Zone out/eyes stare into space feeling

[CAsleep]

....is it from OSA and does it get better with treatment?

This was one of my initial complaints when I first got sick with CFS/mono-that-never-went-away (which may have all been OSA). It was REALLY bad in the beginning, to where I would seriously "pretend" to be looking people in the eye/face but secretly I was wondering if my eyes were appearing crossed to them, because that is how they felt based on what I was seeing (not focused).

Anyways, nowadays...I just feel zoned out a lot, like my eyes just want to stare at the same thing for a long time. I think it is probably due to "sleepiness," but who knows. This results in me feeling very uncomfortable driving, because when you're going 40+ miles an hour, things go by you quickly. Also, it makes me nervous to do maneuvers like paralell parking or street parking, because I feel like my brain and eyes are not seeing things properly, because of the "zone out."

I would say this is different than "brain fog"...because I can think okay (memory, etc), but it's almost like I'm so sleepy, my perception of things is off.

What I want to know is: does anyone else here experience this, to the point that it is disabling, or it interferes with activities, and has it gotten better from treating OSA?

For example, aside from driving, it prevents me from going to college, because I feel like at test time, I just stare at the paper and it isn't even really in focus, and my eyes fall asleep and zone out....though on the surface, I appear to be just fine, and I can speak and act like I am not sleepy...it's just my perception is off. I also had Lyme in the past, so I am wondering if all this is sleepiness from OSA, or if it's some kind of brain inflammation from Lyme.

[LoQ]

I don't know the answers to your questions. I had several cognitive skill deficits, one of which was an inability to concentrate. That sounds a little like what you are experiencing--no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't really concentrate on something. The driving thing especially sounds like that to me.

[Desperate_in_DM]

I have that. I could sit on the couch in front of the TV but not see anything that happened. That happens when I drive, but during the zoning, I see double. This is hard to describe, but it almost feels easier to do that. It takes less effort than trying to focus in on something/someone.

[CAsleep]

Thanks for the replies....anyone else experience this? The zoning out/perception thing is definitely different than poor concentration, though of course it's similar.

[maxhal]

This was the reason that I decided to seek a sleep therapy treatment. I mainly noticed it while driving but it was never to the point where I would have it the whole trip. Zoning out is a great way to describe it, as it is almost like getting to the point where you would fall asleep from tiredness except your awake because it might be first thing in the morning after supposedly 8 hours of sleep. I would have to give my head a shake to "unzoneout" myself. At first I didn't recognize it as sleep deprivation, but I can say now that my CPAP treatment has made it disappear, even on those nights when I felt I only got a couple hours sleep.

I have gone a week or two without using CPAP and Zone out comes back, so I am pretty much a full time user now !!

[asleep@thewheel]

If you do yourself a favor and get Dr. Dement's book "the promise of sleep," you will see you are actually having microsleeps while you think you are staring off into the ether. Your body will figure a way out to get sleep whenever it can.

[harry33]

you may have cronic fatigue from sleep apnea, have you had any type of sleep study?

apnea sufferers sometimes snore heavily and gasp and choke in their sleep, tape record your sleep

[BlackSpinner]

Yes me too before cpap. It sometimes felt like I was dreaming, that there was a whole other universe I couldn't quite remember out there. Haven't felt like that since I started.

[echo]

I had this pretty bad this past year (after 2 yrs on cpap successfully) , in my case it was due to a combination of 3 things: severe sleep deprivation (terrible commute & long working hours), severe exhaustion (obviously caused by sleep problems but also stress from work & home life), & hypothyroidism. So I guess the real reason was the exhaustion... I felt like I was staring through everything and everyone, it was more than just a concentration issue. Even when driving I would get double vision from my eyes crossing and it was easier than trying to focus. Just like DM describes. So I had to really concentrate while driving to make sure I focused on the road and really saw everything on the road. I had trouble reading too, and trying to comprehend was a whole other challenge.

