Poll: Senitive/Hyperarousable Sleepers

What say ye, sensitive sleepers? UNITE!!!!! Share your tips and tricks here. Let's brainstorm. Let's talk about anything and everything that comes to mind.


Solutions most welcome!



P.S. The poll is intended as a conversational starter and "curiosity peek" only. I'll post my own sleep sensitivity details in this thread soon...

Sometimes I'm sensitive; most of the time I'm not. Depends what's happened during the day, too, but I sleep much more soundly overall since CPAP.

Yay the poll!

You're gonna HATE me but I can't answer yes to ANY of those.

My ideal reply(-ies) would be:

- I have ALWAYS slept soundly amidst lights, noises, etc. and but not anymore after starting CPAP

- I used to not be easily disturbed during sleep... but [delete: not] now thanks to good old CPAP I wake up easily

- CPAP does not disturb me now... and I think CPAP also heightened my overall sensitivity to lights, noises, etc. at night. But during the day i have less sensitivity (to lights, noises, stupidity, etc).

So I guess I'll vote for the 2nd to last one (but I insist: the cpap itself doesn't disturb me).

EDIT: I'm gonna wait til the poll figures out what all the options are.

Echo and others, I don't think the poll questions and answers matter as much as the ensuing discussion and solutions.

But I don't mind adding other poll options this early in the poll. Give me suggested poll options and I'll gladly add them. Why not?

Since the pain issues which ultimately led to my apnea diagnosis began in summer of 2002, I have never slept soundly. And if I'm roused within two hours of the time I need to get up, it's rare that I can go back to sleep.

I'm sleeping better now -- can usually manage six hours uninterrupted, then I need to hit the necessary because my bladder is very sensitive since my cancer surgery.

I'm the one who always answers the phone. I'm the one who wakes up if the furkids have a problem. I'm the one who wakes up when anyone is stirring in the house.

Hm, good point -SWS.

So I will start with a list of what I'm sensitive to, then i need to go to bed and then we'll see how this thread evolves.

- Bright lights, especially in the evenings, and especially from TVs and headlights
- Touch - tapping especially, or for example the cat standing on my legs (too much pressure at each spot), and also fibro points?, and also if I run into something or scratch my arm through a shirt, the pain is strong and lasts a long time
- Sound - repetitive sounds, strong bass (but I love concerts, go figure), talking on the radio (drives me NUTS), roster's crowing in the AM
- Smell - cannot stand most perfumes and colognes, any kind of 'artificial scent' especially those room scents.
- Stupid people - cannot stand stupid people.
- Order/Organiziation: slightly OCD? I cannot handle when things are not organized in an optimal way (like the dishwasher or the traffic on a 3-lane highway). I would consider this a sensitivity to disorder?
- Sensitive personality? - have difficulty accepting being made fun of or disagreements (well my partner keeps saying i'm too sensitive regarding stuff like this), blow up easily, cry easily
- Foods - I'm intolerant to different foods but they change every few years
- Still very sensitive to conflict. I have a lot of trouble (and it's gotten worse over the years) telling people not to step all over me.

Observations:
- I used to sleep "like a log" before CPAP, nothing could wake me up in the mornings , or during the night. Loud noise, light, none of that bothered me once I fell asleep.
- Getting to sleep was always difficult, as even the slightest noise would keep me up (still does)
- "Night-time sensitivity" is increased: now I can wake up much more easily, during the night or in the morning, after starting CPAP
- "Daytime sensitivity" is decreased: lights, noise, touch, bother me still but less (usually), and my personality sensitivity is less too
- When I'm really tired, it all comes back, but that's normal I guess (pain perception may be slightly worse too?)
- Sleeping less than 9 hours makes it all come back too
- Sleeping without CPAP makes it all come back FULL FORCE (on the few occasions where I slept w/o it)
- I am not, and will never be, the one that would wake up when anyone in the house stirs. I wonder if that will change if/when i have kids?

I haven't figure out how to reduce sensitivities, except to make sure I sleep 9 hours, use CPAP the whole time, and to make sure I am not putting myself in stressful situations (commuting, dealing with office politics, dealing with problems with landlords/billing errors, people that suck all your energy, etc), and avoiding foods i'm intolerant to at the time, as well as excessive sugar/carbs.
Also: No big discussions at night, or first thing in the morning. Exercise seems to help improve my body's tolerance to touch and pain, but I'm not consistent enough with it. Thankfully I don't have pain in the same way that some of you do, but I really feel for you!

Well I don't know if this is the type of discussion you're looking for, it's more like a laundry list of complaints! (ohhh i love lists! if you hadn't already noticed).

I look forward to see where this goes! Thanks -SWS.

-SWS wrote: Solutions most welcome! .

I was a very sensitive sleeper.
Light, noise, stomach condition, hot, cold.
Didn't know that a 71AHI was what was disturbing my sleep.

