Weird sleep issue

So before I went into business for myself. I was a delivery guy for oxygen, which meant working with lots of cpap and bipap machines and sleep apnea patients. First sleep apnea is basically your brain waking you up out or REM sleep to get more oxygen cause your count is low. Lots of times people don't do well when being tested. People sleep differently at a facility or on the "test". You could perhaps use a pulse oxcimiter and sleep with it for a few weeks and get a much larger sample to see if that is happening.

That being said all repiratory therapists I worked with/talked too basically thought everyone should be on a bi-pap machine. Basically the with the tech now. The machines are smart. The measure if your breathing is abnormal and compensate for it. So even if you only needed after you got shitty drunk once a month, it would help you then. Or when you sleep with your face in the pillow etc.

I think you having one of these would solve your issue. If it's an actual breathing issue, the machine will correct it. If you have no breathing problems, it's a mental thing and the machine should give you the confidence that it would kick in if you were to have a problem.

I used to have the same thing happen to me pretty regularly, it wasn't sleep apnea as I'm in good shape but I did have a lot of stress at the time. They eventually went away but still pop up from time to time, usually when I'm super tired and taking a midday nap.

My conclusion as an armchair doctor is its likely mini panic attacks and your brain is just an asshole.

I've had sleep paralysis twice, about ten years apart. The first time I had a vague recollection and it was after a long day, so I didn't think much of it at the time besides thinking I shouldn't have pushed myself that hard and it only lasted what seemed like a few seconds before I woke up.

The second was a few years ago. It was the most terrifying feeling I've ever had, greater than any time I've faced mortal danger. I woke fully for what seemed about ten minutes, I couldn't feel anything. I was on my side kind of and tried to reach out to my side table and couldn't, I just stared at my alarm clock and watched but it was at an oblique angle so I only saw the dim red hue of the old LCD display change in intensity slightly. I tried to scream several times but couldn't move anything including my mouth, vocal chords or even my eyeballs. I was completely lucid the entire time. Finally my brain returned motor functions instantly and I "woke". It was strange because there was obviously no pain or trauma just the surreal and visceral memory. My heart rate hadn't even changed because I was witnessing it and "thinking" about it but it wasn't even affecting my adrenaline or body temperature or other physiological signs of stress, I was totally disconnected from my body in every sense. I thought something terrible had occurred so I scoured the internet immediately until I discovered sleep paralysis which was enough to let me get about my day. I mentioned it to my PCP at my next physical weeks later and he said he's not a specialist but it occurs sometimes with certain sleep patterns when your body responds to stimuli but your brain is unable or unwilling to break REM cycle.

Not fun but it's been so rare I just live with the idea it could happen again one day I guess. We'll see how knowledge of it affects be if it ever happens again. I can't be quite sure my conscious mind was active or whether my subconscious mind was primary and my conscious mind was merely witnessing, almost just a sensory recording system on standby.

a_skeleton_03_sl said:

I will tell you this, I love Ambien.

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This is one my absolute least favorite drugs that I have ever been on and I've been on a lot of shit. Do NOT like. Severe short term memory loss for me when I was on it. Granted it sure does make you feel warm and fuzzy but not worth it. I'll never take it again.