Diagnosing and reducing Spontaneous arousals

My sleep study found that I have about 28 spontaneous arousals every hour, which are by definition are NOT respiration related events. The sleep study found I have no RERA and AHI of less than 10, but I remain at sleep stage 2 most of the night. The summary of the study totally ignored the spontaneous arousals, making me think they just don’t know want to do about them. Is there a way to find out the reason for these spontaneous arousals and to try reducing them?

Jay Aitchsee wrote: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=112845&p=1089431#p1089431
I think the number of arousals and awakening per hour and/or per night is much greater in the "normal" population than many realize. Quite a few references can be found which put the number of normal eeg arousals per hour at anywhere from single digits to over 100 in the aged.

For example, this study finds a mean of 21 awakenings per hour (ASDA scoring) in a control group of normal subjects: http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/7676165 and goes on to say, "It is important that those scoring arousals on routine polysomnography recognize that high arousal frequencies occur in the normal population on 1-night polysomnography."

and this study finds an average arousal index of 14.7 (events/Hr) among a control group of young adults: http://www.journalsleep.org/articles/210404.pdf

and there are many more, such as this: http://aasmnet.org/jcsm/Articles/030305.pdf, which states, "The strong correlation of AI [Arousal Index] with other sleep variables validates brief arousals as a normal component of sleep."

With regard to Residual Excessive Daytime sleepiness (EDS), I'm not saying that fragmented or disturbed sleep should not be treated, but it is important to investigate and treat all the possible causes. I am saying, and I think you agree, Tan, that the first step should be a strict adherence to the principles of Good Sleep Hygiene.

ChicagoGranny wrote: - Practice good sleep hygiene (Google it and read several sources)
- Eat a good diet
- Have a regular, moderate exercise program
- Try to avoid daytime naps
- Practice total abstinence of caffeine including sources like chocolate (sigh)
- Review all medicines, vitamins and supplements you are taking to make sure none are interfering with sleep
- Use the bedroom for sleeping only, and make sure the bedroom and bed are comfortable.
- Learn to appropriately handle emotional stress in your life
- Use CPAP software, such as the free SleepyHead, to make sure your therapy is optimized
- If you still don't feel or sleep well, make sure you have regular medical checkups to confirm there are no other medical problems
CG

No way that I know of to know for sure what caused them and it's hard to fix something if we don't know exactly what caused them.

You might take a hard look at the usual suspects to see if any one of them stands out as a potential culprit in messing with sleep architecture.
Medication side effects for one.
Another might be pain or general comfort issues.
Sleepy hygiene is another.

For example...I take a pain medication for my arthritis that comes with a "may cause drowsiness" sticker but there's a small percentage of people who it does just the opposite and causes insomnia and guess who drew that short straw...me
If I don't take something for pain then the pain causes a lot of arousals and if I do take that pain medication then the side effects of the medication mess with my sleep and I either can't go to sleep or can't stay asleep.
I also don't have the most perfect sleep hygiene in the world. I avoid caffeine but I watch TV late and use the computer late.

What did your sleep study say about limb movements?