep apnea thing been diagnosed while i was still working, i don't know what i would have done. i, too, considered myself a night owl. and yes, friday and saturday night was a time that i could stay up later and sleep in the next day. i really don't think i could have adjusted to this rigmarole if i had to spring out of bed at some un-godly hour.

i really don't what to tell you. unfortunately, your body has gotten used to that certain time of getting up. and i've read here and other places that one shouldn't really try to sleep in on the weekends.

it's happened to me. i no longer can sleep in past 8:30 am. i kind of miss it but i'm slowly adjusting.

good luck!

[LSAT]

I am also an early riser...To bed 10:30-11:00 and up by 5

[D.H.]

. . .

there are other older people on this forum. and i've read their posts, saying they kind of wished they had been diagnosed earlier. not me!

. . .

If I had not been diagnosed when I was (or very soon after), I would not be around today wishing for anything!

[Mark55]

Your body is used to getting up at 5 in the morning during the week. So naturally you’re going to have trouble falling back to sleep after that time.

Is there something special you do during your “night owl” time that can’t be done during other hours of the day?

Not at all, I think it's just an old habit from years ago when I was out until the wee hours on the weekends, only now I stay home catching up on my financial/market reading and listening to music. Sounds like a blast ehh?

As others have mentioned, it's probably simply a result of getting up early for so many years, and my mind is programmed to start being active at that time (although I can go back to sleep for a little while most times without the machine).

One poster mentioned anxiety,......fortunately that is not something I struggle with. I am quite familiar with it though after helping my ex deal with it on and off for years.

[chunkyfrog]

"Sleep hygiene".
Look it up, and DO IT.

[raisedfist]

The same thing happens to me sometimes. I tend to stay up later on Friday, and especially Saturday, than the rest of the week. Then come Sunday night, I often sleep horribly. Sometimes I wake up early and feel tired, and I do go back to sleep without the machine. I also always regret doing that.

What I would do is say you wake up freakishly early on Saturday. Get up and do all your errands and chores. Enjoy breakfast and reading the paper, or whatever. Then take a short nap (an hour or less) in the afternoon, using your machine, if at all possible.

Getting up early with only a few hours of sleep will make you feel like crap, most likely, but it's probably better than going back to bed and depriving your body of oxygen and getting 2-3 more hours of OSA filled sleep.

[chunkyfrog]

ChicagoGranny has a sleep hygiene list that she posts from time to time.
Maybe she will show up and pitch it here.

[Muse-Inc]

Suggestions that have worked for me.

• Bathroom break: don't turn on lights, get some night lights (mine are red light) or do what I do, buy a bunch of tiny LED flashlights, keep 1 or 2 on nightstand and use it to light the way. Best if you find a red/orange light that will not have the blue frequency that wakes up the brain.

• Get an eyemask if there is any ambient light in your bedroom. When get back in bed and hooked up, put on the eyemask. Mine is black and washable, satin-like material.

• Your brain is primed to wakeup at 5AM (weekday schedule). You may or may not have any success with sleeping in Sat and Sun. In any case, you will have to make more effort to go back to sleep. Putting on an eyemask works for me.

• Make sure the room temp is cool (easier to fall asleep in a cool room). I flap my bed linens so they feel cool again.

• Stopping the brain's busy thoughts is sometimes impossible. Might try a Sleep CD. My sleep doc suggested I count backwards from 20 and, knowing I am very visual, said to see each digit as I counted. Several run throughs helped him fall asleep and I've had the same success.

Good luck!