New CPAP user, getting your sleep back to normal?

[PerspexAvenger]

Evening all.
I've been diagnosed with OSA and put on CPAP treatment which I've now been on for a couple of months, taking my AHI from ~25 down to 0.9 as last measured.

However, my sleeping pattern still appears to be a bit screwed up.
I can only assume it's due to my body/brain having dealt with interrupted sleep for at least the last 4 years, as I generally get 4-5 hours of solid downtime and then anything on top of that is usually the tossing-and-turning half-awake unproductive rubbish sleep, which seems to leave me in exactly the same state as I would have been had I just got up straight away (to the extent I'm now cutting my timewasting and just getting up and getting on with Life if I can tell that that's what's going on).

So, my query is - is this normal experience after starting CPAP treatment? Can I hope that my downtime, if I carry on as it stands, will extend to standard Homo Sapiens norms?
I grant that CPAP has been a help, as my system is no longer under as much stress as it was, but I'm still... suboptimal.

Advice and war stories gratefully received.

[zonk]

Hi PerspexAvenger and welcome

If the machine as in your profile "Machine: Resmed S9 Escape", S9 Escape record no useful data other than hours using the machine each night.. So, there is no way knowing how the therapy is working or if any changes are needed other than how you feel. Talk to the NHS clinic /hospital doctor if possible to swap the machine to data capable machine such as S9 Elite or S9 AutoSet (Not Escape Auto) which can be used either as straight CPAP or Auto mode where the machine adjust the pressure between lower and upper pressure settings in response to events, sleeping position, etc ... If they refused, you can buy yourself the best Xmas present from Supplier #2
They sell gently used and new machines at reasonable prices and ship overseas

[kacn6771]

How many hours did you sleep before CPAP? I found that after starting CPAP I sleep less hours than before because I am getting better quality sleep. I used to be a snooze artist, I could hit the snooze a dozen times before waking up. Since on CPAP, I go to bed around 10, and find myself waking up at 4:00 am well hours before the alarm clock well rested.

I also started taking Vitamin D at the same time I started CPAP, I was extremely low. Vitamin D can help regulate your circadian rhythm, so I cant say that one helped without the other but with the combination, either way feeling more fully rested is like a gift.

[Slim1950]

Evening all.
I've been diagnosed with OSA and put on CPAP treatment which I've now been on for a couple of months, taking my AHI from ~25 down to 0.9 as last measured.

However, my sleeping pattern still appears to be a bit screwed up.
I can only assume it's due to my body/brain having dealt with interrupted sleep for at least the last 4 years, as I generally get 4-5 hours of solid downtime and then anything on top of that is usually the tossing-and-turning half-awake unproductive rubbish sleep, which seems to leave me in exactly the same state as I would have been had I just got up straight away (to the extent I'm now cutting my timewasting and just getting up and getting on with Life if I can tell that that's what's going on).

So, my query is - is this normal experience after starting CPAP treatment? Can I hope that my downtime, if I carry on as it stands, will extend to standard Homo Sapiens norms?
I grant that CPAP has been a help, as my system is no longer under as much stress as it was, but I'm still... suboptimal.

Advice and war stories gratefully received.

That was and still is partially my experience. I am now getting 6-7 hours of sleep, with only 1-2 interruptions at night. But it used to be pretty bad.

The sleep specialist who actually got me on the right machine and habits walked me through a kind of "sleep hygiene" check list. I would wake up at night and because I would have a hard time getting back to sleep, would get up and read for an hour or so before going back to bed. I called it segmented sleep. I would still get up and 5:30 (too early for my liking), then have breakfast, and then I would be able to get back to sleep for an hour or two.

He told me to not go back to bed after getting up at 5:30. He also suggested that I get out of the habit of napping during the day, if possible.

Those two things have helped me a great deal. I wake up less at night now.
But I still grab a sleep after lunch. I now on average wake up only once at night, and usually sleep throgh till about 6 AM. That's my story.

[Russatrice]

I definitely sleep less solidly than what I did before treatment, yet I'm rested during the day and not at risk of falling asleep while driving... It's six months on CPAP for me and sleep has improved but I still have times of tossing and turning. I do better if I don't get P*ssed off about it and just think about something pleasant while lying there. My guess is that you need more time to get a new sleep rhythm that works for you, in the meantime I'd look into the Sleep Hygiene" that Slim mentioned above. You might have to make some changes to old habits. I had to learn that I now can't drink coffee after supper time. I used to brag that coffee doesn't affect me at all but that was because I was so quality sleep deprived (despite of sleeping like a brick for eight hours) that I could literally drink it before lying down. Hang in there, it'll be worth it.

