Sleep enemies sometimes attack COPD patients on more than one front.  It’s true you might have insomnia due to coughing or your medication.  We discussed tips for this general situation in Part 1 of our first COPD featured November blog. Thus, we humbly suggest you read or review Part I.

This blog will extend COPD and sleep information. Then we will add some more tips for dealing with the natural sleep enemies that come with COPD.

 

A Deep Investigative Dive into the Sleep Enemies that Plague COPD Patients

Sleep Enemies Include Insomnia and Snoring.

COPD Patients Sometimes Endure Sleep Apnea as Well as Insomnia. Hint: Does Your Spouse Complain About Your Thundering Snore?

 

Sleep Enemy Number 1:  The Double Headed Dragon of Insomnia and Apnea

Did you know that many people with COPD also have an undiagnosed condition called Sleep Apnea?To put it briefly, this condition closes off your airway. With sleep apnea, you might stop or almost stop breathing multiple times every night.This vicious circle leaves you restless and sleepy for days at a time. Then, when your energy is depleted, fighting your COPD becomes more a more difficult daytime challenge.

COPD Patients Can Fight the Apnea Enemy

Often your sleeping partner or others who share your home will help to discover your Sleep Apnea.  Have they made any of the below comments? If they have, you know you might have apnea:

  • “Your snore is incredibly loud, like an animal.”
  • “Did you know you gasp for air sometimes, and it wakes me up?”
  • “Are you aware you seem to hold your breath at night like you are going underwater? That’s scary.”
  • “I’m moving into the guest bedroom. You just sleep too loudly for me.”

If your friends or family have made these comments, consider asking your doctor about scheduling a test for this sleep disorder.

Your Doctor might prescribe a sleep study, and a CPAP machine to give you a better night’s sleep.

 

Fighting Two Sleep Enemies At Once:  COPD and Apnea

Sleep enemies multiply when You Have COPD and apnea. The COPD Foundation states, “Sleep apnea… occurs in about 10 to 15 percent of people with COPD…”  There, it causes “oxygen levels in the blood to drop and interrupts the sleep cycle…” “It can also cause other serious problems if left untreated.”

Treat Your Apnea While Treating Your COPD

Your doctors will treat your COPD with a nasal continuous airway pressure device.  You might have heard of this as a CPAP machine. It works as you sleep. It will be calibrated for you and gently force air through your nose. Thus, it keeps your airway open. Learn more about this condition and treatment at this valuable online resource.

COPD Enemy Number Two:  Another Enemy Raises its Ugly Head:  Anxiety

Sleep Enemies: Do Loud Noises (Snoring) Keep You Awake?

Check Our Tips
For Defeating One of the Most Common Afflictions That Comes With COPD: Insomnia.

Certainly, your second enemy as a COPD patient is often Anxiety and its sneaky partner, Depression.  These conditions often happen to patients who are fighting chronic respiratory conditions. Lack of rest “can worsen your COPD and your anxiety,” according to E. Neil Schachter, MD, a pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Now let’s look at a few tips that might help you control it and get some much-needed rest from your anxiety, insomnia despite your COPD.

FLASS Tips to Help You Fight Your Sleep Enemies:

1. Have an Oxygen Therapy Conversation

Talk to your doctor about oxygen therapy. It is a fact that “People with lung diseases lose oxygen in their blood overnight, especially during REM sleep. (When dreaming takes place).”

Therefore, you might find that night-time oxygen therapy helps your body oxygenate the bloodstream. That will improve your sleep.

“If you need it, it’s important that you be prescribed nocturnal oxygen,” Dr. Schachter stated with a caveat. “While some people with COPD need oxygen, for a small percentage it can be dangerous.”

That means it is even more important to have a thorough discussion with your doctor about going this route.

2. A Less Medicinal Answer: Breath Better with Some Gentle Yoga

Anxiety Can Destroy Your Sleep. However, a Good Sleep Schedule and Ritual Can Reduce Worry at Bed Time.

Naturally, yoga is a great form of exercise for people with COPD.  It will reduce your stress. Likewise, gentle exercise can teach you to better control your breathing.  For more information, check out this informative online resource.

A study published in May 2021 in the journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice found that “yoga can reduce the severity of shortness of breath and fatigue and improve sleep in people with chronic respiratory diseases…” Check out more information on COPD and Yoga at this reliable online resource.

3. Find Your Routine Rhythm

You must find a routine for sleeping time if you have COPD.  This can be difficult for patients who have an erratic schedule.  However, if you go to bed and get up at the same time every day of the week, you can train your system to it.  Yes, that also means scheduling proper sleep into your weekends.

This training  customizes your brain and body to “getting the full amount of sleep you need, says the Sleep Foundation.”  This is great ammunition against the Sleep Enemies that come with COPD.

Establish a Sleep Ritual: A Fortress against Sleep Enemies

We Can’t Promise That Our Tips Will Prevent All Sleep Enemies That Accompany COPD. However, They Can Help Develop Good Sleep Habits and Aid Your Fight Against COPD.

 

Firstly, your body with become aware of your pre-bed ritual.  Additionally, plan such activities as washing, dressing, stretching, and reading in the same order, same timing, and same rhythmic manner each night. (Refer to Part One of this themed article to see what we think about the use of electronic screens currently.)

You’ll be surprised at how your body responds to a consistent pre-sleep ritual.   You can feel that the body is reinforcing your mind’s suggestions that it is time to sleep, despite your COPD.

FLASS highly recommends that if you or someone you love has COPD, you do some homework. Begin by reading such articles as the links we have placed in this blog. They help you not only understand your disease but defeat the sleep enemies that come with it.  Breathe, defeat your Sleep Enemies, and have Sweet Dreams!