Tolerance to sleep apneas

How much do peoples sleep apneas wake them up, as in not just for 1 minute. as in waking you up for an hour or more or causing you to actually get out of bed and stay awake??

I feel like I have a low tolerance to apneas. I had a sleep test 2 years ago and said 4.2 Apneas per hour so they said I dont have sleep apnea But I think the test may have been wrong. And I think I do have sleep apnea. I am organising another one. I hope the test kit arrives soon .Listening to my sleep though I think I probably am still at the low level, like between 5 and 10 per hour max. But boy do they create hell with my sleep. I regularly wake up for an hour at a time and often give up after 4 hours and get up for the day It is really messing with my life. My quality of life is very impacted.

Then I constantly read stories about how people who shave sleep apnea never knew why they felt like crap when they woke up after a full 8 hours sleep. But their partner told them they snore loudly and they then got a test and to their suprise found out they have 100 apneas an hour. I am thinking like my god how did you not know!!? How were you not conscious of waking up.

I feel like I have a very low tolerance to apneas and they keep me awake. So a small number destroy my sleep. If I got back to sleep after a minute each time I dont think it would matter much for my energy levels. In fact, I kind of know that, because when I take half a sleeping pill I still have the apneas but I fall asleep again really quick from the sedation and feel great the next day.

So, how does everyone else react to them? Do most people not even know you are having them?

141 per hr on my sleep test. Probably had it for years. ‍♀️ Who knew.

My understanding (and experience) of sleep apneas is that one doesn't become fully awake. Your body wakes up enough to get the tone back into your throat muscles so that you can breathe again, then back to sleep. Sleep apnea events do disturb your sleep with the survival adrenaline response, but you may not be conscious of them. Before CPAP my wife used to tell me that she heard me stop breathing now and then, but I never woke up with these events. I expect that this is different for different people, like you read about some people being awakened by apneas, having the sensation of being choked and nightmares involving choking. But I think that a lot of sleep apnea sufferers have the experience that I did, of not fully waking up, and having no memory of the apneas that they have at night.

That is so interesting. I wonder why I seem to become so conscious of them compared to other people Me becoming conscious of them and staying awake is by far the worst part.

My original AHI was only 13--but it felt like every one inspired bizzarre nightmares.
So they did wake me, as that's how I remember them.
When I woke, it was in a very agitated state--racing heartbeat, and full of adrenaline.
Every few minutes, I would wake up with the shakes.
If I woke up without a crushing headache, I would often stay up,
knowing that more "sleep" would only bring more pain.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:35 pm

My original AHI was only 13--but it felt like every one inspired bizzarre nightmares.
So they did wake me, as that's how I remember them.
When I woke, it was in a very agitated state--racing heartbeat, and full of adrenaline.
Every few minutes, I would wake up with the shakes.
If I woke up without a crushing headache, I would often stay up,
knowing that more "sleep" would only bring more pain.

Your situation is closer to mine than the others. Although, I dont wake up with headaches. Or racing heartbeats that I can notice or agitation. I more wake up with a blocked nose and sore dry throat and mouth and then lie awake trying to get back to sleep for an hour or more with racing negative thoughts. Every aspect of my life seems much worse when lying in bed early in the morning. I try to focus on positive thoughts as much as I can to get back to sleep And also try and turn to a position to unblock my nose as much as I can.

sleepcrapnea wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 15, 2021 1:18 am

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:35 pm

My original AHI was only 13--but it felt like every one inspired bizzarre nightmares.
So they did wake me, as that's how I remember them.
When I woke, it was in a very agitated state--racing heartbeat, and full of adrenaline.
Every few minutes, I would wake up with the shakes.
If I woke up without a crushing headache, I would often stay up,
knowing that more "sleep" would only bring more pain.

Your situation is closer to mine than the others. Although, I dont wake up with headaches. Or racing heartbeats that I can notice or agitation. I more wake up with a blocked nose and sore dry throat and mouth and then lie awake trying to get back to sleep for an hour or more with racing negative thoughts. Every aspect of my life seems much worse when lying in bed early in the morning. I try to focus on positive thoughts as much as I can to get back to sleep And also try and turn to a position to unblock my nose as much as I can.

Please note: These symptoms abated in a flash once I started cpap.
Probably explains why I'm so attached to it.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 15, 2021 8:43 am

Please note: These symptoms abated in a flash once I started cpap.
Probably explains why I'm so attached to it.

Thats great so pleased for you! Must be such a relief to have had a fix for all of this. My trial with a CPAP was not so successful. I think probably due to the fact I have permanent nasal obstruction plus my sleep test said I dont have sleep apnea so I didnt have motivation. Will be interesting to see what the next sleep test says.

If I were diagnosed with a deviated septum, I would get it corrected in a NY minute.
Life is too short to just "live with" an unpleasant but correctible situation.
I had to fight the bass-ackwards medical system to fix crippling menstrual cramps.
It was completely worth it.

sleepcrapnea wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:27 am

to their suprise found out they have 100 apneas an hour. I am thinking like my god how did you not know!!? How were you not conscious of waking up.

It's very simple, if you go back to "sleep" very quickly, because you're exhausted, for instance) you won't remember waking up, it's a simple fact of the way the brain forms memories.

It is, furthermore, perfectly normal to wake up, or very nearly wake up, several times during the night, but most people don't remember those brief awakenings, and the next morning think they "slept soundly" all night long, even though they actually woke up, briefly, several times.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 15, 2021 1:09 pm

If I were diagnosed with a deviated septum, I would get it corrected in a NY minute.
Life is too short to just "live with" an unpleasant but correctible situation.
I had to fight the bass-ackwards medical system to fix crippling menstrual cramps.
It was completely worth it.

Yeah, I am risk averse I guess. Also, it does not affect me much in the day time. But its the night time it really sucks. It has mainly been affecting me when trying to sleep the last four years. I am trying to decipher whether it is the primary cause of my sleep problems. I would be getting it fixed in a NY minute if I was confident it was my nose causing the problem. I am starting to think that it probably is. But I just dont know, and it seems impossible to get a clear answer on the situation. It will suck to go through that awful surgery if it doesnt improve my sleeping.

palerider wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 15, 2021 5:11 pm

sleepcrapnea wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:27 am

to their suprise found out they have 100 apneas an hour. I am thinking like my god how did you not know!!? How were you not conscious of waking up.

It's very simple, if you go back to "sleep" very quickly, because you're exhausted, for instance) you won't remember waking up, it's a simple fact of the way the brain forms memories.

It is, furthermore, perfectly normal to wake up, or very nearly wake up, several times during the night, but most people don't remember those brief awakenings, and the next morning think they "slept soundly" all night long, even though they actually woke up, briefly, several times.

I wish I would just get back to sleep immediately after my apneas. Would not be such a problem for me if I did. I think maybe the quantities of apnea I experience is not too bad but its my reaction to them that is. Becoming wide awake and staying awake, loosing a lot of sleep that way. Rather than hundreds of mini sleep losses I am unaware of through the night.

You really need to be keeping all your questions in one consolidated thread.
It would make it so much easier for people to stand a chance in maybe helping you.
They way you are doing it now....impossible to follow and it makes for a lot more work for people trying to sort out all your posts and to be honest....most people won't want to do the work to see your history.