I would say successfully treating the OSA will go a long way towards fixing your problem. Assuming such a thing results from exhaustion, cpap sure can solve that! Give yourself some time.

in my case, this is completely gone. I left my job, stopped the commute, slept many hours a night, and started on the thyroid meds. I'm hoping it will continue like this once I start working again! It took me about 3 months to really "recover", 3 months of literally doing nothing. But during this time my thyroid meds were also being optimized, and I think a very large part of the recovery is from that, so the 3 months could potentially have been shorter.

[chunkyfrog]

yes! Me,too! I used to try so hard to pay attention to stuff; and all I ended up with was 'stuff'
After 4.5 months on CPAP, I feel like my brain is CONNECTED! --and it might even still be improving.

[kteague]

What you describe sounds much like my state of being before getting my cpap treatment optimized. The lines between awake and asleep seemed not so clear cut. Therapeutic cpap treatment over time helped a lot with that.

[91GT347]

I know EXACTLY what you are experiencing. Ive done some fairly extensive research because of it. Your eyes ARE crossed. My wife asks me all the time. "Why are you all crosseyed ? " A "zone" is exactly what I've always called it. Do you have any memory loss ? Especially while driving. I drove from richmond, VA almost to the NC line and couldnt remember any of it when I snapped out of my zone. Obviously I was functioning. Because I didnt wreck. From what I've read this is a symptom of Narcolepsy, not apnea.
Look up narcolepsy, and sleep apnea symptoms. See if either fits. Im about 99% sure I actually have both. Because I have times while sleeping that I stop breathing. Which is apnea, but I also have most narcolepsy symptoms that do not come with apnea. Such as sleep paralysis. For a few seconds before/after you sleep you can move really. For example this morning I fell asleep in the truck while smoking. I was a passenger atleast. I dropped my cigarette on my stomach. It was burning a hole in my shirt. My wife came back out from the sitters, and started yelling "Wake up !! You burning yourself !!". Well I heard, and understood her but couldnt really move to do anything. It only lasts a second or so. So I was ok. That is a sign of a big problem though. Not to mention a excellent reason to stop smoking. Which I am trying to do.

[Julie]

Hi, I completely agree with all of this, but... have you had a proper eye exam (anyway) in a while? You never know what might need fixing and even if it doesn't solve all your sleep problems, it could help your vision and maybe someone's child's life - you should not be driving in that state!

If your OSA isn't working, you need to change something, like your mask (possibly to a full face one if you sleep with your mouth open as many snorers do) because sleeping that way is a huge waste of Cpap. Or else your pressure, or leak rate, or whatever isn't what it should be. Sorry if this all sounds cold and mean, but do something, don't just look for empathy here.

[snuginarug]

This is not going to be a reply you want to hear... You are endangering people's lives when you drive like this. Many people who use CPAP describe having experienced similar things, and write on these boards about it. But they are describing something in the past tense. Something they were too foggy in the head to process, to realize that it was happening. You are not unaware. You know exactly what is happening. Yet you persist in this very dangerous behavior. What you describe sounds very much like what muscle relaxants did to me when I injudiciously tried driving on them. I later found out it was illegal to drive on these drugs. For a good reason! This is not just a bothersome symptom, it is something that could kill people--- yourself included. Car accidents are caused by sleepiness. You can read it in the paper and hear it on the news... "It is believed the driver fell asleep at the wheel." This really happens.

[91GT347]

Yes, listen to them please. DO NOT drive in that state. I have been there. Totalled 4 cars that way, and probably should have died in two of them. That was when I was young and before I realized I had a real problem. Before it was realized that as many people have these issues as do. Im am much older now, and I have learned to tell when an episode is coming on. I learned the hard way though. You dont have to do it that way. If not for yourself, do it for everyone else on the road. Talk to your doctors about it. Do ANYTHING necessary to keep yourself and others safe.