Hypopompic and Hypnagogic Hallucinations appear

Hi,

I just started CPAP treatment a little less than 4 weeks ago. So far all is going great, and my AHI is below 3.0. I'm using a Respironics Remstar A-flex at a pressure of 16-18. Unfortunately, I'm still tired...

The thing is, I've started to experience hypopompic (and to a lesser degree hypnagogic) hallucinations, but only over the last week. These are hallucinations upon waking and falling asleep, and are auditory hallucinations. They are in the absence of sleep paralysis and are more strange than anything else. Since they are considered a common feature of sleep deprivation, I just assumed that they resulted from the process of my sleep becoming "normal" again. They are new for me. Has anyone else experienced this?

I saw my sleep doctor today and I just assumed he'd tell me to ignore it and that they'd probably go away in a few days (again they only appeared in the last week). Instead, he wants to "blame" them on medications I've been taking for months or years. I find his attitude odd.

Thanks.

Hi, too bad you're having those interesting events, but medication can change over time, and it's possible the effects could have been sped up once you started Cpap. What are you taking, and do you take them before bed? It would also be helpful to know what mask you're using, whether or not you go to bed at the same time each night, do specific exercise, whether the temperature in the room is at some extreme, what you eat or drink before bed, etc. etc. If you fill in your 'Profile" (using text rather than icons for equipment) via the User Control just above postings, we can then all see what you're using each time you post, which makes it easier to try and help out.

Could be that you know more than your sleep doc. That happens, especially with regular readers on this board.

Many of us on xpap find that the effect of medication is different.
Take caffeine for example. I can no longer drink coffee after 1 pm and certainly no more then 2 cups in the morning now. Before cpap 4 - 6 cups a day with little effect, now I get the caffeine shakes after 3 cups and I don't sleep.