Sleep by the hour

Without using my CPAP, I breathe just fine, but wake up every 1 to 1.5 hours. When using my CPAP, I wake up every 2 to 2.5 hours. Should I assume that this is the best it's going to get?

You could assume we'll try to help you if you give us some info, like what machine do you use, what mask, when do you go to bed, do you take meds, do you use software to track progress overnight, do you drink alcohol or coffee before bed, etc. etc. etc. Nothing to go on here...

Why are you ever sleeping without the cpap?
The best way to increase your sleep periods is to get used to the machine.
(Best way is to stick with it)
Make cpap a habit, and you will become more comfortable with it, sleeping longer, and deeper.
The right mask is not always the one they pick for you. Try others.
It took me over 20 to find nirvana.

I have been using the CPAP for about a year, but not seeing much benefit from it. I sleep with my mouth closed so the airflow has no where to go other than when I exhale and comes in only when I inhale. And that I can do just fine without the CPAP. The only benefit is it lets me sleep 2 hours at a time instead of just one, but I would like to sleep all night or wake only maybe once a night. So I am wondering if this is as good as it gets.

Then you need to register and fill in your equipment (text, not iconny)
If you can use the software (free) and post results, some here may have a clue to what is the problem.

Guest wrote:I have been using the CPAP for about a year, but not seeing much benefit from it. I sleep with my mouth closed so the airflow has no where to go other than when I exhale and comes in only when I inhale. And that I can do just fine without the CPAP. The only benefit is it lets me sleep 2 hours at a time instead of just one, but I would like to sleep all night or wake only maybe once a night. So I am wondering if this is as good as it gets.

If that were true, you wouldn't be on CPAP to begin with and you wouldn't sleep longer with it than without it. Maybe your current machine settings are fine until you enter a certain sleep stage, and then you start having more apneas that your current settings can't overcome, which wakes you up. That's just an example of a common problem that you might have. Your therapy can no doubt be improved so you can get more unbroken hours of good sleep, but none of the experienced folks here can help you until you provide them with some information.

Please register and provide your machine, mask, and current pressure settings, so the people here have somewhere to start in helping you optimize your therapy.

Guest wrote:I have been using the CPAP for about a year, but not seeing much benefit from it. I sleep with my mouth closed so the airflow has no where to go other than when I exhale and comes in only when I inhale. And that I can do just fine without the CPAP. The only benefit is it lets me sleep 2 hours at a time instead of just one, but I would like to sleep all night or wake only maybe once a night. So I am wondering if this is as good as it gets.

If you breathe just fine without cpap, why were you prescribed one? Are you sure you understand what a cpap machine does? If set correctly for your needs, it keeps your airway from collapsing. It's hard to inhale when your airway has collapsed.

It sounds like your pressure settings are helping somewhat which is why you can sleep longer, but you are probably hitting REM sleep, which often makes sleep apnea worse, and the pressure isn't enough. If your machine has data, you look at it and post it, and you can get some specific advice to help improve your sleep and feel much better.

Right now, with fractured sleep, you won't feel much better, If with zero apnea events, if you wake up frequently, you won't feel good. So, you need to be able to eliminate the events and sleep longer at the same time.

Guest wrote: So I am wondering if this is as good as it gets.

No, this should not be as good as it gets. It would be doing yourself an injustice to not explore if there's something more that can be done, which is why you're here, right? The logical first step is to determine if your treatment as currently prescribed is optimum for you. It could be some small tweak could be your turning point. Some on here can walk you through how to do this. At the same time you can be looking at if there's any other contributors to your waking like maybe medication side effect. Good luck going forward. You have every reason to be hopeful things can be better, even if not perfect.