CPAP and needing less sleep?

[sleepyinmississippi]

Hi all.
Since I've started using CPAP, I seem to need less sleep (about 6 hours worth.)
My DME scolded me for not getting more sleep (it was an unpleasant visit). But I'm not tired during the day.
I'm 45-years-old--is it normal for me to get "only" 6 hours sleep?
I go to midnight and wake up at 6 a.m. My DME says I should goto bed earlier but I don't feel tired before midnight. He told me all about how not complying with CPAP can lead to "death" but I feel fine.
Am I in some kind of serious denial? Or a problem patient? Please advise and don't hold back.

[cosmo]

Was this a DME or doctor visit?

Before cpap I could easily stay asleep for 11-12 hours. Now, its 8-9.

[dlanbro]

Sounds like a harsh doctor to me. I seriously don't believe in taking crap from people with alphabet soups behind their name. I just heard the other day that yes it's true that most doctors recommend 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night but I wouldn't worry about getting "only 6" hours of sleep. Your doctor would probably flip with my schedule. Depending on my work I get anywhere from 4 to 9 hours, there's no set schedule. Since getting on a CPAP though (only about 5 weeks) I'm feeling way better. Don't let him bully you.

[big_dave]

I sleep about 6.5 hours per night, about an hour less than before I started CPAP. That's enough, since I'm no longer having trouble with daytime sleepiness. If I sleep any more than that, I have a hard time getting to sleep the next night and I don't sleep as well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I would suggest either ignoring the DME's tongue-lashing or telling him to shut up.

[sleepyinmississippi]

Cosmo,
The physician who runs the Sleep Institute said this to me.
I was shocked at the time (this was about 2 weeks ago) and I'm still shocked--but it's good to read your comments and everyone elses' (thanks to all who posted.)
I thought perhaps I was oversensitive. But now I'm thinking twice about that.

[morrigan]

Sleepy, when I first started apap two and a half years ago, I went from sleeping 10-11 hours a day down to six hours. That was about 30 extra hours I added to my week!

As time went on, I trained myself to sleep longer and I am at about 7.5 hours on average. I say average because going through peri-menopausal insomnia is the worst

I am not sure why the doctor was reprimanding you as you are definitely over the four hour a night minimum and you said you feel good during the day. Keep up the good progress!

[kteague]

I wouldn't be too hard on the doc. It's been a hot topic in recent months about the consequences of both short and too-long sleep. And saying not complying with CPAP puts you at risk - well, that's true. But you were in compliance as long as those 6 hours were on the machine. They were doing their duty in telling you what's at stake. However, it seems they should have tried to determine if it is a problem FOR YOU, and if so, suggested how to address it. Any time there are generalities it won't apply to some. The question is do you have sleep maintenance insomnia, is something disrupting your sleep (like events), or are you one of those exceptions who really only needs 6 hours of sleep? Do you wake up to an alarm clock at 6am or do you naturally awaken? If it is by alarm, and you're asleep when the alarm goes off in the morning, maybe 6 hours isn't optimal for you. Sounds like the doc should have spent more time listening than chiding to see what advice you actually needed.

[Denial Dave]

I need much less sleep than I used to.

Before CPAP, my sleep consisted of 7-8 hours a night, plus an hour or so of naps on weeknights... Much more time was spent taking naps on weekends.

I go to bed around 10PM every night and can't sleep past 5:30 AM - even on weekends.

Sleepyhead shows that my average nightly sleep is 7 hours over the past 6 months since being on CPAP. I very rarely need a nap anymore.

Dave

[NotLazyJustTired]

Count yourself lucky. I guess I am still sleep deprived and need around 9 hours to even begin feeling well. I hope to be able to cut that back in time. Everybody is different. For my part, it sounds to me like you have responded well to treatment and you are getting very good quality sleep. It is not really about quantity, but quality.

I get this, mostly from my wife. She has diabetes and is doing great with it. Takes her meds, eats right, exercises like a crazy woman (something like 9 hours a week and about 3 or 4 yoga, pilates, core, or whatever courses too). Yet every time she visits the doc she is barraged with all this "advice" on what she needs to do. But she is doing it all, and very well, and she is a borderline case anyway. She gets very upset about this. It is almost like docs are just reading a script. You have X so you need to do Y. I wish they paid a little more attention to ME and what is going on with ME and not just read the script. I remind her often that she is not the "typical" case and that most people with health issues do NOT do what is needed, so the medical professionals err on the side of too much. Perhaps this is the case with you. If you are feeling well, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just don't get complacent and stop treatment. It is working for you, keep it up!

[jtmarten]

I sleep 6-6.5hrs per night. You only need to avg 4hrs/night to be compliant. Sounds like they're more concerned you'll become non-compliant, dropped from ins coverage, then their cash cow dries up. (Ya, I know, I'm not cynical at all! )

[Kenwood]

Both my family doctor and my sleep study doctor said the same thing to me when they looked at my first couple weeks results from my CPAP CD card. They thought I wasn't sleeping with my mask on much as it was only showing 5 hours per night. I told em I've always gone to bed after midnight and get up at 5:20am when my alarm goes off in the morning. I catch up on my sleep during the weekend - which can be 8-10 hours. I'm just a night person with a very early morning job that starts at 6:30am cause most of my work is on the east coast (on west coast)

[caffeinatedcfo]

I always wake up naturally (no alarm) between 5:30 - 7:00am regardless of when I go to bed. If I got a solid 6-7 I'm good. If not I used to feel it mostly in the afternoon. CPAP has reduced the tiredness in the afternoon and early evening even though I'm not getting a solid 6-7 due to short (2-4) conscious awakenings.

[Wulfman...]

Hi all.
Since I've started using CPAP, I seem to need less sleep (about 6 hours worth.)
My DME scolded me for not getting more sleep (it was an unpleasant visit). But I'm not tired during the day.
I'm 45-years-old--is it normal for me to get "only" 6 hours sleep?
I go to midnight and wake up at 6 a m. My DME says I should goto bed earlier but I don't feel tired before midnight. He told me all about how not complying with CPAP can lead to "death" but I feel fine.
Am I in some kind of serious denial? Or a problem patient? Please advise and don't hold back.

Your situation sounds fairly typical.
When we start out we're getting more oxygen while we sleep and can manage on somewhat less.
As time goes by, we really get to liking it and gradually increase our sleep time.
Part of it also depends on a person's working (or not working if they're retired) schedule and how much they desire to adjust their sleeping schedule to get more sleep.
From my own statistics, I averaged about 6 1/2 hours my first year. In the second, it was a little over 7 hours. Then, it bounced around between 7 and 7 1/2 for a few more years. After I retired four years ago, it started increasing to 8 and more.

Den

.

[chunkyfrog]

I am "OK" with 6 hours of sleep; but 7 adds a boost to my energy all day.
It's hard going to bed early--so many things to do.

[MagsterMile]

I wish I was so lucky as you to be getting 6 hrs sleep. I'm stuck in the 4 hrs range but working on getting more. It's a heck of struggle and perhaps something else is going on with me that I don't have a name for yet.