Anyone else have issues sleeping on one side vs another?

icipher · Post by **icipher** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:21 am

I have CSA primarily, with just a bit of OSA. My CSA is idiopathic, meaning they don't know what is causing it.

I have noticed that I have a hard time sleeping on my left side. I wake more often feeling stressed or really anxious. Last night I woke up while sleeping on my left side with a horrible feeling that is hard to explain, but i felt like i was dying, basically(don't mean to be dramatic.)

Checking my graphs in sleepyhead this morning, my ahi(2.0) was higher than normal, but mostly because i was coming in and out of sleep so much and probably having transitional hypopneas. My sp02 was also good last night, never going below 94.

Does anyone else have noticeable problems sleeping on one side vs the other?

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:57 am

It's a known issue with very many people and the answer is to not sleep on that side, plus get the doctor to check your cardiac status - not saying it's very bad or anything, but there could be some small (or not) issues that need addressing.

fredster · Post by **fredster** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:54 pm

Yep. I have arthritis in my neck. It's really hard to lean on my right side for long periods. On my left side, I have what's called a slipping or clicking rib, it makes for an awkward feeling when your breathing, like two bones rub against each other slightly, and then release. Not painful, but you can't sleep with it. Add CPAP to the mix, ugh. Losing weight would help a lot of this, but I hate the gym

TangledHose · Post by **TangledHose** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:44 am

icipher wrote:I have CSA primarily, with just a bit of OSA. My CSA is idiopathic, meaning they don't know what is causing it.

I have noticed that I have a hard time sleeping on my left side?

I may be missing the mark here........

When I had A-Fib it seemed much much worse when I tried to sleep on my left side. I asked my cardiologist about this and he explained to me that it is really not making the cardiac problem worse, but because of basically the geography of your organs it will feel much worse to the patient while lying on the left side, he also explained that this situation is often misinterpreted by patients as causing the problem, but it is really not, it just feels worse because of the arrangement of the heart in the chest. I am not trying to tell you that it is A-Fib per say, I am extrapolating a bit and suggesting it may be cardiac related and feels worse when on your left side. Sounds like you've been through various tests, but I would guess that it may be a cardiac issue and you should bring that up with your doctor, or better yet see a cardiologist.

icipher · Post by **icipher** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:40 pm

TangledHose wrote:
icipher wrote:I have CSA primarily, with just a bit of OSA. My CSA is idiopathic, meaning they don't know what is causing it.

I have noticed that I have a hard time sleeping on my left side?

I may be missing the mark here........

When I had A-Fib it seemed much much worse when I tried to sleep on my left side. I asked my cardiologist about this and he explained to me that it is really not making the cardiac problem worse, but because of basically the geography of your organs it will feel much worse to the patient while lying on the left side, he also explained that this situation is often misinterpreted by patients as causing the problem, but it is really not, it just feels worse because of the arrangement of the heart in the chest. I am not trying to tell you that it is A-Fib per say, I am extrapolating a bit and suggesting it may be cardiac related and feels worse when on your left side. Sounds like you've been through various tests, but I would guess that it may be a cardiac issue and you should bring that up with your doctor, or better yet see a cardiologist.

Excerpt from a Yale Medical Publication:

Cheyne-Stokes respiration is an abnormal breathing pattern which commonly occurs in patients with decompensated congestive heart failure and neurologic diseases, in whom periods of tachypnea and hyperpnea alternate with periods of apnea. In the majority of these patients, the ventilatory patterns may not be recognized, and the clinical features are generally dominated by the underlying disease process. Cheyne-Stokes respiration may, however, have profound effects on the cardiopulmonary system, causing oxygen desaturation, cardiac arrhythmias, and changes in mental status.

Interesting. When this happens to me, I'll usually put a finger on my pulse, and as usual, it's beating slow and steady. Isn't AFIB usually characterized as extremely rapid or unstable pulse?

I also check my data in sleepyhead a couple times a week, the the pb/csr readings are hardly ever over 1%.

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:49 pm

Afib is unstable, but not necessarily fast - rapid beating is called tachycardia and is more serious.

TangledHose · Post by **TangledHose** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:56 pm

Kinda strange with your lack of any other obvious symptoms. And to clarify my earlier post, I was thinking from your description you weren't having A-Fib necessarily, but thought that some other cardiac issues might present the same way with more discomfort while lying on left side similar to what A-Fib patients experience.

Hope you get to the bottom of this problem, your symptoms are concerning.

Sir NoddinOff · Post by **Sir NoddinOff** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:57 pm

I have a hard time sleeping directly on either side because my shoulder joints tend to get sore. Maybe the position modification I'm going to explain will help with your A-Fib.

To get some positional variety, I started using a couple of rolled up towels secured with big rubber bands which I tucked under my back, reaching from my shoulder to my hips. (see photo in link) That way I'm sort of rotated about 45 degrees which takes some pressure off my shoulder and hips. As I see it, this technique adds a few more positions to your arsenal. Here what I wrote about it a couple of times before, plus the photo I mentioned:

viewtopic/t103217/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9 ... el#p876583

icipher · Post by **icipher** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 1:06 pm

TangledHose wrote:Kinda strange with your lack of any other obvious symptoms. And to clarify my earlier post, I was thinking from your description you weren't having A-Fib necessarily, but thought that some other cardiac issues might present this way with more discomfort while lying on left side similar to what A-Fib patients experience.

Hope you get to the bottom of this problem, your symptoms are concerning.

Thanks for the sentiment. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever get to the bottom of anything with my CSA. I've spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on stress tests, MRI on my brain, another echocardiogram, a neurologist. None of these doctors, including my sleep doctor, can tell me anything wrong with my brain or heart. I've passed every test, yet I still have these issues at night. It's rather unsettling and more than frustrating.

Obviously, something is causing my Central apnea. Not knowing the cause has made for a pretty stressful last year and a half.

Lazer1234 · Post by **Lazer1234** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 1:28 pm

I used to have trouble sleeping / lying on the left side, I felt like I ran out of air. Also had heavy heartbeat, like my heart was beating hard. This can be an effect of pericarditis which makes it more difficult to lie to the left. After I inserted a stent in one of the arteries of the heart so have my problems disappeared.
I think my problems are basically due to an infection I had in the body for many years.

bv1800 · Post by **bv1800** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:47 pm

I know that my untreated AHI is 2 on my right side and 10 on my left. I could see how you could have differences in other health issues sleeping right vs left side.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:52 pm

I sleep better on my left, because my good ear is on that side, and I wake up more if I can hear.

Anyone else have issues sleeping on one side vs another?

Anyone else have issues sleeping on one side vs another?

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Re: Anyone else have issues sleeping on one side vs another?

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