Insomnia

[slackmasterd]

I'm about 2 weeks in on CPAP (static pressure). I'm doing pretty good at night (AHI's running 10-15, down from higher than 150s during sleep study). I'm getting pretty good rest and feeling better most days.

Anyway, I've come to enjoy a new misery -- insomnia. I find myself laying in bed at night but I'm not tired. I just lay there, occasionally turning over, sometimes for several hours. My mask isn't really uncomfortable, the machine doesn't make enough noise to bother me, and the oxygen machine moved away so I don't hear it snorting anymore (I was sleeping with it, but when I was tired all the time it was easy to go to sleep).

Up to this point, I have reduced my daily caffeine in take by more then half and stopped drinking caffeine generally after 2PM, I've been eating lighter evening meals, I've also tried soothing music (rain/thunder storms) playing at various levels over speakers, I've stop playing computer games in the evening, and now watch stress-less tv in the hour or two before bed. Plus, more blankets, less blankets, no blankets, only the sheet, locking the dog out of the bedroom. I've also twiddled with the humidity levels, heated and non heated hoses, etc.

I have other health issues, so eating melatonin (and other "natural" sleep enhancers) is not an option without dealing with Dr's and a clinical research project. I have tried OTC sleeping pills ( previously approved by medical folks), but they have no affect just like in the past.

Also, I'm forced up every weekday morning at 6AM, but even have trouble falling asleep during weekend nights.

I also have tried going to sleep without my cpap mask on and setting an alarm to go off later in the evening so I can put the mask on and go back to sleep. This doesn't seem to help either. Nor has sleeping on my back (my normal old pre cpap sleeping position where my apnea is the worst).

Thoughts? Suggestions? Is this normal?

Maybe I am crazy like my wife claims and I should up my anxiety medications and get tranquilizers to go to sleep with.

[RestedRebel]

Although I'm retired, I go to work 2-3 days a week, just to keep my brain active, maintain relationships, and most of all, wear myself out. As a substitute teacher, I walk around the building a lot and am on my feet a lot. When I work, I sleep like a baby. On other days when I don't work, if I don't exercise as in taking a long walk or doing some kind of physical activity, I find it much harder to fall asleep, stay asleep, and have that wonderful REM sleep.

Regardless of whatever other health issues you have, I hope that you can walk for a bit each day, just enough to help tire yourself out. It's natural, doesn't require medication, and has to be good for your general circulation.

I do sleep like a baby, and I feel great today because I worked yesterday and got a full night's rest. I feel so good that I feel like I could run a marathon. My AHI level is under 1, so I know my machine is working well for me, and my depression has long since gone.

Not sure if anything I said here could help you, but I'm sharing what works for me in hopes that it could work for someone else too.

[Uncle_Bob]

I

Thoughts? Suggestions? Is this normal?

Sound Sleep, Sound Mind: 7 Keys to Sleeping Through the Night : barry Krakow

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Sleep-Mind- ... 0471650641

[Mary Z]

You may want to review sleep hygiene and perhaps see a professional (social worker, psychologist) who specializes in helping people with insomnia. I know reviewing sleep hygiene sounds simplistic and I can see that you are doing some of the recommendations already- limiting caffeine. Insomnia comes in many different faces- sleep onset, waking in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep, or waking too early. That's why I suggested an insomnia specialist. When you're not getting good sleep you won't feel good. I'm probably preaching to the choir. I know how miserable insomnia can be. The character Patrick Jane from the Mentalist suggested this to get to sleep. On inspiration count one, on expiration count two. Focus only on your breathing and the numbers.
I hope you get some relief. Good luck,
Mary

[herefishy]

I seldom get past 1080 when I start counting at 1000, 1001, etc. It's like counting sheep, but blocks out other thoughts. I know it's simplistic, but works for me.

[quietmorning]

The first thing I could tell you is never ever ever drink anything with caffeine in it after 12 noon, and then never drink more than 12oz. Before, you NEEDED it, now you don't. Coffee takes 8 to 14 hours to get out of your system. . . so if you want to be asleep by ten, do the math and for a while, go with the 14hour number, not the 8 until you find how fast you actually process caffeine.

You might find this helpful:
http://yoursleep.aasmnet.org/Topic.aspx?id=45

I deal with insomnia, though I'm a LOT better than I used to be. I have black out curtains over the windows to make sure the room is DARK and stays DARK. I don't eat anything after 7pm at night if I can at all help it. I don't let anyone TALK to me, don't watch the TV, surf the computer, or anything that does not have natural room light. If you NEED to be on the computer there is a program called F.lux that you can download for free that will adjust the light on your computer screen with the time of day so that your brain doesn't get all woken up from the light.

I try to read and be quiet for at least 45 minutes before bed time. I try VERY hard to be bed by 10pm and up by 6am every day including weekends.

