CPAPtalk.com

Like the subject said, are 6 hours of sleep enough for me? I've been on the hose for a couple of months now. For years I've only slept 6-7 hours, but I was hoping that CPAP would let me get back up around 8. When my numbers are good I don't feel tired during the day. It only starts to hit me around 9:30-10:00, which is when I usually go to bed. So...does everyone need 8 or so, or can some function okay in the 6 hours range?

Before xpap I slept 8-10 hrs every night, waking every 2 hrs or so. Since xpap I sleep 6-6 1/2 hrs, but sleep straight thru the night. My husband swears that the machine puts me into a coma. I do occasionally (3-4 times a year) sleep 8-10 hrs. Usually when I haven't been feeling well. I must need extra sleep then to help fight off whatever bug is going around.

Brenda

Since you don't feel sleepy during the day, maybe you are one of those people who doesn't need as much sleep. Some things to ask yourself... Are those 6 hours quality sleep? Do you feel rested and not like your sleep has been interrupted? Do you wake up to an alarm clock or other outside stimulus or naturally? Do you sometimes sleep longer and feel as if you're catching up? Do you wake due to physical causes, such as the need to urinate, pain, other sleep issues like limb movements?

I dont know how long it took you to get adjusted to cpap, but at 2 months in, your brain and body may have just not yet broken the habit of waking up after 6 hours. I guess if you have done everything possible to provide the opportunity for longer sleep and you don't think anything is "wrong" but it still doesn't happen, it's likely just your body clock. But I'm not a sleep expert - got extensive experience in lack of sleep though.
Kathy

"Are those 6 hours quality sleep?" Good question! My AHI's over the past few weeks have generally been <3.0 with leaks mostly under control. I have a Swift LT coming in the mail, so hopefully that will help.

"Do you feel rested and not like your sleep has been interrupted?" I do feel rested most mornings, but I also know that my sleep is interrupted (1-3 times/night that I remember).

"Do you wake up to an alarm clock or other outside stimulus or naturally?" I have an alarm during the week, but generally I wake naturally before it goes off.

"Do you sometimes sleep longer and feel as if you're catching up?" No, wish I could.

"Do you wake due to physical causes, such as..." Not as far as I know.

Since starting cpap, after I got over the first few weeks of being dead to the world for 8 + hours (sleep debt), I have been averaging 6-7 hours. It is Sunday I woke up at 6:30 got up at 7 am I feel fine. Usually I get up at 6 am on week days. If I try to sleep in then I can't get to sleep at nite.

Before CPAP, I thought I needed 7-8 hours but now 6 good hours is generally enough. I generally don't need naps anymore and have good energy. I think as long as you feel rested and have good energy levels you are fine -- that's what my sleep doc tells me anyway. Good luck

According to Mayo Clinic's Kenneth G. Berge, M.D. on Dec. 5, 2008:

"Researchers have found that adults who get much more or less than seven hours of sleep a night have a higher mortality rate than do adults who sleep about seven hours a night. . . . It's probably best to aim for about seven to eight hours of quality sleep a night."
--http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/how-ma ... gh/AN01487

I'm new to treatment, so really can't elaborate on the subject, but I think people's sleep patterns are developed from personality & lifestyle. As for me, I've alway's alway's functioned really well sleeping 4-6 hours, prior to apnea. Once I developed apnea, I couldn't stay awake and slept all the time, hardly exerting any energy, I would sleep 10-12 sometimes 16 hours straight, waking up feeling like a zombie. 3rd day into treatment, I'm averaging 7 hours per night, and feeling lots better.

Quality sleep is the key to a good nights rest.

I'm for 3 months on CPAP.
Sleeping an average of 5~6hours straight.
I fell better than I sleep interrupted 8 hours.

It is very individual, how much sleep is enough. Some need 9, some need 6, it is your body that decides what is enough. Trust your body. If you wake up before your alarm and don't get sleepy until bedtime, I'd say you're doing something right.

PS Whodat?

In my many working years I seldom got a decent night's sleep, going in early coming home late, off work making up time with family. All that and untreated sleep apnea made me old too soon. My latest sleep study (after 3 years of treatment) shows I have a 75% sleep efficiency. I tell my wife that means I need my 10 hrs. a night to get 8 hrs sleep. When I don't get my sleep out, I take a nap.