Sleep Apnea and insomnia/poor sleep

There is a thread that sparked this. For, it not only applies to insomnia but sleep routines in general - and the effects of doing so poorly.

I recommend talking to your family doctor about your symptoms that coincide with insomnia and the lack of quality sleep.

I finally did and on a hunch he referred me to a respirologist and sleep clinic where I was tested for sleep apnea. It turns out I have it - and bad. It turns out I have on average 400 - 500 events a night where I stop breathing. I snore and when I stop breathing have to gasp for air to restart. I was often waking up at night too. My sleep was of very poor quality as I rarely reached REM state. As a result I was spending a great deal of time with racing thoughts through the night.

Well, the answer was a CPAP machine and mask. I now sleep through the night. And that sleep is of high quality. I do not have insomnia. I do not wake up feeling tired and achy. I have fewer racing and difficult thoughts, I have more energy during the day, I am even eating better, and so on. I also credit the use of this machine with a reduction in my Anxiety.

There are a number of ways to win the battle against insomnia and a difficult sleep routine. Sometimes improving sleep hygiene still doesn't work. Talk to your doctor about sleep apnea. No amount of good sleep hygiene and bedtime routine is going to help if you have it.

I am glad that you feel heaps better having addressed this issue.

I have a question did you wake yourself up from snoring or coughing? How did you know that it was an issue? I think I snore but I am asleep. My p'doc wants me to have a sleep study done but I am not sure. My sister has benefited from using a cpap machine.

No I wasn't waking myself up. But my sleep was Disturbed as I never quite had a solid REM sleep which is needed for the brain to regenerate itself. I feel better physically too by the way.

According to my partner I would stop breathing then suddenly gasp for air and this was going on hundreds of times a night.

I switched from a face mask to a nose mask and even more of an improvement. I certainly feel better. My sleep routine is now balanced. I am going to bed later - which I couldn't do before I was so exhausted. I am not napping during the day. I have more energy.

I so agree with getting a sleep test. I don't have sleep apnea, and we are investigating further and I have a neuro consult. But it's important to get to the bottom of sleep problems. DON'T LET THEM TELL YOU IT'S JUST ANXIETY or whatever. If better sleep hygiene and limiting caffeine doesn't produce a result (and more exercise) then push for the sleep test. I have heard from numerous ppl that when they got the CPAP machine (for sleep apnea) they got SO much better. THat's not my case, but man, what a simple solution for such a terrible problem.

Thank you, WIshful for bringing this topic up. In fact, we often dismiss our physical symptoms as part of our MI. Don't let that happen. Push for medical answers bc they may be underlying and CAUSING the MI.

My two cents. Anyways.