Pramas goes in for his CPAP titration tonight. We attended an acclimation appointment earlier this week and he did great. With apologies to Codrus and others who haven’t been able to comfortably use their CPAP machines, Chris seemed to ease into it pretty well to my untrained eye. He looked completely relaxed, kind of meditative and serene. I’m very hopeful that tonight’s study will go as well.
I’m still waking up in the middle of the night. Pretty much like clockwork, if I’m going to have a bad night and wake up it’s going to happen around the 4 hour mark. Last night I was extremely tired as I’d stayed out way too late with Ray again and didn’t get to bed until after 3:00am. I was ready for bed and fell asleep when I hit the pillow. I’d been really hoping that my additional fatigue would help me stay asleep through the night (and despite my fatigue I even remembered to take my medications!) but no. Four hours passed and I was awake. Again.
Normally Chris’s snoring doesn’t bother me. I like to say it’s one of the ways we knew we were meant for each other (one of the many ways). It occurred to me that once he gets his prescription for pressure and we pick up his CPAP machine, those days of being soothed to sleep by his snoring will be over. Sometimes when he gets into his worst positions, though, his snoring takes on a different tone and his apnea episodes are dramatically more pronounced. He was in one of those positions last night and I must admit that I won’t miss those at all. After laying there listening to him for a while I had a flash of inspiration. I crept out of bed and sneaked back with our digital recorder. I thought he might be interested/amused/horrified to hear himself, especially as we’re on the verge of getting him the treatment that I expect will change his life for the better (if only to reduce his chance of heart attack and stroke, but I also hope that he will have all the positive benefits of restful sleep and proper oxygenation).
Not sure what he imagined his snoring sounded like but I’m positive that it wasn’t what I played for him this morning. Better sleep for him is surely on the horizon.
When you wake up after four hours, is it out of a dream?
What you’re seeing is the result of your sleep cycles becoming habituated to waking you up after 2-3 cycles. A normal sleep cycle, when you progress from stage 1 to stage 4 then back up to REM sleep, normally takes about 90-100 minutes. We usually wake up after each sleep cycle, but commonly we fall right back to sleep and don’t remember it afterwards. What I think is happening in your case is that you’ve gotten in the habit of waking up more fully after that second sleep cycle.
So don’t fret too much. This is normal, and happens to everyone now and again. Usually you fall out of the waking habit after a few days, and your sleep feels more uninterrupted.
Today was worse because if you went to bed at 3am, 4 hours later is 7am — and that means you had circadian time of day effects (your biological clock saying “Hey! It’s daytime! Wake up!”)and possibly daylight complicating matters. Make sure your bedroom is absolutely as dark as possible if you want to sleep late; even small amounts of light can compromise your sleep quality.
– Kevin
Funny you should mention coming awake between sleep cycles because that’s exactly what Kate did when she was a baby/toddler. We had a consultation with a sleep specialist and the evaluation was that was what was going on with her. Getting her to not jump herself awake every hour or so was quite a process, she was a go-go girl even then. I’m definitely sensitive to daylight. As soon as it starts getting light out in the mornings I wake up.
When you wake up after four hours, is it out of a dream?
What you’re seeing is the result of your sleep cycles becoming habituated to waking you up after 2-3 cycles. A normal sleep cycle, when you progress from stage 1 to stage 4 then back up to REM sleep, normally takes about 90-100 minutes. We usually wake up after each sleep cycle, but commonly we fall right back to sleep and don’t remember it afterwards. What I think is happening in your case is that you’ve gotten in the habit of waking up more fully after that second sleep cycle.
So don’t fret too much. This is normal, and happens to everyone now and again. Usually you fall out of the waking habit after a few days, and your sleep feels more uninterrupted.
Today was worse because if you went to bed at 3am, 4 hours later is 7am — and that means you had circadian time of day effects (your biological clock saying “Hey! It’s daytime! Wake up!”)and possibly daylight complicating matters. Make sure your bedroom is absolutely as dark as possible if you want to sleep late; even small amounts of light can compromise your sleep quality.
– Kevin
Funny you should mention coming awake between sleep cycles because that’s exactly what Kate did when she was a baby/toddler. We had a consultation with a sleep specialist and the evaluation was that was what was going on with her. Getting her to not jump herself awake every hour or so was quite a process, she was a go-go girl even then. I’m definitely sensitive to daylight. As soon as it starts getting light out in the mornings I wake up.
