ckeith wrote:
Maybe if I could loose the Roller Skates - I could climb that mountain - Insomnia being the Rollerskates
I can't see that I am going to be able to address the issue of CPAP until I get the problem of Insomnia solved
But the doctors seem to me to think that the Insomnia is a function of the Apnea
If that is the case - I'm probably a Train Wreck waiting to happen
.
For some of us, insomnia is a way of avoiding sleep because our brain unconsciously knows that sleep is dangerous. For example, if we wake up with a bad nightmare, we aren't always wanting to go back to sleep. Well, our brains know that choking, gasping, oxygen deprivation, etc is really bad. So, we resist going to bed.
I used to lay awake for an hour or more. I am already a severe night owl (possibly from decades of untreated sleep apnea). Now, with cpap, I usually fall asleep within 5 minutes or so. I barely remember anything after laying down.
Back when I had my sleep study, I had such a good night with the machine that the next night (at home without the machine), I had a dream where I was angry that I did NOT have a machine yet. I wanted one NOW. This is because my brain, even though I was asleep, KNEW that I needed another good night like that, and the machine was the reason I slept so well.
You have probably had YEARS of bad sleep. Probably decades. We don't start out at severe. And severe usually only refers to the number of events per hour, not how bad the oxygen goes down. So,, you have a double case of bad. Lots of events and probably long events to get that low oxygen saturation. Most likely the cause of the heart problems.
You NEED to make this work for you.
You need to list your equipment, list your settings, and list the actual problems. We can help you make adjustments.
Wear it during the day while watching tv or reading a book. Get used to it. Let your brain accept it is as helpful and not an enemy. This can save your life AND improve your quality of life.
