A lot of trouble waking up

[Kat8087]

I started on cpap in February of this year. I struggled a month with a comfort gel mask then switched to the Swift. Once I got comfortable with the Swift it was like someone just turned the lights off for me. I am sleepy at 9pm.. sleep all night, and cannot get up on-time in the morning (6am) if my life depended on it. I wake up when the alarm goes off, but just don't get up and go back to sleep. I have never been like this - was always an early riser. I was taking melatonin and stopped that two weeks ago, with no change except I have more problems going to sleep in the first place. Many times I get up when the alarm goes off and go to the bathroom - and go back to bed without even realizing I'm doing it.

Any ideas on what is going on here? I feel fine during the day once I get awake by 7 or 7:30.. I'm not sleepy during the day at all and have plenty of energy.

Thanks -
Kat

[Guest]

That's a question I would like to hear answered too. I have been using a CPAP for about two months now. I got used to it pretty quickly except for having to switch from a nasal mask to a full mask due to me being a "mouth breather" and I no long have acid reflux attacks during my sleep or the "drowning" dreams anymore. The problem is I now wake up very sleepy in the morning even to the point of pushing the "snooze" alarm which I never used to do plus somedays I am more sleepy during the day than before I was usiing the CPAP machine. What gives? Thanks too..

[Debora H.]

It may have nothing to do with the swift.
try your old mask and see if you can wake up better. if you still have trouble, you know it's not the new mask.

[mountainwoman]

Another possibility might be that you are having what is sometimes called REM rebound. Meaning, once your body realizes it is in that state of REM then it decides it doesn't really want to leave it. It can cause you to not want to wake up or feel more tired for a short period of time. It has to do with that sleep debt you have built up from the years of crummy sleep.

I would venture a guess that you are going to pass out of this stage relatively soon and not have the problems getting up..

Think Positive.
mountainwoman

[Kat8087]

Mountain Woman,
That might make a lot of sense, because now that you mention it I have noticed that when I go back to sleep I dream a lot - and I must be remembering them because my snooze goes off every 9 minutes. I don't remember any dreams at all from during the night.

So if it is this REM rebound.. how long will it last? I need to start getting to work on time. So far my boss has been very patient. I hate to take advantage of it though. I have tried setting my alarm an hour earlier.. doesn't work. I tried setting it later.. that doesn't work either. I tried putting it across the room - I got up, turned it off, and went back to bed without knowing what I was doing.

I AM glad to be sleeping though

Kat

[ozij]

Hi Kat,
Enjoy!
But seriously: is there any way you can sort of move your working hours so that you start later, and finish later? I know it's impossible in some jobs, and in some peoples' schedules - but it it were possible, maybe temporarily it might give you the time you need to sleep, and yet use your extra energy during the day.
O.

[victoria7]

I, too, would love to hear about how to solve this issue...

I've been on xPap for almost 6 months and the not being able to wake thing, which also happened while I was undiagnosed, is really a huge problem for me.

It seems that it's becoming more & more of an issue, instead of less & less of an issue, too.

And, yes, I've discussed it with my doctor. She scheduled an MLST, which didn't show anything out of the ordinary, so... Yeah, she says I'm depressed, which I think is the Doctor Way of dismissing what they don't understand.

I go, weekly, to a Psychologist who specializes in Sleep Disorders (I call him my Sleep Shrink), because I have issues about being "very sick and going to doctor after doctor for 10 years without being diagnosed and having basically a very not-fulfilling life for 10 years" and he states, unequivocally, that my "issues" are based on my Sleep---NOT the other way around.

So... Yeah... That's the way of it...