Funny you should mention coming awake between sleep cycles because that’s exactly what Kate did when she was a baby/toddler. We had a consultation with a sleep specialist and the evaluation was that was what was going on with her. Getting her to not jump herself awake every hour or so was quite a process, she was a go-go girl even then. I’m definitely sensitive to daylight. As soon as it starts getting light out in the mornings I wake up.
When you wake up after four hours, is it out of a dream?
What you’re seeing is the result of your sleep cycles becoming habituated to waking you up after 2-3 cycles. A normal sleep cycle, when you progress from stage 1 to stage 4 then back up to REM sleep, normally takes about 90-100 minutes. We usually wake up after each sleep cycle, but commonly we fall right back to sleep and don’t remember it afterwards. What I think is happening in your case is that you’ve gotten in the habit of waking up more fully after that second sleep cycle.
So don’t fret too much. This is normal, and happens to everyone now and again. Usually you fall out of the waking habit after a few days, and your sleep feels more uninterrupted.
Today was worse because if you went to bed at 3am, 4 hours later is 7am — and that means you had circadian time of day effects (your biological clock saying “Hey! It’s daytime! Wake up!”)and possibly daylight complicating matters. Make sure your bedroom is absolutely as dark as possible if you want to sleep late; even small amounts of light can compromise your sleep quality.
– Kevin
When you wake up after four hours, is it out of a dream?
What you’re seeing is the result of your sleep cycles becoming habituated to waking you up after 2-3 cycles. A normal sleep cycle, when you progress from stage 1 to stage 4 then back up to REM sleep, normally takes about 90-100 minutes. We usually wake up after each sleep cycle, but commonly we fall right back to sleep and don’t remember it afterwards. What I think is happening in your case is that you’ve gotten in the habit of waking up more fully after that second sleep cycle.
So don’t fret too much. This is normal, and happens to everyone now and again. Usually you fall out of the waking habit after a few days, and your sleep feels more uninterrupted.
Today was worse because if you went to bed at 3am, 4 hours later is 7am — and that means you had circadian time of day effects (your biological clock saying “Hey! It’s daytime! Wake up!”)and possibly daylight complicating matters. Make sure your bedroom is absolutely as dark as possible if you want to sleep late; even small amounts of light can compromise your sleep quality.
– Kevin
Funny you should mention coming awake between sleep cycles because that’s exactly what Kate did when she was a baby/toddler. We had a consultation with a sleep specialist and the evaluation was that was what was going on with her. Getting her to not jump herself awake every hour or so was quite a process, she was a go-go girl even then. I’m definitely sensitive to daylight. As soon as it starts getting light out in the mornings I wake up.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll soon find yourself soothed to sleep by the sound of Chris’s CPAP. When Ericka is in the hospital for any length of time, I find myself having a harder time falling asleep because I miss the constant white noise. The house is so quiet.
Yeah, when we were in for the test I asked the attendant if the noise from the machine they were using was typical and he said it was, possibly even a little louder than more modern machines since this was a clinical model with all the additional bells and whistles. I’d heard from some spouses that it was “noisy” but even if it’s twice as loud as the machine at the clinic I’m not going to have any trouble at all sleeping with it. White noise definitely helps me sleep. When Kate was a baby and we had the gigantic end-table-sized HEPA filter running 24/7 in the room, even that didn’t bother me.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll soon find yourself soothed to sleep by the sound of Chris’s CPAP. When Ericka is in the hospital for any length of time, I find myself having a harder time falling asleep because I miss the constant white noise. The house is so quiet.
Yeah, when we were in for the test I asked the attendant if the noise from the machine they were using was typical and he said it was, possibly even a little louder than more modern machines since this was a clinical model with all the additional bells and whistles. I’d heard from some spouses that it was “noisy” but even if it’s twice as loud as the machine at the clinic I’m not going to have any trouble at all sleeping with it. White noise definitely helps me sleep. When Kate was a baby and we had the gigantic end-table-sized HEPA filter running 24/7 in the room, even that didn’t bother me.
