Untrain my Awakenings

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 5:05 am

I am getting a bit sick and TIRED of waking up every night every time I change positions in my sleep. I think this whole thing started when I became aware of leaks in my masks when I would turn over and would subconsciously tell myself to wake up and check and make sure my mask wasn't now leaking. However, I am almost starting my fifth month on therapy and I still do it every night.

I don't know if I'm just venting at this point or I'm looking/praying for someone to give me a solution, which I can't imagine exists. I don't have many episodes per night and have made sure the times that I wake up are not associated with any of them, and they're not, but this is getting ridiculous. And it seems to be at certain hours. Like every night, I look at the clock and it's usually 1:30-1:45 for the first awakening.

Okay...I guess this type of sleep is better than pre-therapy, but it's certainly not as great as sleeping through the night occasionally. What I would give to have a few nights of uninterrupted sleep. I guess when you have a very low AHI every night, you shouldn't complain. But the thought of an uninterrupted night of sleep still seems out of my grasp. I guess we always really want what we just can't have.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 6:04 am

Good morning, Lori.

Welcome to (and I'm guessing here) a very large "club". There are very few mornings that I wake up in the same position I went to sleep in. And, if I do, my back is probably out of whack (being a side-sleeper). I'm usually aware of my tossing and turning, too....mask movements, you name it. Fortunately, I can get back to sleep very quickly so I don't let it bother me.

Does that help?

Den

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 6:10 am

Den,

Knowing you're not alone always helps a bit. Thank you for the quick reply and the comfort in knowing I'm not alone. Sorry that it happens to you, too. I, too, fall right back to sleep, but just wish it didn't have to be this way.

Like I said, I don't know if I was just venting out of frustration of missing the ability of sleeping through one night, especially after reading the posts from others here that do it as a normal custom and practice, or if I was praying someone would say, "Yes, I used to do that, too, but this is how I've solved the problem..." Like I also said, I don't really put much weight in having a solution out there somewhere except maybe time will reverse things once my mind realizes that all is well with the mask I'm now using and there is no need to check to see if it's leaking.

Again, thanks as usual for your kindness and support. Maybe some day we'll both have an "off" night and will sleep straight through. Until then, I guess I'll just have to remember that I have great results from my therapy and can, like you mentioned, fall back to sleep immediately.

peg · Post by **peg** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:51 am

Lori,
Have patience and a little faith in the human brain. We are creatures of habit and our brains just take time to accept things. Some of us have an easier time accepting the change than others. I am one of the lucky ones. I have taken to CPAP like the proverbial duck to water. I am used to waking up all the time at night and then going back to sleep. So waking to adjust the mask is not a big deal. Years of shift work makes you capable of sleeping when ever you get the chance.
It's difficult not to struggle with something new but I am sure one day you will suddenly wonder, "when did I start sleeping all night?"
Keep your spirits up. This will work for you.

Re-reading this, it all sounds pretty corny. But we do have to re-train our brains when we change things.

Barb (Seattle) · Post by **Barb (Seattle)** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:52 am

No solution for you, but...

I HEAR YOU, I HEAR YOU, I HEAR YOU!!

I want what I had in high school....go to bed....9 blissful hours later, I wake up. I fiddle all night long with noises from that "blankety-blank" mask...

Barb (Seattle) · Post by **Barb (Seattle)** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:55 am

I like Peg's answer better

ProfessorSleep · Post by **ProfessorSleep** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:19 am

Lori, I know exactly what you mean. Peg has a great answer, one that my sleep doc confirmed this a.m. I do the same thing. Granted, I'm new to this CPAP stuff and could blame the routine awakenings on a number of things. But I think it is just something that I will have to do some mind training to get rid of and/or get used to. There are so many factors that influence sleep... I know that isn't much help, but do know you aren't alone.

Personally, though, I wouldn't go through high school again for anything! Not even all that sleep!

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:47 am

Peg, Barb & Beth,

Thanks for the help and support. I guess maybe with time I will be able to lose this unconscious waking trait I have developed. I guess for now, I will just be grateful I fall back to sleep quickly and feel so much better than pre-therapy. But I appreciate your support more than you'll ever know.

