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have been using cpap for about 8 months now and am still having major problems falling asleep.

was diagnosed with sugnificient obstructive sleep apnea , taking ambien and still takes me hours to fall asleep, i take the ambien around 9 pm , go to bed around 10 pm and lay there for a couple of hours trying to fall asleep and no luck so i get up and watch tv for a couple of hours and go back to bed and lay there still trying to fall asleep until finally between 3 and 4 am i finally fall asleep and wake up around 6 am or 7 am .  there is really no difference in using the cpap and not using it. there is no problem with the cpap or the mask so i do not have a clue what the problem is . i am so disappointed in this. when i was first diagnosed with  sleep apnea i thought ok well at least i know why i can't sleep but i wear my mask every night and it fits fine. anyone have any ideas or have incountered this ?       

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Ernestine, my problem is the other way around I wake early but are now getting 6-7 hours quality sleep. Have you spoken to your sleep Dr about it? Also, do you follow all the sleep hygiene rules like no caffine at night, keeping the room dark etc. You may want to try Melatonin, it sound like your sleep clock is out but you need to try to get at least 6 hours sleep.

To my knowledge sleep apnea does not cause sleep onset insomnia except in cases where a person is just getting used to the gear and can't sleep because it's so foreign.

 

Ernestine, are you waiting until you're sleepy to go to bed.  Are you getting some exercise during the day (not close to bedtime)?  I don't think it's good to take a sleeping pill until you are actually ready to get into bed.  Perhaps since you are up you are mssing that window of opportunity where the ambien would be effective.  Maybe a different sleeping piull would be more effective.  I take lunesta.

To my knowledge sleep apnea is more associated with fragmented, unsatisfying sleep than insomnia.  I know a lot of people have both, but usually the insomnia is a chronic problem and predates the apnea diagnosis.

A thorough study (again) of good sleep hygiene is called for.  Are you following the thread on caffeine?  Perhaps if you drink coffee or beverages with caffeine (anything with caffeine) You are very sensitive to the effects.  I think there are therapist who can work particularly on the problem of insomnia.  Unfortunately it can be very hard to pin down and sure and will require a lot of effort on your part to track down what is causing your insomnia. Evidently there is no magic pill for you.  Good luck.

You also have insomnia which is a different issue entirely than OSA. One thing I'd say is give up the ambien. It is obviously not helping and could in fact, be compounding the problem. Your body gets used to certain medicines and they are no longer helpful. Get it out of your system completely. Ambien was a double whammy for me. It didn't really help all that much. I would take it 2 hours before I even tried going to bed and then still take hours to fall asleep but then next day, it would take 2 or 3 hours to get out of my system and I'd be sleepy.

I used to read stuff on "good sleep hygiene" and think it wouldn't help so I wouldn't try it. When I decided I was tired of taking ambien, I decided maybe I'd try a few of the suggestions. They do work. At any rate, here is one article I found on the internet. Try some of it. I think the one thing that helped me was to sleep only in my bed. No tv, no nothing else, just sleep. Btw, other articles that I have read say computer use before bed is as bad as tv. Haven't given that up quite as yet.

Here's the article: http://www.umm.edu/sleep/sleep_hyg.htm

have talked to my sleep doctor about this problem but all he does is give me another mask to try when i have told him it is not the mask it is me. will try melatonin . i also follow all the sleep hygiene i know, do not have a tv in my room and it is dark and very quiet and cool . i even run a fan all night to make sure the road noice does not bother me. thanks for the suggestion

Terry Vella said:

Ernestine, my problem is the other way around I wake early but are now getting 6-7 hours quality sleep. Have you spoken to your sleep Dr about it? Also, do you follow all the sleep hygiene rules like no caffine at night, keeping the room dark etc. You may want to try Melatonin, it sound like your sleep clock is out but you need to try to get at least 6 hours sleep.

i have had sleep problems for years, i would wake up around 2 or 3 am and could not go back to sleep, wake up wide awake, since then it has gone to can't fall asleep. i have followed all the sleep hygiene i have read about like keeping your room dark and cool and quiet with no tv in your room . so i am following the sleep hygiene listed on the internet. i am going to try melatonin to see how that works . have also been thinking about finding another sleep doctor .all he wants to do is have me try other mask and my mask i am using now works just fine as long as i use the chinstrap to prevent me from opening my mouth and the leaking is not happening while using the chinstrap so that is good. my quality of sleep is better with the cpap but the quanity of sleep is still not hitting on much at all. if i waited until i got sleepy i would never go to bed . i am trying to go back to work but if i do find a job it may be best to work a night shift with my sleep problems .

thanks alot   

y Z said:

To my knowledge sleep apnea does not cause sleep onset insomnia except in cases where a person is just getting used to the gear and can't sleep because it's so foreign.