Cpap has easied those sensitivities.
Learned to accept the noise of Grace as
the portal to my new life.

Cpap pointed me to Barry Krakow,
Sound mind, sound sleep
Sleep Dynamic Therapy

techniques:
Break the clock watching/calculating trap.
Close your day.
TFI(thought, feeling, image) balancing to calm your racing mind
SOLO technique to get in touch w/mind and body

Second only to cpap, these techniques have totally changed my sleep.

I chose the first selection. I am often asleep before my bed hits the pillow and I rarely remember waking up. (Please don't hate me, I'm sensitive to hate.) But I don't think my getting to sleep so quickly and sleeping so soundly is much of a good sign, all in all, in the grand scheme of things.

My family tells a story on me of the time a fire truck pulled up right outside my bedroom window when I was about 5 years old. The lights were flashing and the siren going. The house next door had a small fire. Everyone in the neighborhood was awakened but me. I slept through the whole thing. Never even turned over. Kind of a scary way to be. I'm glad it wasn't OUR house that was on fire.

echo wrote:- Stupid people - cannot stand stupid people.

I will try not to take that personally.

Although I have generally slept well in the sense of falling asleep immediately and staying asleep until time to get up, before PAP therapy I used to have to get up once or twice a night to urinate and sometimes had some odd sleep behaviors, such as sleeping sitting up on the edge of the bed or propped up on my elbow. And occasionally now when something seriously hurts me emotionally, then I may lie awake for hours feeling sorry for myself. But there is something oddly comforting in that. I think there may be a diagnosis in that somewhere.

I always sleep with ear plugs and with my eyes covered, though, anyway. I got used to ear plugs when I worked nights on and off for about five years in my early days. (Sleeping during the day in NYC is a challenge without ear plugs.) Now the plugs have become part of my sleep ritual that signals to my body/mind that it is time for beddy-bye.

The mask over the eyes is a relatively new addition. I found that I was having trouble with dry eyes (which I assume is from the air movement from the venting of the nasal pillows), so I cover them now and the dryness has gone away. Now bedtime has become a weird exercise in sensory deprivation.

Hey if echo can tell all her secrets, I can tell mine too.

jeff

Like Echo, I can't really check any of these! I tend to the hyper-sensitive side but there have been times, sometimes yrs when all that hyper-ness is dramatically lowered. I have been known to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, easily...mom carted me everywhere and I fell asleep wherever as a baby/toddler. I had colic & food allergies back then, and always reacted poorly to shots/immunizations. Walked & talked in sleep (still do the talking thing when excessively tired or stressed) and I had an imaginary playmate for a yr or 2. Doc said I had hyper-sensitivity to light so I was in sunglasses most of the day & evening for a yr or so as pre-teen. In teens, they said I was allergic to sunlight and I lived in So Fla , also had winter SAD in So Fla...go figure. I also experienced motion sickness, often...miserable, had it again when I was taking a synthetic codeine for pain. I was jumpy then too, you know, the sort of twitchy person who jiggles, bounces all the time -- drove everyone nuts so I spent yrs training myself (yoga, meditation, stress mgmt, personal growth, self hypnosis, desensitization to certain phobias) not to do that -- now I know it burned up huge amt of calories, probably why I was skinny enough that everyone including docs thought I had some sort of eating problem & were always pushing food which I consumed non-stop all day long...sigh. As a teen my pronounced startle reflex had me fainting and doc made me carry ammonia inhaler thingees...evil gadgets even if they do work -- that's mostly gone now. Twisted sheets, stiff/scratchy clothes/shoes have always been intolerable. Skin reacts to temp changes, air currents, pressure, soaps, chemicals, emotions, my own tears for pete's sake and my nasal passageways are even more reactive to the same sorts of stimuli, even breathing fast will irritate & make 'em swell (too much air flow drying tissues likely) but I did fine for 17-18 months on straight CPAP with a pillow mask & a lotta humidity until I became intolerant of straight pressure & started losing therapy air...maybe I've healed enough with CPAP therapy that my natural sensitivity is re-emerging...now there's a horrible, depressing thought.

