Wondering if my "mild" sleep apnea that wakes me all night is a withdrawal issue

Hi everyone,

 

About 15 months after coming off benzo I developed a mild case of sleep apnea.  It eventually seemed to go away and I slept well throughout the night and woke refreshed.  Then, I had a medication setback 18 months ago and the sleep apnea came back with a vengeance (so weird).  My at home sleep study shows that I have fine oxygen and in fact, it's mild enough that I wouldn't need CPAP but because of my constant awakenings (every 1-2 hours) I chose to try CPAP.  It turns out I have a VERY hard time tolerating it so I tried an oral mandibular device that moves jaw forward.  That helped bring my sleep apnea level down to normal range BUT, I still wake up constantly! And, it hurts my jaw so my dentist said to stop and maybe try it again later.

 

It seems I wake up way too much for this just to be normal sleep apnea.  I have consulted with sleep doctors, a sleep dentist and an ENT and no one has any answers for me on why I would wake up so much.  It feels like my body is just so hyper aware of every little thing.  Some normal folks sleep through severe apnea and don't even know they have it!

 

I wonder if anyone has an opinion on this? Right now, I am so sleep deprived I sometimes cry.

 

I can get about 8-9 hours of very broken sleep per night.

 

Happy to hear thoughts.

 

Thanks everyone!

Hey there Wonderwoman23,

 

I hope some others can jump in here, perhaps those who have undergone a sleep study as well or who might experience sleep apnea issues, but I relate to the constant waking.  I'm 16 months out and the chronic waking started back up again for me around a month ago.  I didn't think much of it at the time as it was the holidays, we were traveling, and I have a 4-year-old who was sick for a couple weeks, but it has unfortunately continued even now that the extra stressors have settled.  I'm fairly sure mine is withdrawal related but sometimes I question perimenopause as complicating things (I'm 46 and definitely in the thick of this process too). 

 

Things were going pretty decent in the sleep department too as I only had the occasional 3 or 4 am wake-up, so this recent uptick is a major bummer.  For the most part I'm able to go back to sleep, so like you, I can get a stretch of 7-8 hours, but there are a few wakes thrown in there.  I agree it feels like a hyperawareness; the smallest of things will wake me.  While I'm very thankful it's not the early days of insomnia laden with nasty symptoms, the constant waking does wear you down. 

 

So sorry about the med setback too. I hope you are doing well other than the sleep deprivation! 

 

sunshine75

Hi WonderWoman,

 

This sounds horrible. When you wake up, how long does it take you to fall back asleep? I have broken sleep but nothing like what you are talking about.

Hi thanks for your replies. I usually fall back asleep fine but wake up sometimes 10 times!

I still get nights where I can wake up a lot throughout the night...upwards of 10 times per night about every month or two...As long as you can fall back to sleep, I wouldn't worry about it too much.