Suddenly Wake up early

I have been using my CPAP faithfully for a couple of years with success........sleeping well and lots of energy. However, all of a sudden I started waking up tired which progressed to waking up after only a few hours of sleep and not being able to fall back to sleep. Added to this, my IBS symptoms starting up again. Just wondering if anyone else had been successful and then encountered similar problem down the road.........esp. bothering me is waking up at 4:30 or 5:00 and not being able to get back to sleep after a couple years of it working so well. Really perplexed. Thanks for any help !!! I use heated humidifier and a hybrid mask - Mirage Liberty.

Do you have data to prove you are getting effective treatment? What sort of machine are you using? Is it a CPAP or an APAP?

What you describe may call into question whether you are getting enough pressure to keep your airway open during the last part of the night when a lot of REM sleep occurs. If you have no data on your machine to tell you if there is an increase in apneas, a sleep study may be in order to make sure your prescribed pressure is doing its thing.

However, other conditions (besides OSA) have an effect on sleep, too. So CPAP therapy may not be the culprit in your new sleep issues. Sudden changes to sleep patterns that don't have explanations may be indicative of medical conditions, so telling a doc may be a good idea.

At times, emotional states (worried, stressed, discouraged, etc) show up as sleep pattern changes. Those tend to go away. But other than that, sudden-onset sleep-maintenance insomnia is not something to ignore. It is not a pattern we want to let our bodies/brains establish if we can help it. Short-term drug approaches may even be in order if we know a doc experienced with that sort of thing.

If my answer is more confusing than helpful, just ask questions to get clarification and other thoughts here.

Thanks for your reply and it made alot of sense. Especially the part about stress possibly being an issue as a stressful event coincides somewhat with when this all started to develop. It is good to hear that it should resolve itself...........tough to accept these new issues when the cpap was working so well !!!!

I use a CPAP..........my supplier picked up the data chip today (that is how they do it....) for a "Compliance Download"........which will hopefully point out if there are any leaks, etc. But you did mention a possible need for a pressure change and I was wondering about that.........should find out results next week. thanks again.

The statements by this commercial site don't seem too far off to me:

http://sleep.lovetoknow.com/Sleep_Maintenance_Insomnia

Compliance data differs from efficacy data, which is a record of apneas and hypopneas and the like along with leaks. Your sleep doc may be willing to sign off on your raising your own pressure to see if that helps you sleep better and feel better in the morning. Or he may want your DME RRT to do that for you.

Just don't ignore it and accept it, though. Your sleep is worth the trouble.

That said, hormonal issues can be a bear at certain times of life, and dealing with that sort of thing can be highly individual as far as what brings relief.

josie blue wrote:I use a CPAP..........my supplier picked up the data chip today (that is how they do it....) for a "Compliance Download"........which will hopefully point out if there are any leaks, etc. But you did mention a possible need for a pressure change and I was wondering about that.........should find out results next week. thanks again.

sorry, no, the compliance download only says that you've been a good little boy or girl and using the thing at least 4 hours a night.

to find out about leaks, you need to load your data into sleepyhead (my preference) or resscan and look at it yourself.

if they have the sd card, you can just pop in another one until they get it back to you, the card has to be in the machine during use to capture the detailed data you want.

A couple of things to get done:
1. Post your equipment. There is a link in my signature block on how to do this. If your CPAP machine is a brick, then there is not data to be had and you should think about replacing your unit with a data capable one so you can monitor yor own therapy.

2. Get a copy of your sleep study / titration study for your own records so you can see where you were when this started.

3. Get a copy of your prescription in case you need to get a different model of machine. Whatever brand of CPAP you are using, plan on keeping that manufacturer. Different manufacturer's machines feel different to different folks but different models within the same line feel remarkably similar. You don't need to be coping with a different algorithm within a machine among anything else that might need to be changed.

4. Get a copy of any reports that your DME has made over time to see what that data is.

5. If recent stress has entered your life, then do what you can to relieve that stressor. Stress always makes sleep issues worse. For me, it makes my numbers go all squirrely and bizarre. For you it might be the cause of obstructive events that are not handled by your machine and end up waking you up abruptly. That's always a bad way to wake up. I have a medical condition that does it to me several times every night. So a good night for me is a couple of 2 hour sleep segments back to back. A bad one is 7 or 8 segments with me being fully awake between each pair

6. The suggestion of seeing your doctor about this issue is a good one. Make the appointment as soon as possible.

7. If your machine is data capable, get the appropriate software and begin tracking. More data is better especially if you bring it to your next medical appointment.

Re the Compliance Download...........I thought the same thing - because of what they call it, I thought that it would just show I was using the machine.......but I asked the tech and the nurse who ordered the pick-up, and they both said it would also show any leaks or episodes of apnea..........otherwise, I don't think they would have bothered to even check it out???

Nearly a week to check your data card is a bit ridiculous - you can get the SleepyHead software, and check it out each day for yourself. If you are interested in how well/badly you are doing. If you are not interested, you should be: no one else will be as concerned about your health as you should be! You can post the charts on here, and get immediate suggestions for what may be wrong and some ideas on what to try to fix the issues. Any change in wake-up time can suggest something has changed, whether it is stress, leaks (hoses and masks can get tired and start leaking), or you could have an infection, etc, etc. The software is free to download and install, and it will give you a whole new perspective on your treatment as time goes by.

My IBS is usually worst when I'm stressed too. I've notice it can effect my CPAP effectiveness. Especially if I'm having acid reflux. Have you tried seeing a doctor about the IBS? They may be able to help.

A week to check results sounds like what I'm going to deal with shortly. And this is the "quick" clinic for us.