I typically fall asleep easily but I wake up all the time..for no reason I've been able to nail down and that's making me tired. In PSG, 2 mins of Stage3, no S4, no REM, lotta arousals mostly respiratory. Sleeping with a borrowed CMS 50D handheld to see desats or pulse might be responsible. Could be my wonky thyroid which since my 20s periodically goes on the fritz for several months then apparently heals itself...low thyroid function causes many if not most of the same symptoms as OSA. Used to cry at the drop of a hat, then that stopped, to return when I went thru menopause...I use topical progesterone to keep my hormone receptors happy & while I am pretty sappy & get teary-eyed, I seldom actually cry anymore (maybe I should? studies show a several minute cry is one of the best stress reducers). People have always told me on the one hand that I'm too hyper, too direct, too smart for my own good, have a smart mouth that I don't know when to keep shut, uncompromising, and lacked sensitivity to others thoughts & feelings and on the other hand that I am too sensitive, too irrititable, too easily depressed, too moody, a dilatant because I'm too talented, too easily manipulated by others, a wimp, can't handle bring teased/thin-skinned, too emotional, and neurotic -- I quit listening too seriously when I realized I can't be all of those things at the same time so I accept that like everyone else I know I am doing the best I know how and competely subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. My moods evened out as my vitamin D levels increased. I am now back to the worst of my hyper-sensitivity to noise, light, temperature, air currents, touch/pressure, scents...ah, taste, well when my nasal passages aren't inflamed I love most foods but can't abide certain foods/tastes...little middle of the road, I either really like or really dislike.

Since I started taking high doses of magnesium citrate in 2000, I no longer get migraines...only had the visual aura thing 3-4 times since I started the mag citrate. Mine were bad with very high systolic 225 (normal for me was 75-80), complete intolerance of light or sound or scent, and needed knockout shots to put me out for 10-12 hrs after which everything had normalized.

CPAP reduced my hyper-ness for about 17-18 months, now it's back.

Are we genetically pre-disposed to this? Is there gene therapy for this...where do I sign up ?

I bet when I was going thru the disability process I appeared to contradict myself - can't sleep, can't stay awake, wake up often, can't be woke up for hours - but that's how it is. When I am overcome (for lack of a better word) by sleep, I go into a nearly unwakeable state (just ask my family) to the point it is scary, especially when I'm in a public place. When trying to sleep, it comes easy but leaves even easier. When my limb movements are acting up, everything that touches me aggravates the dickens out of me, including my mask and headgear, but I am oblivious to light. When I get like this, it's better I just get out of bed and move to the recliner. When my limb movements are not acting up, I sleep soundly. Ironically, my limb movements rarely act up when I'm sleeping in the recliner.

With cpap treatment and meds for my legs, my sleep has greatly improved. Avoiding caffiene and some cold meds seems to help the legs, as does a warm footsoak before bedtime. I really believe based on the progress I have made that if the legs are ever quiet, I will again be able to sustain sleep for a full night, though I admit it took my brain a year at least to calm down enough to sustain sleep for even a few hours.

None of those options describe me either.

Although I am sensitive to some of the items Echo mentioned, scents, stupid people, etc., I am very strict about keeping them out of my bedroom. At least I know what isn’t causing my spontaneous arousals and awakenings. For now, my PLMD is usually completely under control with Requip, and the CPAP has neither made my wakenings better nor worse…sigh.

r

I am uber light sleeper!

If my husband LOOKS at me I wake up..

I feel most of the night Im in a twilight sleep, half aware and half asleep... my husband says.. he can hardly EVER catch me really sleeping.. but he
did spy on me a few months ago.. when I was in the recliner in the livingroom, and he stood ten feet down the hall and watched me STOP BREATHING...
that was before the sleep test!


TIPS FOR LIGHT SLEEPERS? If you have some, share them!

I cant sleep with a watch ticking in a dresser drawer! I can hear a cat walking on the floor! I have super sensitve hearing, I must have been
a hound dog in another life...

Interesting theme.

When my mask doesn't leak (which is almost not at all since deploying Pad-a-cheek's anti-leak strap. Self will typically wake at about 1am then 3am. The pattern is fairly consistent. Also when all things are normal (mask etc:) can go to sleep very easily & stay that way apart from the 2 typical wake-up times mentioned.

Am sympathetic to anyone who gets easily disturbed.


DSM

For me it depends on what phase of sleep I'm in - sometimes my partner will speak and I'll hear her - sometimes a text message will be received on the cell phone (sometimes in another room) and I'll figure out "hey, that was a text message" about a minute later - whilst other times my daughter might come in and call out about 3 times "Dad, I've had a bad dream" and I won't hear a thing.

Colin Southern wrote:For me it depends on what phase of sleep I'm in - sometimes my partner will speak and I'll hear her - sometimes a text message will be received on the cell phone (sometimes in another room) and I'll figure out "hey, that was a text message" about a minute later - whilst other times my daughter might come in and call out about 3 times "Dad, I've had a bad dream" and I won't hear a thing.

RE those extraneous noises like cell phones - am lucky in a way that when I take my hearing aids out - can't hear anything that otherwise might be a problem

- impervious to phones, mosquitos, sirens, screams, breaking glass, etc: etc:
(4 mths ago some drunken Sat night idiot ripped off one neighbor's mailbox cover & hurled it twice through rear window of our car which was parked under the bedroom window but close to the street - never heard a squeak - lucky I didn't - it is not my fate to be in court explaining why a naked great granddad leaped through an open window & strangled & dismembered a drunken lout ).

Enjoy

DSM