Over what period of time does it take the body to fully...

[California1849]

Hello,

I've recently started CPAP therapy, and have noticed improvement in my sleep.

Curious though, over what period of time does it take the body to fully adapt to healthy sleeping? A month? 3 months? a year?

If the body has spent years adapting to poor sleep conditions, it seems like it might take quite some time to fully recover physically and psychologically. (if it's even possible to FULLY recover)

What is your experience?

[ChicagoGranny]

It varies by individual. You will get answers all over the map that will only confuse.

How well are you sleeping? Do you feel energetic next day? Have you optimized your therapy using Sleepyhead?

[BlackSpinner]

Sleep wise it took me one night to start sleeping.
Health wise it took about 3-4 months before I was as recovered as I could get (not falling a asleep watching tv, better memory, change in attitudes, much more energy)

[araris]

It took me well over a year. With that said, I had to adjust my machine to fit my own needs. Can't use auto adjusting, can't use humidifier, can't use any setting that lowers pressure and then brings it up. I have to have straight cpap.

[Julie]

But of course remember that you won't ever be 'cured' as such unless you're one of the very few who e.g. loses a lot of weight (not 30 lbs), or experiences some other rare change allowing them to get off Cpap. And of course we're all getting older, so expecting, e.g. to feel as we did 20 yrs ago may not be realistic.

[Pesser]

Sleep wise it took me one night to start sleeping.
Health wise it took about 3-4 months before I was as recovered as I could get (not falling a asleep watching tv, better memory, change in attitudes, much more energy)

Just curious............Do you need naps?

[BlackSpinner]

Sleep wise it took me one night to start sleeping.
Health wise it took about 3-4 months before I was as recovered as I could get (not falling a asleep watching tv, better memory, change in attitudes, much more energy)

Just curious............Do you need naps?

Never. And never took them either by choice. I always feel horrible if I do nap. Like I can't wake up fully.

Plus right now everything for me is kind of screwed up. I am having issues with my asthma and the arthritis in my hips is challenging my sleep. Plus I have the dredges of all the caregiving screwing up my head, now normally I would go for long walks but I can't breathe on a lot of the days. I am waiting to go to the respiratory clinic next month.

[Pesser]

Sleep wise it took me one night to start sleeping.
Health wise it took about 3-4 months before I was as recovered as I could get (not falling a asleep watching tv, better memory, change in attitudes, much more energy)

Just curious............Do you need naps?

Never. And never took them either by choice. I always feel horrible if I do nap. Like I can't wake up fully.

Plus right now everything for me is kind of screwed up. I am having issues with my asthma and the arthritis in my hips is challenging my sleep. Plus I have the dredges of all the caregiving screwing up my head, now normally I would go for long walks but I can't breathe on a lot of the days. I am waiting to go to the respiratory clinic next month.

I have friends with exactly the problems you describe. You are a caregiver? I was for 26 years. This hard stuff! God bless you!

[chunkyfrog]

Naps just make me feel like feces, unless I take one on the bed, hooked up. (Nap! Not crap)
About how long it took, some things right away, others sneaked up on me--over several months.
It was gradual, but I now feel so much better than I ever expected.

[palerider]

Naps just make me feel like feces,

warm and squisy, or hard and crusty?

[Mudrock63]

Four months in, progressively feeling better. A large chunk of that time was adjusting settings to optimize treatment. Finally, over the last two weeks I have hit on settings that give me an AHI reliably below 2.0. Not nearly as fatigued as I used to be. Still do naps occasionally, strapped into the machine of course.

I was diagnosed as severe, back in October. Pretty sure I have had the condition for decades, and for 27 years worked shift work around the clock. Felt lousy, unmotivated, and probably more than a little depressed. Those feelings are going away, and I feel great about finally getting some stuff done that I was too fatigued to do for the last couple of years.

So, some immediate relief. But I believe after your body has been tortured for years, it takes some time to fully recover. I certainly don't want to go back to how I was feeling five months ago. They will have to pry my machine out of my cold, dead hands.

[bwexler]

Clearly it is an individual thing.
How long did it take to get where you are? How many different problems does your body have? How many of the things you did to get where you are, are you still doing? Diet , exercise, alcohol, drugs, poor sleep hygiene, awkward schedule?

If your only fix is CPAP, it may never fix all of your problems.