 

Ernestine, are you waiting until you're sleepy to go to bed.  Are you getting some exercise during the day (not close to bedtime)?  I don't think it's good to take a sleeping pill until you are actually ready to get into bed.  Perhaps since you are up you are mssing that window of opportunity where the ambien would be effective.  Maybe a different sleeping piull would be more effective.  I take lunesta.

To my knowledge sleep apnea is more associated with fragmented, unsatisfying sleep than insomnia.  I know a lot of people have both, but usually the insomnia is a chronic problem and predates the apnea diagnosis.

A thorough study (again) of good sleep hygiene is called for.  Are you following the thread on caffeine?  Perhaps if you drink coffee or beverages with caffeine (anything with caffeine) You are very sensitive to the effects.  I think there are therapist who can work particularly on the problem of insomnia.  Unfortunately it can be very hard to pin down and sure and will require a lot of effort on your part to track down what is causing your insomnia. Evidently there is no magic pill for you.  Good luck.

Though it certainly won't hurt to talk to your sleep doctor about your insomnia I don't think they are necessarily well versed in that area.   You may need to track down a specialist in that area.  I know I have a cd that is so relaxing it will put me to sleep before it is finished playing. There are special cds made for just this purpose. Some biofeedback and self hypnosis techniques may be helpful.  I'm sorry you are having such problems.

think of a time you want to rise from bed and stick to it

part of good sleep hygiene 

OSA is associated with insomnia but not (normally) like you are describing. It could be from years of bad sleep patterns or you could have Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome. That has the type of insomnia you describe and overtime it will lead into OSA. That requires different lab equipment to diagnose and you are usually placed on a Bi-Level machine.
Also your lag time for Ambien -take it at 9 and then go to bed at 10- could be a problem getting the mediciation to work properly. I know then in the past when I took Ambien I needed to take it right before bed or I'd pass by it effective zone.
Hope you find some answers and get your sleep back-
Ernestine, presumptively, you get enough oxygen by using CPAP correctly, and still suffering from unable to fall asleep. Luck of blood circulation may impact your symptoms due to autonomic imbalance.

- Unexplained anxiety
- Trouble with sleep, concentration
- Constant yawning/sighing, sneezing
- Dry mouth and throat
- Bad breath
- Pressure headaches
- Noisy breathing
- Muscle pain, general fatigue
- Increased mucus production

I see this quite a bit in the lab. Ambien has a very short shelf life once ingested into our systems. Depending on your system it can metabolise very quickly. Try taking the sleep aid and going immediately to be bed.

will try to see if that works , have been trying to get a job, got fired from a temp job due to oversleeping , after 1 day of being on the job , the next day i overslept because i could not fall asleep until around 3 am and had to be at work at 6 am that morning so i did not hear the alarm clock so this is affecting all sorts of my life. am 66 years old and worked all my adult life and this was the first time i have ever got fired from a job.

thanks for your suggestions, will try that before i go hunting for a new sleep doctor.  

         

RockRpsgt said:

I see this quite a bit in the lab. Ambien has a very short shelf life once ingested into our systems. Depending on your system it can metabolise very quickly. Try taking the sleep aid and going immediately to be bed.

I repeat.

Though it certainly won't hurt to talk to your sleep doctor about your insomnia I don't think they are necessarily well versed in that area.   You may need to track down a specialist in insomnia.  I know I have a cd that is so relaxing it will put me to sleep before it is finished playing. There are special cds made for just this purpose. Some biofeedback and self hypnosis techniques may be helpful.  I'm sorry you are having such problems.

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