Waking up every 90 minutes

Just recently diagnosed with moderate OSA after not knowing about it for 20+ years. Common complications from OSA are panic attacks/disorder and palpitations. Finally starting to get used to the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet CPAP machine with full mask (ResMed F20 large) at about 9 cm/H2O pressure setting. Using the full mask because of frequent stuffy nose. Sleep study at home recommended 16 cm/H2O but a bit too much since that number was not based on me actually sleeping. Current therapy is helping to reduce the number of apnea events, but I still wake up about every 90 minutes - 180 minutes. Is the frequent waking up related to the OSA or is there something else going on? I suspect they are related and in time the frequent waking up will improve. Started therapy only a week ago. Any ideas? Thank you!

carlsonivan wrote:Just recently diagnosed with moderate OSA after not knowing about it for 20+ years. Common complications from OSA are panic attacks/disorder and palpitations. Finally starting to get used to the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet CPAP machine with full mask (ResMed F20 large) at about 9 cm/H2O pressure setting. Using the full mask because of frequent stuffy nose. Sleep study at home recommended 16 cm/H2O but a bit too much since that number was not based on me actually sleeping. Current therapy is helping to reduce the number of apnea events, but I still wake up about every 90 minutes - 180 minutes. Is the frequent waking up related to the OSA or is there something else going on? I suspect they are related and in time the frequent waking up will improve. Started therapy only a week ago. Any ideas? Thank you!

You need to fill in your equipment in TEXT not ICONNY, from the control panel. Also you can download Sleepy head to read your data, and post some screen shots to the forum, We may be able to offer some suggestions to improve your results. Most of us awake a few times a night, I take a sip of water adjust my mask, it crawls up at times, most times I don't open my eyes, just go back to sleep, It becomes a habit. Welcome... Jim

Welcome
Don't worry you will get there. If you have only been at this for a week, your brain is still telling you to get this alien thing off your face . It will take some time for your body to recuperate after years of crappy sleep just try to relax and let the machine do its thing.

Cheers
Nan

Normal sleep cycles are 90 minutes, it pretty common to rouse after each cycle, we generally do not recall it. After some 8 months on CPAP, I wake about 4 x per night enough to flip my machine off and on so I can see when I have more hypopneas.

I thought I was the only one who wakes up all night long. I have been using the Cpap therapy for over a year and I still wake up after 3 to 4 hours of initial sleep and then every hour or so afterwards until I get out of bed in the morning. I work shift work so sometimes I sleep during the day, which is very challenging. Good luck!!!

Each time you wake up, think: 'Cool! I just completed a sleep cycle, and I look forward to another one now!' That is much better than thinking: 'RATS! I just woke up in the middle of the night again!' Your brain should eventually learn to just start another cycle without waking you up completely. If your brain has been experiencing fragmented sleep for years/decades and finally achieves regular full sleep cycles, it is likely to be so excited about it, like an overly-friendly puppy, that it wants to wake you up to share in its joy.

Another important thing for some of us is for us NOT to have a clock where it can easily be seen by us at night. If you look at a clock when you wake up, you are just teaching your brain that it is its job to wake you up on a regular basis throughout the night, since you seem to it to be so interested in what time it is at night. When you wake up, tell your brain (out loud if you have to, unless there is someone nearby who will think you just completely lost your mind and will call 911) that it is 'none of its business what time it is and you don't care either.' After a while your brain will realize you mean it, and it will have no reason to wake you up for the traditional 90-minute clock-check.

At least, all that helped me back in the days when I was on speaking terms with my brain. Now it mostly just ignores me.