Keep on waking up every 2 hours, any solutions?

Good Morning,

I've been on CPAP for about a week now and despite my charts and numbers looking good, I seem to be waking up constantly during REM sleep in the middle of dreams, and having a hell of a time getting back to sleep.

Without fail, every day this week I will wake up out of the blue approximately 2 hours or so after I first fall asleep. I have my OSCAR charts for the last 4 days, but nothing is showing out of the ordinary. No RERAs or obstructive events, no large leaks (I use Somnifix tape) or nothing else I could see that would explain this. When I woke up, my heart rate was going pretty fast so I was sure I had some sort of obstructive event prior, but the chart shows nothing.

Then of course I am having a very, very, very difficult time falling back asleep with the mask on. I know that is just a mental thing, but most nights I have been frustrated enough to take the mask off and go back to sleep. It seems the mask is way more uncomfortable when I awake in the middle of the night compared to when I first go to bed. Any tips for that, or is that something that will just come with time?

I have attached my chart from last night, when I woke up a little after 2 in the morning. Thanks for all your advice and help.

I have the same thing happen to me and I am looking for answers as well. I have been using my CPAP for 2 months now and I have a dental devise. I often wake up with an adrenaline rush and I feel myself not breathing and my CPAP is not picking it up or helping. So far the doctors have no answers. Please share if you find answers about this and I will as well. Best of luck! Tammy

I’ve had the same problem. Cpap helped my apnea significantly, but still been waking up with a high heart rate and difficulty going back to sleep. I’ve tried everything under the sun short of prescription sleeping medication. For me, meditation in the evenings has helped. I think mine are stress related, so it helps me clear my head while trying to fall asleep/back asleep. I still have occasional wake ups, but I’ve significantly reduced my time to fall back asleep. Hope that helps

Hi albabbie,

If you're like the rest of us, it will come with time. But here's something that may shorten that time.

There's a new technique for reducing anxiety and arousal and restoring calmness called 'Havening' (from 'haven' = a safe place). It's based on some of the more recent research in neurology and the amygdala.

And you can apply it to yourself. See the video link below.

I suggest you practice the method during the day and while sitting up and out of bed – till it becomes familiar to you.

Then, if you wake up as you describe, give yourself a minute, and then do this 'havening' on yourself.

It won't put you to sleep, but it should calm you down.

Enough to think about getting back to sleep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HLWK6qp4qU

PS. My equipment profile is not showing. For the record, Philips S1 561P with Mirage Quattro mask.

rick blaine wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:31 am

PS. My equipment profile is not showing. For the record, Philips S1 561P with Mirage Quattro mask.

no one's profile is showing.

there was "maintenance" early in the month and it disappeared coincident with that.

pugsy is trying to get the attention of carylon for the fix.

I usually wake up between 4-5 am every night. If I'm alert, I have an old iPhone and use to read news, listen to humorous videos or relaxing music.

If all else fails, what works best is to listen to a speech or lecture, eventually lose attention and fall back to sleep. My favorite is 60-70s philosopher Alan Watts, who essentially discusses life and ways to live it. His YouTube channel is on 24/7. A truly fascinating person.

Other YouTube favorite is Lauren Ostrowski Fenton who produces sleep relaxation/meditation videos. Her voice is soothing and she is very kind person.

willy737 wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:16 am

I’ve had the same problem. Cpap helped my apnea significantly, but still been waking up with a high heart rate and difficulty going back to sleep. I’ve tried everything under the sun short of prescription sleeping medication. For me, meditation in the evenings has helped. I think mine are stress related, so it helps me clear my head while trying to fall asleep/back asleep. I still have occasional wake ups, but I’ve significantly reduced my time to fall back asleep. Hope that helps

Sounds like my current predicament is a mirror image of yours. Very frustrating, as otherwise it is pretty evident that the CPAP machine is doing a great job of almost eliminating my apnea events. I will try a bit more zen and sleep hygiene before bed and see if it has any affect. To be honest, I was hoping there would be something in my chart showing something was going awry with the CPAP therapy that I could adjust or whatever. Oh well, Ill keep it.

Your zoomed in section above of the flow rate does point to some arousal breathing but it doesn't look like the arousal was related to airway issues.
More likely something else is causing spontaneous arousals which means no known cause.

Do you take any medications of any kind?
Do you drink alcohol within 2 hours of bedtime?
Any other physical or mental health issues going on?