[mcsheltie]

Right there with you!

Take a look at my recent post http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...meone-help

Robysue's replies are very helpful. She took a lot of time and went into great detail on using CBT-I and sleep restriction to help with this issue. Hope this helps you too!

[PerspexAvenger]

How many hours did you sleep before CPAP? I found that after starting CPAP I sleep less hours than before because I am getting better quality sleep. I used to be a snooze artist, I could hit the snooze a dozen times before waking up. Since on CPAP, I go to bed around 10, and find myself waking up at 4:00 am well hours before the alarm clock well rested.

I also started taking Vitamin D at the same time I started CPAP, I was extremely low. Vitamin D can help regulate your circadian rhythm, so I cant say that one helped without the other but with the combination, either way feeling more fully rested is like a gift.

Varied depending on work, but I did 10 years of on-call and 6 years of... odd... shift-patterns so I think I broke my body-clock...
Anything between 6 and 10, depending on outside commitments when I was working. All crap tossing-and-turning quality though. I've forgotten what "well-rested" actually feels like.

I used to (ironically) have problems with insomnia leading to hours before dropoff, but I'm not working at the moment and have melatonin to hand so either I'll spark out naturally in 45 minutes or so or take the supplement and be gone in 15, both leading to a similar sort of sleep "blob" of 4 or 5 hours.

That was and still is partially my experience. I am now getting 6-7 hours of sleep, with only 1-2 interruptions at night. But it used to be pretty bad.

The sleep specialist who actually got me on the right machine and habits walked me through a kind of "sleep hygiene" check list. I would wake up at night and because I would have a hard time getting back to sleep, would get up and read for an hour or so before going back to bed. I called it segmented sleep. I would still get up and 5:30 (too early for my liking), then have breakfast, and then I would be able to get back to sleep for an hour or two.

He told me to not go back to bed after getting up at 5:30. He also suggested that I get out of the habit of napping during the day, if possible.

Those two things have helped me a great deal. I wake up less at night now.
But I still grab a sleep after lunch. I now on average wake up only once at night, and usually sleep throgh till about 6 AM. That's my story.

Yeah, I'm trying to be a Good Human and if I don't drop back after 20 mins or so, call it and get on with the day.
I'm trying to limit my napping to disco-naps before I go for a night out. Even with those I tend to wake up at most once during my 5 hour sleep blob, instead of 10 hours of waking up to go bogtrotting every 90 minutes...

I definitely sleep less solidly than what I did before treatment, yet I'm rested during the day and not at risk of falling asleep while driving... It's six months on CPAP for me and sleep has improved but I still have times of tossing and turning. I do better if I don't get P*ssed off about it and just think about something pleasant while lying there. My guess is that you need more time to get a new sleep rhythm that works for you, in the meantime I'd look into the Sleep Hygiene" that Slim mentioned above. You might have to make some changes to old habits. I had to learn that I now can't drink coffee after supper time. I used to brag that coffee doesn't affect me at all but that was because I was so quality sleep deprived (despite of sleeping like a brick for eight hours) that I could literally drink it before lying down. Hang in there, it'll be worth it.

Thanks.
Yeah, I was trying to at least attempt to be sensible about it - I worked in IT and so was mostly caffeine-powered, but my engineering brain is aware how long it'll take roughly to kick the caffeine out of my system and so I try to put it down in the evenings.

[giftofsleep]

I was diagnosed with OSA in August 2016 and began CPAP treatment in September. I was desperating hoping to be one of those people that put on my mask and immediately starting sleeping 7-8 hours a night. Didn't happen.
Finally, after 3+ months, I have started to have some nights with 7 or more hours of sleep. I slowly built up sleep hours from 2 hours in the beginning to averaging 6-7 hours now.
My sleep had been disrupted for more than 4 years, worsening as time went on. My body's ability to function was very compromised by the apnea. Testing showed AHI of 29 with very little REM sleep.
Be patient. Track how many hours you sleep each night. Hopefully, you will see a steady average increase. Although I am sleeping much better now, I am still tired but definitely am improving in my ability to do activities of daily living.
CPAP treatment is giving me back my life!

[trish6hundred]

Hi PerspexAvenger,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck to you with your CPAP therapy.

[msteiner38]

Keep using it!!! Its called therapy for a reason... it takes time. I don't think how long you sleep is as important as the quality of sleep you are getting. I'm not a doctor but if the quality of sleep gets better the length of time you sleep will increase on its own. Try not to concentrate on the length of sleep but the quality of sleep and the benefits you realize during the day.