wake up every 2 hrs at night

[caroljean1955]

I'm not sure if this is related to Sleep Apnea, but here goes.

I rarely have trouble falling asleep, sometimes I swear I am asleep BEFORE my head hits the pillow.   But not matter what time I go to bed, I wake up every 2 hours.  Sometimes I fall back asleep easily, sometimes not.

I love to be up early in the morning (6 or so) so sometimes I set my alarm to make me get up.  Sometimes I am up before the alarm.   Not sure how much sleep I need, but I seem tired no matter how many hours.  

I am fairly healthy, 54, but my husband says I do snore a bit....

Another thing, he likes to stay up late, so sometimes I am going to bed later than I would like, but that doesn't seem to affect the 2 hour thing.  

Some days I am more tired than others, but I never really seem rested.

HELP

[Steven Y Park, MD]

It's difficult to say if you have sleep apnea or if you have an insomnia problem. It's interesting that you say you wake up every two hours. That's about one sleep cycle. Typically, you're more likely to wake up during the deep sleep stage of sleep, which occurs every one sleep cycle.

I would consider addressing any sleep hygiene issues first (take a look at Dr. Jacob's CBT forinsomnia.com program) first and then see a sleep physician to rule out obstructive sleep apnea if you're still having problems.