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Hi Chee,
To be fair the sleep specialist at the sleep clinic did tell me that I was getting a reasonable amount of hours of sleep but the problem for me is that it’s never restorative. I’m permanently exhausted when I wake up. There’s permanent lines of tiredness under my eyes. I’m groggy and struggle during the day with brain fog and coherent thinking.
The logic shared by the sleep technician was that during the deeper stages of REM sleep toward the latter end of the night the muscles naturally relax and potentially my airways are being blocked causing my heart rate to accelerate.
All I know for sure is that my Apnoea-Hypopnea Index skyrocketed in REM sleep during my sleep study. I wake with a rapid heart beat about 6 hours into sleep (sometimes earlier) and it’s been ongoing for years. As far as I’m aware the REM sleep is when the restorative aspects of sleep happen and I don’t seem to be able to make it through for a full night’s sleep.
Cheers,
ColinThanks for the insight again on the a-fib. I’m 100% taking on board your advice. Best to rule out the physical side of things first!
Firstly, thank you so much for all the above information!
To be honest I didn’t question the CPAP recommendation after the sleep study. It was explained to me that if I factored in my overall sleep I wouldn’t be diagnosed with sleep apnoea however there were two reasons behind the recommendation. 1) I’m a side sleeper but when I would change position to my back whilst asleep it resulted in oxygen desaturation to lows of 88% and I would have an awakening event soon after. 2) There was a high number of AHIs during my REM sleep. I’m not sure how it works out here in Australia but I was happy to give it a shot to resolve my issues. Unfortunately, it didn’t.
Yeah I definitely don’t experience panic attacks like you described. It’s hyper alertness but I’m always pretty calm. There could be an underlying low mood issue. I feel like it comes hand in hand with my poor sleep. Definitely, I feel a bit miserable some days when I’ve had a really bad night’s sleep but it’s all on a scale really. If I have had a bad but not terrible night’s sleep I manage to push through and remain pretty optimistic. To be honest, I hadn’t considered speaking to a psychiatrist before but maybe you’re right I ought to rule it out as a key contributing factor.
I hadn’t considered speaking to a cardiologist either. Can I ask did you experience heart related issues at night as a result of this condition as well? I think I should rule this one out as well. I’m quite active (run twice a week and use the gym) and I don’t recall experiencing any worrying heart related symptoms during the day. Being a mouth breather however for years I certainly have experienced getting breathless easily even when my body physically feels fine.
It sounds like you have been through the mill as well trying to resolve your sleep issues. I’m hopeful that I can improve the situation even just a bit. It’s hard going trying to juggle life’s responsibilities and not having the same recovery at night as the next person.
In any case you have given me a lot of fruit for thought. Thank you for being so generous with your time and for sharing your experiences.
Cheers,
ColinHi Matt,
Thanks for the reply.
Over the last year I’ve been pursuing different avenues to resolve it. It’s mad how I make it through most of the night but the wake up time is so routine. There’s no longer any clocks in my room. I don’t look at my phone but it’s always in the latter part of the night. I decided to give myself a break from the CPAP machine until the new year. I needed a bit of a break.
To be honest I do have a bit of an inner battle when I wake up. Past experiences have shown me that I usually won’t fall asleep if I stay laying down. I often feel an elevated heart rate. I feel warm and very alert. I have tried sitting up and just breathing until I yawn and then I lay down on the pillow again. Sometimes I fall asleep. A lot of the time I resist the idea of leaving the bed. But past experiences have shown me as well that moving to the couch helps me wind down again so I’m ready to sleep.
It’s strange in that I feel quite calm at the moment when I wake up. I’m don’t feel anxiety. Maybe I’ve resigned myself to accepting that this is just something that happens. This past week I had 3 nights (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) where I consistently woke and struggled to fall back to sleep. I feel like the last two nights I vaguely remember waking but managed to make it through to the morning.
A good night sleep feels quite elusive at the moment.