I do NOT ever ever ever ever . . .watch the clock or 'try' to go to sleep. This is the biggest thing that will keep you awake because it causes anxiety. If I wake up, or can't go to sleep, because I will stimulate to be in an even more awake state if I get up and move around, I stay in bed and I find something pleasant to think about (I usually pray, but going to a happy place or meditating works just as well) and I TRY TO STAY AWAKE to continue what I'm thinking/praying about. Before I know it the alarm is going off, and it woke me up.

I don't think about how much sleep I don't get. That makes that anxiety worse and gets things going into a vicious cycle the next time I try to sleep.

I NEVER take a nap. It doesn't matter if I'm dead on my feet, I do not go to sleep until 10pm. That nap will keep me up for a week.

Since I've been diagnosed with apnea, I find that if I wake up from the apnea, it's hard to go to sleep because my brain doesn't trust going to sleep. . . so I do what I always do, find something calming to think about and go there.

I hope this helps. When I was a teen, I couldn't even get into the bed at night. I slept for maybe thirty minutes each night... and did this from the time I was fifteen until I was in my early twenties when I started to teach myself how to sleep. It's been a life long process. . . the apnea diagnosis explains a lot.

I will never sleep as well as my husband. Part of surviving insomnia is acceptance and beginning to relax with it.

[JeffH]

I

Thoughts? Suggestions? Is this normal?

Sound Sleep, Sound Mind: 7 Keys to Sleeping Through the Night : barry Krakow

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Sleep-Mind- ... 0471650641

This book also worked for me. Now I get to sleep shortly after hitting the pillow, and believe me, that used to not be the case. This book TEACHES you how to go to sleep at night. When I practice what it tells me to do, I sleep well.

Good Luck

JeffH

[chunkyfrog]

When I was in the hospital, many years ago, they woke me up to give me a sleeping pill.
I refused it, told them to go away, rolled over and went back to sleep.
Do they still do that?
When I can't sleep, it's always for a reason. Worry was the big one.
I keep a bottle of alprazolam handy in case somebody does or says something really disturbing.
Half a tablet, and I don't give a hoot big enough to interfere with my much needed beauty sleep.

[LSAT]

You might try OTG Melatonin...usually 1mg is enough.

[sleepnasta]

You might try OTG Melatonin...usually 1mg is enough.

i was going to suggest the same thing as it works well for me but the OP said he can't take melatonin for health reasons.

[Loreena]

Even though I don't have a problem now with insomnia (I did when I started cpap), I really liked your post and cut and pasted it to my "SA Instructions" computer file for reference.

The first thing I could tell you is never ever ever drink anything with caffeine in it after 12 noon, and then never drink more than 12oz. Before, you NEEDED it, now you don't. Coffee takes 8 to 14 hours to get out of your system. . . so if you want to be asleep by ten, do the math and for a while, go with the 14hour number, not the 8 until you find how fast you actually process caffeine.

You might find this helpful:
http://yoursleep.aasmnet.org/Topic.aspx?id=45

I deal with insomnia, though I'm a LOT better than I used to be. I have black out curtains over the windows to make sure the room is DARK and stays DARK. I don't eat anything after 7pm at night if I can at all help it. I don't let anyone TALK to me, don't watch the TV, surf the computer, or anything that does not have natural room light. If you NEED to be on the computer there is a program called F.lux that you can download for free that will adjust the light on your computer screen with the time of day so that your brain doesn't get all woken up from the light.

I try to read and be quiet for at least 45 minutes before bed time. I try VERY hard to be bed by 10pm and up by 6am every day including weekends.

I do NOT ever ever ever ever . . .watch the clock or 'try' to go to sleep. This is the biggest thing that will keep you awake because it causes anxiety. If I wake up, or can't go to sleep, because I will stimulate to be in an even more awake state if I get up and move around, I stay in bed and I find something pleasant to think about (I usually pray, but going to a happy place or meditating works just as well) and I TRY TO STAY AWAKE to continue what I'm thinking/praying about. Before I know it the alarm is going off, and it woke me up.

I don't think about how much sleep I don't get. That makes that anxiety worse and gets things going into a vicious cycle the next time I try to sleep.

I NEVER take a nap. It doesn't matter if I'm dead on my feet, I do not go to sleep until 10pm. That nap will keep me up for a week.

Since I've been diagnosed with apnea, I find that if I wake up from the apnea, it's hard to go to sleep because my brain doesn't trust going to sleep. . . so I do what I always do, find something calming to think about and go there.

I hope this helps. When I was a teen, I couldn't even get into the bed at night. I slept for maybe thirty minutes each night... and did this from the time I was fifteen until I was in my early twenties when I started to teach myself how to sleep. It's been a life long process. . . the apnea diagnosis explains a lot.

I will never sleep as well as my husband. Part of surviving insomnia is acceptance and beginning to relax with it.