Yes, I have been experiencing this for quite some time. It seems to happen at the end of my first deep sleep cycle of the night (an hour or two into sleeping) I often jolt awake. This does not happen in the same way later in the night/morning.

Ive had my Zeo for a week, and am now seeing this in the graph (attached below). It's been the same exact position of the graph every night. It's an orange waking spike at the end of my first and longest deep sleep period.

Why does the 'jolt' happen at the end of the longest deep sleep period, and not earlier ones or later in the night/morning????!!

Possibility 1- Mild sleep apnea? When O2 levels reach their lowest during the longest deep sleep segment, the 'jolt' is arousal designed to break out of sleep to begin breathing again. What I dont understand is why I rarely feel 'out of breath' once awake.

Possibility 2- Strong sleep apnea? Maybe the arousal is happening much more frequently during the earlier deep sleep segments as well. We wouldnt see this charted on Zeo if the arousal/wakings are less than 2minutes in duration. Maybe the 2min+ waking only happens on the longer deep sleep segment because of other factors (namely, need to urinate- often I will go to bathroom after the waking that Zeo is displaying)

Possibility 3- Other cause. Ive read about noctural panic attacks but rarely feel anxiety or panic during real life. Also, why the precise timing if this is the case???

lazyhead said:

Hello all, I'm wondering if anyone else notices spikes of wakefulness that interrupt deep sleep.  It happens to about 80% of my deep phases and is most common early in the evening.  I have no recollection of these "wakings" and the spike is usually followed by light sleep and then back to deep.   I definitely feel better on mornings when I don't have this happen (pretty rare).  What's odd is that I don't get random wakings during light and REM- unless I am actually woken up by a kid or the cat or my snoring partner- which I always remember.  Any thoughts? thanks!

Hi lazyhead (& brillo31) First off, it's normal to wake up at the end of a particular sleep cycle.  Unless you feel tired, unrested, and sluggish during the course of the day--and notice that you rarely get much restorative sleep--such small awakenings are usually not related bigger issues like sleep apnea.  Of course, if you think you could be at risk for sleep apnea it's best to talk to your physician.    That said, it's certainly possible that external factors--like a snoring partner or disruptive pet--are responsible for the awakenings during Deep Sleep.  If factors like bed partners, pets, or family members wake you up during other phases of sleep, it's certainly possible that they're behind these awakenings as well.  Why not try using earplugs to block out external noises or training your pet to sleep someplace other than the bed?  You might find that your average number of awakenings decrease as a result--and your feel better during the day. In regards to the memory part, most people don't remember all the times that they wake up during the night--and awakenings from Deep sleep tend to be forgetton more than awakenings from other states due to sleep inertia.  This is also a normal partof the whole sleep process, so I wouldn't worry about a few wake-induced memory lapses.  :) For more info, check out the following:

• Sleep Architecture
• Sleep:  Forgetting to Remember to Forget
• How Normal is It to Awaken During the Night
• Expert Answers
• Zeo & Watermark Medical Sleep Apnea Screening Questionnaire

  Sleep well!