Sleep apnea nightmares
Common Questions and Answers about Sleep apnea nightmares
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Along with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, it could also be Central Apnea. You thankfully are her advocate, observe closely what is going on, and report what you see. I have my wife to thank for no doubt saving my life. She urged me to get a sleep study done at our local hospital which revealed extreme Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I got on CPAP and am fine today.
It's not the usual for a new bipap (or cpap/apap/vpap) user to be immediately comfortable and able to keep the mask on 7 hours a night, but it is possible to achieve this goal. I thought I'd never be able to do it, and now I'm perfectly comfortable. If the mask you have doesn't work for you, talk to your supplier and tell them. Don't suffer in silence or give up.
Without knowing the full results of your sleep study, I'm not sure what very light sleep apnea means.
These disorders can be like obstructive sleep apnea, wherein during sleep there is an obstruction to air flow due to laxity of the throat muscles during sleep and this could cause difficulty breathing. Hence for therapy CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) is used to keep it patent. So, I would advise you to consult your primary care physician for further evaluation. He may then ask for a sleep study called polysomnography for further evaluation.
Hope this helped and do keep us posted.
Story-like dreams happen mostly during REM, and dreams are best remembered when awakened during them, and sleep apnea is often worst during REM and can cause awakenings.Add to that the anxiety that can come from inefficient sleep and the adrenaline surges that come with apnea events, and it seems reasonable for you to be evaluated for the possibility of sleep apnea.
minki, I'm sorry you're going through this.
I think you've got a couple things going on here, and some of them are medical.
What you're describing, "when I sleep I stop breathing" sounds like sleep apnea. Google it - I think you'll find some answers there. Sleep apnea causes you to stop breathing in your sleep, and is extremely dangerous.
You need to find out if you have sleep apnea or not. Its important. If you have sleep apnea, you literally stop breathing in your sleep. There is a high risk you will not start breathing again on your own.
Do a sleep study at home and if you do have it, its important you let yourself get use to wearing the mask. It took me approx a month.
Get on this issue. Its worth it!!
I had a sleep test last year, and according to the test results, I do not have sleep apnea but recorded very little third stage of sleep and no REM sleep at all. I’ve been prescribed various sleep aids, but they didn't do anything. Doctors I’ve seen here put me through many tests to help me, but nothing came up. I’ve lived this way for many years, and I’m always tired. My memory is being affected also. I’d appreciate any help I can get.
I cannot speak to the c-spine issues. I have heard of people developing sleep apnea after injuries, but whether your neck condition could cause your nightmares is way out of my league. I can say that before my diagnosis with obstructive sleep apnea for years I had bad dreams and in them someone or something was either suffocating, drowning, couldn't breathe, etc. Haven't had one of those dreams since my cpap treatment is working for my apnea. Cause and effect? I think so.
I can answer your questions because i have the exact same symptoms and have been having them for years. I have sleep apnea and narcolepsy, and the hallucinations are caused by sleep deprivation. I hate the fact that i can't seem to get out of these dreams but i have recently found the solution. Get out of bed and do something for 5 or 10 minutes....i usually will come downstairs and check my email or just surf for a few minutes.
It is important to rule out type of sleep apnea like Obstructive apnea, Central apnea and Mixed apnea. You need to undergo tests to rule out the type of apnea.
Few of the tests include Apnea index, Apnea-hypopnea index, Respiratory disturbance index, Desaturation and Arousal index. It can be initially manged by supplemental oxygen.
Nightmare disorder, or dream anxiety disorder, which is a sleep disorder characterized by frequent nightmares or vivid dreams.
Like twistednurse, treating my sleep apnea has made a big difference in my quality of life. Please consider that many of your other issues could stem from the sleep apnea. Lack of oxygen to the brain during apnea has to do strange things to the brain. I had nightmares all the time before treating my apnea, now I rarely ever have a bad dream. Waking up a lot - common with sleep apnea. Weight gain - common with the sleep deprived.
The associated symptoms with the following disorder are confusional wakefulness, sleep paralysis, nightmares and night terrors. This can occur in any sleep stage (REM and non-REM stage).
To rule out parasomnias you need to undergo Polysomnyography and sleep analysis. She needs to take out time for further evaluation. Sleep with light on. Short term benzodiazepine against prescription will help. I suggest her to consult physician or sleep specialist. Take care and regards.
Well, hold off on the expensive scans and heart tests until you get the second sleep experiment with a positive airway pressure mask. You see, the connection between "psychosis" and sleep apnea is probably from the lack of sleep that sleep apnea causes. When you don't get enough solid sleep, you can have all sorts of oddball mental impressions of things that seem out of place.
Any family doctor, can refer you to the right specialist, after listening to your symptoms, feeling, tired, sleepy and lack of energy can be contributed by various disorders, sleep apnea, thyroid, diabetes, adrenal fatigue, etc....
I suggest you visit a family doctor, to perform basic lab test, to rule out anything physical, you may even consult with a pyschiatrist, for an evaluation to rule out depression, stress etc... that can cause those very same symptoms.
If you were to wake up before the nightmares, would you have nausea? Have you had an overnight sleep study? If not, you may wish to obtain one.
In addition to the GI workup, I agree that you should have a complete metabolic/endocrine workup to aid in the diagnosis of your nausea and vomiting. I would also recommend that you have a thorough endocrine workup and you may actually benefit from an endocrine consult.
Snoring does often accompany sleep apnea, but just because you snore does not mean you have sleep apnea and vice versa. Minor sleep apnea is responsive to self-help remedies such as losing weight, eliminating the use of alcohol, tobacco, and sedatives; sleeping on your side, and regularizing your sleep hours. It would be best to see a sleep specialist for proper management and to ease your worries. Take care and keep us posted.
I'm not sure about the seeing things, but your heart rate being up could be linked to why you feel scared. And it could possibly be sleep apnea. Waking up frequently may also be a sign of sleep apnea, though one does not have to do this in order to have it. A reason you may be waking up could be because your brain is realizing that you are not getting enough oxygen, and this causes you to wake up. Your heart rate being up could also be due to lack of oxygen.
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