Fear of sleep or dying in your sleep

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.

For several years before I was diagnosed, I felt a need to stay up until I was really, really tired. Sometimes I could go to bed at a reasonable hour, but often there was a nebulous fear surrounding going to bed and trying to sleep, so I'd end up not going to bed til midnight or 1:00 a.m., sometimes later. I've been on CPAP for just over two months, and didn't realize until I read your post that this fear is now totally gone. Thanks for helping me realize that here's one more thing to be grateful for as I still struggle to get used to sleeping with a mask.

I had developed a habit of going to bed ungodly late, because I knew there was nothing but frustration for me there.
After starting cpap, it took me quite a while to break that habit, even though dealing with the mask was
much easier if I wasn't totally exhausted.

Julie wrote:SE21 If you have apnea, you may develop anxiety from feeling so incompetent and useless all the time, feeling you have to be alert when all you want is to sleep. I wasn't saying apnea itself literally creates anxiety at a medical level. But I do think you've misinterpreted what Black S. said... try again.

Thanks for explaining, Julie. What you are saying makes sense.

No, I don't believe I've misunderstood what BS said. His/her comments are still stuck on irrational, imo.

Glad to see you didn't feel the need to go there to try to help the OP.

SleepyEyes21 wrote:

Julie wrote:SE21 If you have apnea, you may develop anxiety from feeling so incompetent and useless all the time, feeling you have to be alert when all you want is to sleep. I wasn't saying apnea itself literally creates anxiety at a medical level. But I do think you've misinterpreted what Black S. said... try again.

Thanks for explaining, Julie. What you are saying makes sense.

No, I don't believe I've misunderstood what BS said. His/her comments are still stuck on irrational, imo.

Glad to see you didn't feel the need to go there to try to help the OP.

The mind is far more complex then you give it credit for. You can have trauma from things you can't remember consciously. Plus I was quoting my sleep doctor. Nice try.

Yes it does create actual anxiety. Waking up gasping has the same hormonal, chemical and full body reaction as having an anxiety attack. Every time you stop breathing your body goes into "fight/flight" stress mode in order to wake you up and start you breathing again. Do it enough times and it becomes learned behaviour, a habit. Also your body stays in "alert / danger " mode when you are awake making the triggers work so much better and faster.

In support of Backspinner's comments re: anxiety, here's just one of many articles on the subject from reputable sources: http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxie ... -disorders

BlackSpinner wrote:

SleepyEyes21 wrote:

Julie wrote:SE21 If you have apnea, you may develop anxiety from feeling so incompetent and useless all the time, feeling you have to be alert when all you want is to sleep. I wasn't saying apnea itself literally creates anxiety at a medical level. But I do think you've misinterpreted what Black S. said... try again.

Thanks for explaining, Julie. What you are saying makes sense.

No, I don't believe I've misunderstood what BS said. His/her comments are still stuck on irrational, imo.

Glad to see you didn't feel the need to go there to try to help the OP.

The mind is far more complex then you give it credit for. You can have trauma from things you can't remember consciously. Plus I was quoting my sleep doctor. Nice try.

Yes it does create actual anxiety. Waking up gasping has the same hormonal, chemical and full body reaction as having an anxiety attack. Every time you stop breathing your body goes into "fight/flight" stress mode in order to wake you up and start you breathing again. Do it enough times and it becomes learned behaviour, a habit. Also your body stays in "alert / danger " mode when you are awake making the triggers work so much better and faster.

BS- don't ya think it's time to move past Doogie Howser, M.D.? He obviously knows very little about OSA; its either that, or you can't comprehend what he's telling you and repeat it correctly back to others.

As for the rest of what you are saying about anxiety: Go back to Biology 101. You've got quite a lot of this incorrect yet again.

SleepyEyes21 wrote:
BS- don't ya think it's time to move past Doogie Howser, M.D.? He obviously knows very little about OSA; its either that, or you can't comprehend what he's telling you and repeat it correctly back to others.

As for the rest of what you are saying about anxiety: Go back to Biology 101. You've got quite a lot of this incorrect yet again.

Except that it is not biology 101. If that is all you have then shut up because it doesn't work that way. A lot has changed since you dissected that frog.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anx ... e=Upworthy

http://sleepjunkies.com/blog/sleep-appetite-regulation/
http://sleepjunkies.com/blog/your-second-brain/
http://www.ted.com/talks/russell_foster ... anguage=en
http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_slutkin_l ... anguage=en
http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_iliff_one ... ht_s_sleep
http://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_h ... anguage=en
https://www.ted.com/talks/judson_brewer ... anguage=en
http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_bl ... anguage=en
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3030192/
http://www.businessinsider.com/vagus-ne ... ion-2015-6
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ptsd-clue ... -1.2734768
http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria- ... resilience

seems like a nice way to go. i'm astonished watching people go about like there is a reason. sleep deep sleep is all that matters not what comes after.

SleepyEyes21 wrote:

BlackSpinner wrote:

Wulfman... wrote:
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.

BS - your comments here are questionable at best. Please try to stick to the facts and stop spreading skewed information.

NO pap machine is going to save you if your heart stops, or another major medical event kills you in your sleep. Fact.

With all due respect SE, you are misinterpreting what BS said. No where in her posts did she make that claim.

It is common sense that untreated sleep disorders can lead to anxiety, depression, and other related mental health issues. Of course, if someone has a horrific issue like being a domestic violence victim and just happens to also have sleep apnea, the machine isn't going to save them from that situation. But again, BS isn't making claims like that.

Anyway, Jay provided an excellent link that I hope you will read.

49er

BlackSpinner wrote:

SleepyEyes21 wrote:
BS- don't ya think it's time to move past Doogie Howser, M.D.? He obviously knows very little about OSA; its either that, or you can't comprehend what he's telling you and repeat it correctly back to others.

As for the rest of what you are saying about anxiety: Go back to Biology 101. You've got quite a lot of this incorrect yet again.

Except that it is not biology 101. If that is all you have then shut up because it doesn't work that way. A lot has changed since you dissected that frog.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anx ... e=Upworthy

http://sleepjunkies.com/blog/sleep-appetite-regulation/
http://sleepjunkies.com/blog/your-second-brain/
http://www.ted.com/talks/russell_foster ... anguage=en
http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_slutkin_l ... anguage=en


BS thanks for all the links....Your 100% spot on...
http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_iliff_one ... ht_s_sleep
http://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_h ... anguage=en
https://www.ted.com/talks/judson_brewer ... anguage=en
http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_bl ... anguage=en
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3030192/
http://www.businessinsider.com/vagus-ne ... ion-2015-6
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ptsd-clue ... -1.2734768
http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria- ... resilience

EDIT Not sure what happened to the " thanks for the links", I wrote...only meant to quote your links,,, and say thanks...

ChicagoGranny wrote:

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

You butchered that one, Den.

Yeah... big GD deal... we all know full well what he meant.