Resmed bilevel working well (low AHI) but still needing many hours of sleep

[AlgebraicMisery]

I've been on my ResMed VAUTO for around two months now. It seems to be going well, I've got a low AHI, always under 5, majority clear airway events. I no longer feel fatigued during the day, now it only takes about 1.5 hours to fall asleep whereas previously it took anywhere from 3 to 6 hours. (I'm working on shifting my sleep schedule, hasn't been easy unfortunately). My ADHD also seems to have improved slightly, although concentration and focus are still large issues. One of my issues is that I still feel very tired when waking and still sleep 9 to 11 hours, a lot more than the average for adults.

I understand that everyone is different but was wondering if, with more time, the number of hours I would need might decrease? Can I reasonably expect more quality of life improvements, or is what I'm getting now basically what I should get used to?

[SarcasticDave94]

I'm thinking of a few factors that throws variables into the mix: how bad apnea were on study, about how many untreated years you've got, how therapy is going now, consistent use, factor other health issues if applicable

Number of hours? depends on your needs.

[sheepless]

I wish I could sleep 9-11 hours!

I could tell you about my experience with fragmented sleep, struggling to get more than an hour or two at a time, finally achieving 7-9 broken hours in less than an 18 hour period, now after 4 years of cpap, settling in around 5-7 hours a night and told that's normal for folks over 60 but not feeling it's enough.

or I can tell you that feeling tired after sleeping too long is a thing, apparently. there are apps that wake you according to sleep stage or some such, apparently designed
to promote waking from a time/stage from which you will feel most rested.

this might sound facetious but I'm serious: have you tried setting an alarm for 8 hours for a month or so to see how you fare?

on a related note, are you practicing good sleep hygiene?

[Cpapian]

I am not sure. I sleep more than average, can easily do 12 hours. I just assume it is what it is. I have been on APAP for 3 years now. For you, two months is a fairly short period for significant changes.

[holden4th]

My bilevel also allowed me to sleep over 9+ hours on occasion. Some days I felt very good after a sleep like that and others I didn't. What I've found is that 7-8 hours works very well for me and the bilevel comfort is a major factor. Now if you can get your average numbers somewhere between 0 and 2.5 then you are probably going to get good quality sleep. Ask the aficionados here what tweaks you can make to your machine.

The obvious way to see how you are doing is to have a night where you don't wear your mask. You'll wake up and feel like absolute crap and realise that your therapy is working. This approach is definitely not recommended and I found out the hard way when I fell asleep reading before putting on my mask.

[AlgebraicMisery]

Thanks for the responses. Its probably been at least 15 years untreated. Therapy is going well, I use it every night. Sleep hygiene is also good I think. I've tried waking up using my ADHD pills but they didn't really reduce sleep time afterwards when not using. I'll definitely keep using though, its still a lot better than previously when I wasnt using.

[SarcasticDave94]

Assuming the PAP therapy is comfortable and doing its job, maybe the long sleep sessions are an attempt to reclaim the lost sleep in your past.