Do you wake up when another person enters a room?

Originally posted by jbondo
defcon, what if anything can you get from what I described? Am I getting enough sleep? The right kind of sleep?

It’s hard to tell over the internet, but I’ll make an educated guess, however you really should have a sleep study run if you feel tired or run down. Get a referral to a sleep center from your primary care physician, the test is relatively simple and painless. It is possible that are not getting enough of stage REM sleep, the reason I say this is that you mention going to the bathroom throughout the night. It’s pretty common to see folks with sleep apnea get up multiple times during the night like you describe. If it’s always around the same time of night that you’re getting up, that is another sign, especially if it’s around 12, 3, or 5 am as those are REM periods.

With sleep apnea the oxygen in your body will drop causing your brain to wake to a lighter stage of sleep or all the way to awake. Your muscles become more paralyzed as you approach a REM period, and the tissue in your throat becomes an increasingly worse obstruction causing you to drop to even lower oxygen levels, and increasing your chances to become totally awake. These REM periods are set by the biological clock mentioned above, which is called the circadian rhythm and happen about the same time each night. Snoring is a good sign that there is something obstructing your airway as well. You may find that you only have a very mild form of apnea, and it may only be in certain sleep stages, or only in certain positions. Either way though, if you do not get about 20% of the night as cohesive stage REM sleep, you will remain tired no matter how many hours you sleep a night. Apnea can cause a ton of other problems as well, over time, including depression, heart problems, high blood pressure, anxiety, etc, so it’s a good thing to get checked out if you suspect it.

Anyway that is my best guess from what you describe, to find out for certain you would need to see your Doctor and have a sleep study run.

Thanks, my father had severe sleep apnea and I have always been concerned about it. I have actually asked people to monitor my sleep to see if I am showing signs of it but so far nothing other than snoring. My father would hold his breath for 45 seconds to over a minute several times an hour. Funny thing is though, he would not wake up at all. He went in for sleep study several times but was never given anything to help and was always just sent home that I know of. Can't ask him now as he passed away 8 years ago.

I tend to wake at the same times every night, about every 2 hours. I guess I should get a study done anyway and my primary had scheduled it but I had to move and change doctors. I guess I'll give it a go here pretty soon.

Thanks!

Originally posted by jbondo
Thanks, my father had severe sleep apnea and I have always been concerned about it.

Yeah, sounds like you might have it then, it can be hereditary. The same way that your facial features will follow your parents, so will the build of your airway. Some folks just have narrow airways which are more prone to this as a problem then others.

Originally posted by jbondo
I have actually asked people to monitor my sleep to see if I am showing signs of it but so far nothing other than snoring.

You may not have it bad enough yet to be clearly observable to someone who does not have the proper equipment or training. As I said above though, this is exactly what snoring is, it is air trying to push through tissue that is in its way, so there is a really good chance that is what you’re experiencing.

Originally posted by jbondo
My father would hold his breath for 45 seconds to over a minute several times an hour. Funny thing is though, he would not wake up at all.

As you become increasingly sleep deprived your body will fight harder and harder to get into REM, thus it can become more difficult to wake up. Also some folks who have apnea self diagnose, and think they have insomnia because they wake up so frequently. Thus the only way to tell for sure is with an EEG machine (polygraph/polysomnography).

Originally posted by jbondo
He went in for sleep study several times but was never given anything to help and was always just sent home that I know of.

The normal treatment for sleep apnea is a CPAP machine. There are a number of patients out there who just refuse to use them. In the old days they were tough to get used to, now though we have a lot more technology and experience with it, and non-compliance is not as much of an issue. It can sometimes take a bit of work and tweaking the equipment to get someone comfortable, but it is worth the benefits. Besides if its not treated, the tissue will continue to stretch, and the patient will normally put on more weight due to inactivity from being tired, so it becomes a worsening catch 22 cycle.

Originally posted by jbondo
Can't ask him now as he passed away 8 years ago.

Sorry to hear that.

Originally posted by jbondo
I tend to wake at the same times every night, about every 2 hours. I guess I should get a study done anyway and my primary had scheduled it but I had to move and change doctors. I guess I'll give it a go here pretty soon.

Yeah that is the best thing I can tell you to do, again even though it requires a bit of work on the patients part it is defiantly worth it. If you have any other questions about it, you can always U2U me any time.

Well said Antar. I agree because this happens to me a whole lot. Its beyond being a light sleeper. It's a survival instinct too.

Originally posted by defcon5
But are they totally deaf?

Yes they are.

White noise is not the same thing, white noise will not effect you that way that inconsistent noise will.

I understand that but I do not usually wake as a result of inconsistent noise but anyone coming into the room and snap I am awake. Can you explain that to me? I would be interested in your view.

[edit on 19/7/2007 by Lady of the Lake]

I remember reading about a study where an amplified EEG was able to pick up brainwaves from a test subject at up to 5 meters. This proves conclusively that our thought are projected beyond our own kinospshere.

Perhaps the subconscious is able to make better use of this than our conscious?

OMG yes That happens to me to I wake up right before my sister comes in it's like I can sense her presence a reply