"please keep me updated about oximeters "
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Wake-ups During the Night?
When I was diagnosed in June, 2011, I thought using CPAP therapy was going to be the end of my sleep problems s well as the doorway to feeling great.
Well, as we all know: NOT SO FAST!
An annoying and continuing problem is that I wake again and again throughout the night. I do get back to sleep but it would be wonderful to sleep through the night. I will also note, that I always feel better if I sleep at least five consecutive hours, but that doesn't happen very often.
Thanks to Chris H's posting re: neurologist Stasha Gominak, M.D.'s five-part YouTube discussion on Vitamin D3 and Vitamin B12 levels, I suspect I know why I keep waking: My levels of both are too low. That can affect (and afflict!) sleep.
For the record, I take 5,000 I.U.s of Vitamin D3 daily (with the appropriate amount of Vitamin K2) but when I checked my Vitamin levels (I had a physical about six months ago) I found that my Vitamin D level was too low. My B12 level was too low, too.
It will take many, many weeks of supplementation to raise my levels, but I suspect that based on what I learned from Dr. Gominak's lectures, the wake-ups will subside, possibly even disappear. This will translate into much better, deeper nightly sleep.
Note: Dr. Gominak warns that one can feel much worse if one raise his or her Vitamin D level too high. Thus, it's very important to monitor this matter. Our levels must stay within an appropriate band, neither too low nor too high.
Finally, I wrote this as a separate post with a different subject line in the hope that others with the same wake-up problem will read Chris H's Dr. Gominak's post. It's really, really valuable.
Here's the link: http://www.sleepguide.com/forum/topics/dr-gominak-discusses-sleep-a...
Thanks, Chris!
Views: 1222
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Terry Vella on
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ZolliStar, CPAP as you know helps us breathe which then assists us with sleep but doesn't make us sleep. Everyone wakes up during the night whether consciously or sub consciously it's all part of the sleep cycles and being human. It really depends on how you feel during the day and more importantly how much better you feel than before. I think maybe we have also got into a habit of waking and it is very hard to get out of habits. Quite often I wake up at 1.30am which was one of the times I used to wake up before CPAP. I can now go back to sleep with confidence that at least I will be able to breathe the rest of the night. Last night I woke up at 5.09am but just told myself to go back to sleep and get another sleep cycle in and woke up to my alarm at 7.00am. I never used to have to set an alarm because I was never a properly asleep. It will take time in this long journey, make sure you follow the right sleep hygienetips like going to sleep and waking at the same time each day etc. You will get there eventually.
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Permalink Reply by ZolliStar on
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Thank you for your thoughts. Well said.
Sleep hygiene is a challenge for me, especially going to bed at a regular time. I'm a life-long night owl. Even as a child, going to sleep was a challenge. (But maybe I was an apneac even then: we now know that children can have the condition.)
I do get back to sleep when I wake. Even so, I suspect there is something to what Dr. Gominak suggests. I have experienced solid, unbroken sleep, but not often. As I think back to one memorable example (13 hours with only one bathroom break), I suspect that the complete darkness of the room (I was visiting a cousin) and the summer time higher levels of Vitamin D might have made the difference.
At any rate, I'm definitely going to work on my vitamin levels. I'm trying lots of things as I try to improve my sense of well being and health through sleep.
Terry Vella said:ZolliStar, CPAP as you know helps us breathe which then assists us with sleep but doesn't make us sleep. Everyone wakes up during the night whether consciously or sub consciously it's all part of the sleep cycles and being human. It really depends on how you feel during the day and more importantly how much better you feel than before. I think maybe we have also got into a habit of waking and it is very hard to get out of habits. Quite often I wake up at 1.30am which was one of the times I used to wake up before CPAP. I can now go back to sleep with confidence that at least I will be able to breathe the rest of the night. Last night I woke up at 5.09am but just told myself to go back to sleep and get another sleep cycle in and woke up to my alarm at 7.00am. I never used to have to set an alarm because I was never a properly asleep. It will take time in this long journey, make sure you follow the right sleep hygienetips like going to sleep and waking at the same time each day etc. You will get there eventually.
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ZolliStar, I think that's a good idea and we need to tweek things from time to time until we get the best outcome for ourselves. I have been on vitamin D for a while mainly because my calcium was low, I also take 2 x 1500mg fish oil a day and a multivitamin at night which has a ingredient to help with sleep. Then take either a valerian forte or a nutural product with lavender and passionflower to relax me during the night. I have gone off all prescription meds and are on a very small dose of antidepressant which I hope to be off shortly.
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Terry, I've been on 5,000 I.U.s of Vitamin D3 for over two years -- and my level is too low! So among the many things I learned from Dr. Gominak, I learned the appropriate level of Vitamin D. For the next month or so I'm increasing my intake of D3 to 10,000 I.U.s (with the appropriate balance of Vitamin K2) as well as additional B12.
I also take fish oil daily as well as OmegaBrite (visit http://omegabrite.com/) It is possible that one person's requirements simply to be higher than the average. But without having any idea what my levels should be (and my internist clearly doesn't know: physicians study disease, not health -- one of my major complaints about western medicine), without having any idea waht the levels should be, I was flying blind.
At any rate, I'm going to give this a try for a while. The proof will be in the sleep pudding. If I start sleeping better and feeling better....WHOOOPEEE!!!!
All that said, I'm grateful to have finally be diagnosed (after years of visiting doctors, including sleep disorder doctors WHO MISDIAGNOSED ME) and to be on CPAP. I LOVE my CPAP machine!
And I love SleepGuide.com.
Terry Vella said:ZolliStar, I think that's a good idea and we need to tweek things from time to time until we get the best outcome for ourselves. I have been on vitamin D for a while mainly because my calcium was low, I also take 2 x 1500mg fish oil a day and a multivitamin at night which has a ingredient to help with sleep. Then take either a valerian forte or a nutural product with lavender and passionflower to relax me during the night. I have gone off all prescription meds and are on a very small dose of antidepressant which I hope to be off shortly.
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ZolliStar, I feel the same way about my CPAP which I call 'Silvie' Resmed S9 Auto, I tell my wife I'm going to bed with Silvie. I was lucky my slleep specialist diagnosed me as soon as I walked in his door even without a sleep study. Unfortunately it took all the other specialists 49 years without success and then I had to do it myself with the help of Dr Google.
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