Headache after nap. Why now?

[jasminechichi]

I get a severe headache when I take a nap. Before cpap I never did get a HA when I napped. I never felt refreshed, but I did not hurt when I woke up.

I have been on my cpap for about 2 months now, and now when I do nap and wake up my head is busting. Why now? When I nap, I sleep in a recliner with my head elevated. I am told I snore, but they do not notice I am having episodes of apnea when I am napping. So any ideas of what is going on?

I jokingly said that cpap is like glasses. When you start wearing glasses, you will find your sight gets worse and you become more dependent on the glasses.

Does anybody have my same experience? Any reason why?

[GumbyCT]

You have NOT indicated that you are in fact wearing the cpap during your naps. You should be if you are not.

My guess, is you are having O2 desats for some reason. Time for an O2 tester.

[6PtStar]

Yes, I had them. Don't remember pre cpap, that was 3 years ago and my brain did not work very well then. That is why my back-up machine sits on an old printer table next to my recliner rather than being stored in the closet. When TV gets dull I slip it on and take a nap. Also another good reason to have a back-up.

Jerry

[jasminechichi]

Sorry, no I did not have my cpap on. I really fell asleep and did not put it on.

[mars]

Hi Jasminechichi

The following thread might interest you -

viewtopic/t44264/For-Those-Who-Like-To-Nap.htm

It has worked for me, it may well work for you.

cheers

Mars

[hummer3d]

I noticed when i take a nap without my cpap, my face feels funny when i wake up. it has a numb feeling where my swift lt would contact on my face if i had been wearing it. Strange thing kinda a fantom pain sorta thing i guess my body says to me you need to wear your cpap for naps lol. But i also will have a head ache when i wake up from nap with no cpap.

[john_dozer]

I get a severe headache when I take a nap. Before cpap I never did get a HA when I napped. I never felt refreshed, but I did not hurt when I woke up.

I have been on my cpap for about 2 months now, and now when I do nap and wake up my head is busting. Why now? When I nap, I sleep in a recliner with my head elevated. I am told I snore, but they do not notice I am having episodes of apnea when I am napping. So any ideas of what is going on?

I jokingly said that cpap is like glasses. When you start wearing glasses, you will find your sight gets worse and you become more dependent on the glasses.

Does anybody have my same experience? Any reason why?

My guess is that had built a tolerance to the short term adverse effects of your apnea. Now that tolerance is gone. So when you nap you are hit harder by those short term effects.

A long while ago, naps stopped be restorative and in fact a short nap seemed worse than a full sleep for some of the more obvious symptoms of apnea, so I got in the habbit of avoiding them long before I was diagnosed.

[Muse-Inc]

Headaches after sleep are common when carbon dioxide levels rise higher than normal levels.

[OldLincoln]

My thoughts also go to low O2. Several have noted that they sometimes "forget to breath" during the day and are surprised when the gulp comes along. I have a theory that the brain gets used to not initiating breathing during sleep with CPAP making us dependent on the machine. For me, I find that even if I return to bed after waking feeling great and fall asleep for 30 min or so I'll wake with the O2 headache. This is very consistent and the pesky headache last a long time.

The purpose of CPAP is to oxygenate the blood and I encourage the use of an oximeter equipped with an alarm capable of waking you when O2 levels drop.

[Jason S.]

My guess is that had built a tolerance to the short term adverse effects of your apnea. Now that tolerance is gone. So when you nap you are hit harder by those short term effects. A long while ago, naps stopped be restorative and in fact a short nap seemed worse than a full sleep for some of the more obvious symptoms of apnea, so I got in the habit of avoiding them long before I was diagnosed.

Same is true for me if I sleep w/o CPAP. I wake up feeling much worse than I did pre-CPAP. The human body will acclimate to almost anything.

[DreamStalker]

I noticed that too after the first couple of days. My body adapted well to the oxygen.

I didn't use the CPAP on my third night ... the first last and only night without.

Cuz, the next day I felt like I had the worst hangover of my life along with the worst flu symptoms one could have ... it was bad ... so bad that I never did it again.