Peg, no, it wasn't corny at all. And if it was, I wouldn't recognize it as such since I'm a corny type of gal (LOL).

Thanks, guys.

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:52 am

Sleepless on LI wrote:I don't know if I'm just venting at this point or I'm looking/praying for someone to give me a solution, which I can't imagine exists.

Hire someone to sit at your bedside all night. Every time you wake up have that person smack you and tell you to go back to sleep.

I'll volunteer to do it for free. Then we'll swap rolls and you can do it for me .

I've read that it takes 21 consecutive days to "program" ourselves to a routine. FWIW

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:00 am

Lori,

I re-read your first post on this thread and it jogged my memory of some of the nights when I've woke up.....some recently. It would feel like I'd slept all night and woke up thinking that the alarm clock was about to go off.....only to find out that I'd only slept a couple of hours.....bummer! Fortunately, I can get back to sleep with no problem. I can also relate to what Peg said about working shift work and being able to go to sleep in a heartbeat. That definitely helps.

Later,

Den

mikemoran · Post by **mikemoran** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:26 am

Lori,

This is the real reason I have gone through so many masks. I have been trying to take the mask out of the equation. I think I may have that with the Aura. Before CPAP I slept through the night, in fact very seldom woke for anything. I can't say I've seen the real benefit of CPAP yet. So far its been a mask struggle so even though my oxygen saturation is better I keep waking up through the night. Disturbed sleep is as detrimental as bad sleep.

So now that I have a mask that seems to stay in place I think I can retrain my sleeping habits. One of the biggest things I have come to terms to with is masks leak. Think about it, if you have a minor leak its just less air going out your exhaust. So I have learned to worry less about leaks. The only thing I wake up for are annoying leaks such as blowing in my eyes.

tater pie · Post by **tater pie** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:51 am

I've been on cpap for almost a year and I still wake up at least once a night and usually two times. I'm older than you and the doctor tells me this is an age thing too so age may not apply to you. He says he doubts I will ever sleep straight through the night again. Sorry I couldn't be of more help and encouragement. When I started cpap, I was so excited because I thought I would sleep straight through the night too but it just hasn't happened. The longest time I've ever slept is from 11:00 p.m to 5:30 a.m. and that was only once when I was dead dog tired from staying up all night for about a week with my grandson. I don't have leaks from my mask either and I am able to go right back to sleep most of the time. I hope somebody comes up with a better solution for you.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 12:19 pm

WAFlowers wrote:Hire someone to sit at your bedside all night. Every time you wake up have that person smack you and tell you to go back to sleep.

I'll volunteer to do it for free. Then we'll swap rolls and you can do it for me .

I'm sorry, but my husband thinks he should be the only one allowed to smack his wife (ONLY KIDDING!!!!). If that wouldn't reprogram someone, what would? I'd be afraid to wake up at all.

Mike, I've been using the Aura now since 9/13 and really like it. Leaks, except for one night, have not been a problem anymore. I just hope it's not too late to reprogram myself now not to subconsciously be thinking I need to watch the mask every time I switch to the other side. Frustrating. And, yes, disturbed sleep is not a great thing, but I guess as long as it only last for a few seconds and isn't 10, 15 or 20 times a night, I'll survive. I just wonder how great I'd feel if this weren't happening.

Tater pie, I don't know how old you are, but I'm 48. Does that qualify, do you think, for being at that age where you don't sleep through the night no matter what? I pray not. And I'd give my left arm for 11-5:30 straight. I would love that. I probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after 6 1/2 hours straight sleep. Oh, the sheer delight in thinking I could ever do that again.

Den, I hope you don't lose the ability ever to fall back asleep quickly or that could be a real bad deal. Thanks for the input.

peg · Post by **peg** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:34 pm

The retraining is like (if you ever have) wearing glasses. You get into that habit of pushing them up on your face. Either at the corners of the glasses or right between your eyes.
Then after laser surgery, you can see just fine but it takes a while to stop pushing your glasses up. But eventually you do stop doing it.
It can be done!!!!

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:39 pm

peg wrote:It can be done!!!!

Peg, from your lips (or pen)...

Untrain my Awakenings

Untrain my Awakenings

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