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Narcolepsy, Sleep Apnea and Anxiety

I was diagnosed with sleep aprea about 2 years ago and have been on cpap since.  I've been reading about narcolepsy, and although my sleep study did not indicate anything about it, I find one of its symptoms prevalent in my experience.  Often, I seem to dream right when I fall asleep - not after the 90 minutes it's supposed to take to reach REM.  I know this is true because sometimes I'll wake up only about a half hour after falling asleep, having already dreamt.  Does anything other than narcolepsy cause this?  I have a slight anxiety disorder - can this cause this abnormal sleep architecture?
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Avatar universal
Hi,

I have used a BIPAP machine for a few years. Yet I still do not get into a deep sleep and do not get the feeling of, wow I slept so great last night. The weird thing is, during the night I feel myself awake talking to myself in my mind yet still sort of sleeping. So I am not fully sleeping. Any thoughts?
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The formal way of diagnosing narcolepsy is to undergo a multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) which is a daytime study after an overnight sleep study. If you're REM sleep deprived in general, you'll have what's called REM rebound, where you go into REM much quicker than normal. You may want to mention your symptoms the next time you meet with your sleep doctor.
Helpful - 1

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