Good AHI but up for hours not sleeping while using CPAP so is this accurate need help

[RLMMG]

I want to sleep as I am sure everyone wants as well and I fall asleep usually pretty fast however once I wake to go on a bathroom break I come back to bed and restart my cpap and yet many hours go by and I can not fall asleep. Is there any health benefit to using a cpap when your not sleeping? I want to fall back asleep just can't and this happens a lot. Any recommendations I attached my chart which I am extremely happy with the numbers but not the tiredness and not sleeping. So I wonder if the numbers are real since I am awake for hours.

Thank You

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[Dog Slobber]

For typical Apnea suffers, no there is no benefit to wearing CPAP while awake. Though there are some with breathing disorders that are not limited to sleep.

CPAP does not cure apnea, it allows you to breathe properly while sleeping, preventing further harm to your body. Does this mean you should not use your CPAP while laying there trying to fall asleep? No, all that will do is contribute to you rejecting CPAP, and you'll fall asleep without it. Every time you have trouble sleeping you'll take it off.

For many good sleep maintenance is also part of the process of tolerating sleep apnea.

Are your numbers real?

The machine does not take into consideration time you were awake vs time your were asleep because it doesn't know you are awake. The AHI calculation is simple Events divided by usage time.

Do they actually represent your true AHI? No. While awake, you're likely not prone to loss of muscle tone that contributes to airway collapse.

If the machine flagged 4 events, over an 8 hour period, then it would calculate an AHI of 0.5. But, if during that 8 hour period you were awake for 4 hours, your AHI really was 1.

Keep, persevering you are still new to this.

Just want to add, many are encouraged to keep a single topic for their therapy questions. This way responders can scroll through the single topic to see other possibly related issues.

[harrywr2]

Prior to CPAP I slept 10 hours per day and was falling asleep at lunchtime.
SInce CPAP I sleep a maximum of 7:15 minutes per day and I don't feel sleepy until after dinner.
In the beginning I slept 3 hours, then 2 hours then 2 hours of tossing and turning.
Now after almost 3 months I sleep 7 hours straight about half my nights, some nights 5 hours then 2 hours and occasionally a 3-2-2.
I attribute this to having been used to waking up when my sleep battery was only 50% charged for most of my life. In the beginning of CPAP I woke up when my sleep battery was 50% charged.
(for me 3 hours of good sleep gives me about the same energy as 10 hours of bad sleep)
It's taken time to train my body to stay asleep when I am only 50% or 75% charged. 7 hours of good sleep is very nice for me but also a very different experience.

[Pugsy]

Sleep maintenance insomnia
Sleep onset insomnia
google both and start reading as the list of potential causes is massive.
That's what you have...you go to sleep just fine and then wake up too early and then can't go back to sleep for prolonged periods which makes it sleep onset insomnia

Until you can get enough sleep and the needed amount in each sleep stage....you are going to be tired during the day.
5 hours of sleep followed by fighting with the insomnia the rest of the time and in and out of maybe light sleep...you are going to feel like crap during the day. The best AHI in the world doesn't mean much if we simply don't get enough sleep.

Now figuring out what might be causing the poor sleep quality...isn't always easy and fixing it if you figure it out is rarely easy.

I would start with the most common culprits...medication side effects and the other health issues.
Do you take any medication of any kind? If so, what? Does the medication(s) have any side effects that might mess with sleep or cause daytime fatigue?
Any other health issues going on?
And then work my way through the list of known potential causes for insomnia of any kind.
Bed comfort.
Pain.
Alcohol usage...it messes with sleep quality big time.
Outside factors....pets, noisy neighbors, etc
The list is massive.

[Miss Emerita]

You say you wake up so you can go to the bathroom. Are you restricting fluids for at least several hours before bedtime? Are you avoiding food or drink with diuretic effects after mid-afternoon (e.g., coffee, alcohol, asparagus)? If not, trying those practices might be of some help to you.