Yeah, when we were in for the test I asked the attendant if the noise from the machine they were using was typical and he said it was, possibly even a little louder than more modern machines since this was a clinical model with all the additional bells and whistles. I’d heard from some spouses that it was “noisy” but even if it’s twice as loud as the machine at the clinic I’m not going to have any trouble at all sleeping with it. White noise definitely helps me sleep. When Kate was a baby and we had the gigantic end-table-sized HEPA filter running 24/7 in the room, even that didn’t bother me.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll soon find yourself soothed to sleep by the sound of Chris’s CPAP. When Ericka is in the hospital for any length of time, I find myself having a harder time falling asleep because I miss the constant white noise. The house is so quiet.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll soon find yourself soothed to sleep by the sound of Chris’s CPAP. When Ericka is in the hospital for any length of time, I find myself having a harder time falling asleep because I miss the constant white noise. The house is so quiet.
Yeah, when we were in for the test I asked the attendant if the noise from the machine they were using was typical and he said it was, possibly even a little louder than more modern machines since this was a clinical model with all the additional bells and whistles. I’d heard from some spouses that it was “noisy” but even if it’s twice as loud as the machine at the clinic I’m not going to have any trouble at all sleeping with it. White noise definitely helps me sleep. When Kate was a baby and we had the gigantic end-table-sized HEPA filter running 24/7 in the room, even that didn’t bother me.
“Not sure what he imagined his snoring sounded like but I’m positive that it wasn’t what I played for him this morning.”
You really should post that somewhere.
Ha! Only if I’m itching for another divorce!
“Not sure what he imagined his snoring sounded like but I’m positive that it wasn’t what I played for him this morning.”
You really should post that somewhere.
Ha! Only if I’m itching for another divorce!
Ha! Only if I’m itching for another divorce!
“Not sure what he imagined his snoring sounded like but I’m positive that it wasn’t what I played for him this morning.”
You really should post that somewhere.
“Not sure what he imagined his snoring sounded like but I’m positive that it wasn’t what I played for him this morning.”
You really should post that somewhere.
Ha! Only if I’m itching for another divorce!
I picture Chris with a CPAP in black-and-white plaid and a few safety pins through hoses. I bet this is wrong.
I picture Chris with a CPAP in black-and-white plaid and a few safety pins through hoses. I bet this is wrong.
I picture Chris with a CPAP in black-and-white plaid and a few safety pins through hoses. I bet this is wrong.
I picture Chris with a CPAP in black-and-white plaid and a few safety pins through hoses. I bet this is wrong.
man my dad really needed one of those- I guess him having to sleep in the basement also helped to stick the fork in my parent’s divorce.
I remember being on vacation in the black hills and I simply could NOT sleep with my dad in the same cabin.
I was in the bathtub of the cabin in the bathroom with two pillows over my head and I still could NOT get to sleep. The snoring was like … just something really awful that absolutely prevented sleep.
And if it wasn’t the snoring it was the apnea- stopping breathing and coughing and choking. At least 5 times a night. I felt on edge all the time- like if I went to sleep my dad would choke and die.
It was pretty stressful.
man my dad really needed one of those- I guess him having to sleep in the basement also helped to stick the fork in my parent’s divorce.
I remember being on vacation in the black hills and I simply could NOT sleep with my dad in the same cabin.
I was in the bathtub of the cabin in the bathroom with two pillows over my head and I still could NOT get to sleep. The snoring was like … just something really awful that absolutely prevented sleep.
And if it wasn’t the snoring it was the apnea- stopping breathing and coughing and choking. At least 5 times a night. I felt on edge all the time- like if I went to sleep my dad would choke and die.
It was pretty stressful.
man my dad really needed one of those- I guess him having to sleep in the basement also helped to stick the fork in my parent’s divorce.
I remember being on vacation in the black hills and I simply could NOT sleep with my dad in the same cabin.
I was in the bathtub of the cabin in the bathroom with two pillows over my head and I still could NOT get to sleep. The snoring was like … just something really awful that absolutely prevented sleep.
And if it wasn’t the snoring it was the apnea- stopping breathing and coughing and choking. At least 5 times a night. I felt on edge all the time- like if I went to sleep my dad would choke and die.
It was pretty stressful.
man my dad really needed one of those- I guess him having to sleep in the basement also helped to stick the fork in my parent’s divorce.
I remember being on vacation in the black hills and I simply could NOT sleep with my dad in the same cabin.
I was in the bathtub of the cabin in the bathroom with two pillows over my head and I still could NOT get to sleep. The snoring was like … just something really awful that absolutely prevented sleep.
And if it wasn’t the snoring it was the apnea- stopping breathing and coughing and choking. At least 5 times a night. I felt on edge all the time- like if I went to sleep my dad would choke and die.
It was pretty stressful.