Waking up at the same interval everynight

[ozzyluvshockey21]

I have recently got a new machine and made a switch from a standard cpap to a cpap with auto set function. I am sleeping worlds better though I think it'll take awhile before I figure out where my settings should really be for me. my pressure setting was 11 as of my last titration which admittingly was quite a while ago, but I was hardly ever able to sleep much on my cpap and at that pressure, I have no trouble sleeping on the apap setting. However, the dme provider left it wide open at min 4 and max 20. My AHI hasn't been above 5.0 but I haven't been feeling that good restful feeling either and still require naps. Actually about an hour after I get up, im pretty tired..but, I'm not as exhausted so there have been improvements and ill get there.

Anyway, what I have been wondering is it seems every night I sleep for exactly 4 hours and then I wake up and I'm not really sure why. Sometimes I can get back to sleep, sometimes in up for a couple of hours, but it seems every night its 4 hours on the dot. Seems so strange to me.

Oz

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[LSAT]

Start slowly raising your minimum pressure. If you were at 11 before you probably need a min of 8 or 9, but start raising it slowly and see if things get better. Many people have ahard time breathing at 4.

[nicholasjh1]

I know if my treatment is too low I tend to wake up more... I'm rested enough now that the apnea's wake me up essentially, and ironically it has the side effect of lowering my apnea's because I wake up before they really kick in. I thought I needed around 7 or 8 pressure because my apnea's were .1 there, but as I raised the pressure the apnea's went up and crested at about 14 pressure (OSA only), and then went back down starting around 14.8, to get lowest at 16.8. I think I could go higher, but I have problems with mask leaks past 17.

[zackds]

I know if my treatment is too low I tend to wake up more... I'm rested enough now that the apnea's wake me up essentially, and ironically it has the side effect of lowering my apnea's because I wake up before they really kick in. I thought I needed around 7 or 8 pressure because my apnea's were .1 there, but as I raised the pressure the apnea's went up and crested at about 14 pressure (OSA only), and then went back down starting around 14.8, to get lowest at 16.8. I think I could go higher, but I have problems with mask leaks past 17.

why would apneas rise as your pressure rises? i thought it was supposed to be the opposite

[musculus]

REM sleep period get deeper and longer into the second leg of the sleep. Check whether the inhale/exhale flow has lots of variation, which is a characteristic of REM sleep stage.

[ozzyluvshockey21]

Thanks for the suggestions. I decided to try raising my minimum pressure to see if it made a difference. My AHI is good and I’m not really having an issue breathing on such a low pressure of 4, but I was surprised my 90% has been staying so low since my cpap pressure was 11. I’ll try and see if it makes a difference, slowly. Thanks everyone:)


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[kteague]

I know if my treatment is too low I tend to wake up more... I'm rested enough now that the apnea's wake me up essentially, and ironically it has the side effect of lowering my apnea's because I wake up before they really kick in. I thought I needed around 7 or 8 pressure because my apnea's were .1 there, but as I raised the pressure the apnea's went up and crested at about 14 pressure (OSA only), and then went back down starting around 14.8, to get lowest at 16.8. I think I could go higher, but I have problems with mask leaks past 17.

why would apneas rise as your pressure rises? i thought it was supposed to be the opposite

It sounds like they are thinking that as their pressure went higher they were better able to sustain sleep, thus giving more opportunity for apneas to manifest - until they reached the pressure that would best control their apneas then their AHI went back down. I can understand that reasoning if the higher pressure kept the events at bay enough to let them get into deep sleep thus enable them to sleep through some of the remaining events. Who knows if that's what's actually happening, but a decent theory.

[D.H.]

Please complete your profile so that we'll know exactly what equipment you're using.

Also, assuming that you're machine is compatible, you should download SleepyHead Software and analyze your sleep.

[TheBigTenor]

I've had the EXACT same issue with waking up about 2:30-3:00 every night. My OSA are low and I'm a shallow breather, so I think I'm NOT getting enough air with my levels set a 4.8-11. I have mild hypopnea's. I'm going to up mine to 5.0-5.2 and see if it helps. It's been a long time since I've had a 6 hour sleep uninterrupted.