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 17, 2021 4:18 pm

Your zoomed in section above of the flow rate does point to some arousal breathing but it doesn't look like the arousal was related to airway issues.
More likely something else is causing spontaneous arousals which means no known cause.

Do you take any medications of any kind?
Do you drink alcohol within 2 hours of bedtime?
Any other physical or mental health issues going on?

I do take Lisinopril for high blood pressure for a few years, but my guess is the OSA was the root cause of it....just got diagnosed recently with OSA so I am hoping I can get off of it soon.

I don't drink much and have avoided alcohol completely since my diagnosis. To my knowledge other than the OSA and blood pressure I am pretty healthy. I have had quite a bit of anxiety over missed sleep since my apnea started becoming a problem 2 months ago (before that I thought I was sleeping fine, and like a light switch I all the sudden was waking up 4-5 times a night with heart pounding and bad headache. Got diagnosed w/ an AHI of 58.

So I am hoping it is just nerves and adjusting to CPAP, which has proven more difficult than I thought. I have noticed it has been more difficult to swallow the last few weeks as well and am starting to think I have inflamed / enlarged tonsils.....could that play a role in anything?

I am brand new here - and brand new to CPAP this week - so please take anything I say with a grain of salt, and apologies in advance if I do this wrong! I had to jump in at the mention of Lisinoprol. I started taking it about two years ago for high blood pressure, and at some point noticed I had some difficulty swallowing vitamins and pills that I'd never experienced before. (Also had developed a dry cough.) About six months ago I was having dental work done and cautioned the dentist that I was somewhat claustrophobic and had some trouble swallowing - and mentioned I was taking Lisinoprol. He immediately said throat swelling/edema was a known side effect of Lisinoprol and and recommended I ask my MD to switch medications. Switched to Valsartan and bingo - swallowing issues immediately stopped. No idea if that would affect your CPAP experience, but you might want to look into it.

plakky wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:10 am

I am brand new here - and brand new to CPAP this week - so please take anything I say with a grain of salt, and apologies in advance if I do this wrong! I had to jump in at the mention of Lisinoprol. I started taking it about two years ago for high blood pressure, and at some point noticed I had some difficulty swallowing vitamins and pills that I'd never experienced before. (Also had developed a dry cough.) About six months ago I was having dental work done and cautioned the dentist that I was somewhat claustrophobic and had some trouble swallowing - and mentioned I was taking Lisinoprol. He immediately said throat swelling/edema was a known side effect of Lisinoprol and and recommended I ask my MD to switch medications. Switched to Valsartan and bingo - swallowing issues immediately stopped. No idea if that would affect your CPAP experience, but you might want to look into it.

I knew about Lisinoprol often causing coughing but wasn't aware of the throat swelling issue but it does make sense.
Lots of people have complained about the coughing associated with Lisinoprol.

I don't see it affecting cpap therapy though unless it is causing coughing or maybe some throat issues.
I don't see it affecting sleep quality or maybe causing wake ups either. At least not listed in the side effects list.
It can cause fatigue though.

plakky wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:10 am

I am brand new here - and brand new to CPAP this week - so please take anything I say with a grain of salt, and apologies in advance if I do this wrong! I had to jump in at the mention of Lisinoprol. I started taking it about two years ago for high blood pressure, and at some point noticed I had some difficulty swallowing vitamins and pills that I'd never experienced before. (Also had developed a dry cough.) About six months ago I was having dental work done and cautioned the dentist that I was somewhat claustrophobic and had some trouble swallowing - and mentioned I was taking Lisinoprol. He immediately said throat swelling/edema was a known side effect of Lisinoprol and and recommended I ask my MD to switch medications. Switched to Valsartan and bingo - swallowing issues immediately stopped. No idea if that would affect your CPAP experience, but you might want to look into it.

Dude you might have just saved me a whole lot of headache. I dug into the research and it seems ACE inhibitors can indeed make OSA worse due to upper airway inflammation...which I definitely am experiencing right now. I will get to the doctors this week to change out my meds, thanks!

Fingers crossed it solves your problem! My throat and
cough issues stopped almost immediately after quitting Lisinoprol. Please post an update when you can!

I have almost the same problems, even the details are similar, except the drug use.

After my first week with my device, I also had sleep disturbances and had hard time to go back to sleep.

I have a couple of theories:

1) Anxiety related with Covid problems (my psy doc said my sleep had some REM sleep abnormalities but I didnt want to use antidepressants) a couple of months ago I was sleeping with no problem tbh.

2) the PaP machine setup: for instance I am not sure about my EPR setting.