Ellie,
I had a sleep study about 6 years ago. I found it very interesting.
There are five levels of the sleep stage. 1,2,3,4 and REM.
I have sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome and periodic leg movement.
Without my medication, I would be standing all night.
As we progress in our sleep stage, even though we do not actually wake up, if there is a noise or anything disruptive, we will go right back to stage one.
This can happen all night long and we may never complete all the stages.
One could get to only stage 2 and then start all over again, or even skip a stage.
I only had about 30 minutes of REM in the eight hour study. I jumped around from stage 1-3 and back to 1 again. Never achieved 4 all night.
Do you sleep with a radio or TV on? The change in tone will upset the sleep stages more than we know. The study taught me these things. I used to sleep with the radio or TV on every night.
I set the timer on my TV now and I can't believe how much better I sleep.
Commercials are always louder than shows, and that alone will disrupt your sleep pattern
Just thought I would let you know what I have learned from my sleep study.
I have told many people who have sleep problems about the radio and TV.
Several have tried not having them on or having a timer and have had positive results.
I like to fall asleep with the set on, but I only set it for one hour and I don't hear it turn off because I am sound asleep.
Hope this helps a bit.
Sweet dreams,
Judy