[ozzyluvshockey21]

I wasn’t sure how to add my equipment info, but I think I have now. I have downloaded sleepyhead and watched his tutorials on how to interpret it, but I am kind of lost on it, honestly. I use the app for my machine which is much more basic, but better than nothing. I came to the conclusion the best data was how I actually felt in the end. I don’t really understand the software. (Sleepyhead) However, I did move my minimum up from 4.0 to 5.0 last night and even that helped, so I’ll continue to make slow small adjustments until I get to where I need to be. Even that small adjustment made a big difference, I was surprised...or maybe I just had a freak good night, but I’ll continue on the path anyway.

[zackds]

I know if my treatment is too low I tend to wake up more... I'm rested enough now that the apnea's wake me up essentially, and ironically it has the side effect of lowering my apnea's because I wake up before they really kick in. I thought I needed around 7 or 8 pressure because my apnea's were .1 there, but as I raised the pressure the apnea's went up and crested at about 14 pressure (OSA only), and then went back down starting around 14.8, to get lowest at 16.8. I think I could go higher, but I have problems with mask leaks past 17.

why would apneas rise as your pressure rises? i thought it was supposed to be the opposite

It sounds like they are thinking that as their pressure went higher they were better able to sustain sleep, thus giving more opportunity for apneas to manifest - until they reached the pressure that would best control their apneas then their AHI went back down. I can understand that reasoning if the higher pressure kept the events at bay enough to let them get into deep sleep thus enable them to sleep through some of the remaining events. Who knows if that's what's actually happening, but a decent theory.

ah i see thanks for the clarification

[zonker]

I wasn’t sure how to add my equipment info, but I think I have now. I have downloaded sleepyhead and watched his tutorials on how to interpret it, but I am kind of lost on it, honestly. I use the app for my machine which is much more basic, but better than nothing. I came to the conclusion the best data was how I actually felt in the end. I don’t really understand the software. (Sleepyhead) However, I did move my minimum up from 4.0 to 5.0 last night and even that helped, so I’ll continue to make slow small adjustments until I get to where I need to be. Even that small adjustment made a big difference, I was surprised...or maybe I just had a freak good night, but I’ll continue on the path anyway.

i don't pretend to understand sleepyhead at all. however, it can be a valuable tool for your therapy as you go on. mainly, you may want to learn enough about it to post the graphs here in the forum. while you or i may not understand it, there are people here who will and will be able to help you get your therapy dialed in properly.

i'm not saying you have to do that right now, of course. or even at all. i see you are already proactive enough to bump up your minimum pressure.

good luck!

[chunkyfrog]

Four hours is a decent interval. Want to trade?
I often wake up after 2 or 3 hours. Arthritis, tummy ache, whatever.
I just sit up, burp (or whatever), stretch, change position, and go back to sleep.
Sometimes I blame it on the monkey brain--trying to keep me from becoming a predator's breakfast.

[Snoregone Conclusion]

Four hours is a decent interval. Want to trade?
I often wake up after 2 or 3 hours. Arthritis, tummy ache, whatever.
I just sit up, burp (or whatever), stretch, change position, and go back to sleep.
Sometimes I blame it on the monkey brain--trying to keep me from becoming a predator's breakfast.

So, a ChunkyFrog wakes up often to make sure they don't croak?

[SnoringInOregon]

People have a natural rhythm for sleep.

For me it's about 1.5 hrs. Sometimes I wake up in 1.5 hrs, sometimes I sleep for 3 hrs, sometimes I sleep for 4.5 hrs, rarely I sleep for 6 straight hours. Often I am able to fall back asleep, but sometimes I just get up and stay awake for a few hours and do some stuff. I'm not the only one this happens to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biphasic_ ... asic_sleep

When I was a youngster I had no problems sleeping for 8 hrs straight, or longer. Interrupted sleep is one of the many "joys" of getting old.

Maybe the original poster is waking up after 3 sleep periods of about 1.3 hrs each? Maybe for him it's 2 periods of 2.0 hrs each?