Using my machine but still a little tired, few dreams

[ellen1159]

I seem to recall reading posts when I first arrived here in May, that once you get going using your machine as intended, all night long, not everyone feels peppy right away. I had severe apnea for years, probably a decade or longer, and I have finally crossed the borderline of masking up at bedtime and sleeping for a good 7 to 8 hours with the mask on the entire time and waking up to see an AHI of 2.0 or less. Never thought I'd get here, and I no longer feel like falling asleep at red lights, headaches are gone..but, I don't exactly feel energized either. Right now it's early afternoon and I feel like I could use a nap, even though I got a full night's sleep, or close to it. I also notice that I don't remember dreaming very much in the past couple of weeks.

This is normal, right?

[RandyJ]

For some people it takes many months (after sleeping through the night with the mask) to chip away at that sleep deficit and feel better. And as long as there isn't anything else going on (low vitamin D, thyroid issues etc), I'd say just be patient and give it time.

[jamiswolf]

Hi Ellen,
Like Randy said, it does take time. I try and look at my situation and mentally try and subtract OSA...just to put things in perspective. I'm 65 and overweight with arthritis...how much energy would I have anyway? I'd probably still take an afternoon nap. Good luck, hang in there and I hope things improve for you.
J

[ellen1159]

Hi Ellen,
Like Randy said, it does take time. I try and look at my situation and mentally try and subtract OSA...just to put things in perspective. I'm 65 and overweight with arthritis...how much energy would I have anyway? I'd probably still take an afternoon nap. Good luck, hang in there and I hope things improve for you.
J

Excellent point! I'm 53, still morbidly obese despite losing 35 lbs. since I started CPAP, and mostly a couch potato.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Hi Ellen,
Like Randy said, it does take time. I try and look at my situation and mentally try and subtract OSA...just to put things in perspective. I'm 65 and overweight with arthritis...how much energy would I have anyway? I'd probably still take an afternoon nap. Good luck, hang in there and I hope things improve for you.
J

1+ to what Randy and Jamiswolf said.

I've often wished my CPAP machine was a magic bullet but sadly, it isn't. I don't know your life situation regarding stress, diet, exercise habits etc but not feeling very energized in the morning can indicate other health issues. I suggest you talk to you GP about your lack of energy and maybe have some tests done. Good luck and let us know how it goes EDIT: the lack of dreams could just mean you are sleeping soundly and are naturally coming up thru the sleep stages after REM, therefore forgetting your dreams. That can be a good thing really.

[Pugsy]

I don't often have any magic burst of energy myself. There's more to my aches and pains and problems than just OSA.
I am improved but with all the other stuff going on even without having OSA, I wouldn't be waking up wanting to run a marathon.
My killer wake up headaches are pretty much totally gone and when I wake up with a headache it most likely is what I call a "neck" headache from the arthritis in my neck.
The nocturia is totally gone and that's a huge relief.

So I tell people that while I don't wake up feeling like running a marathon at least I don't wake up feeling like I just ran a marathon and got run over by a bus at the end.

I have noticed that my general energy level is directly related more to how many hours of good quality sleep that I am able to get.
I feel better with 8 hours than I do with 7 hours...and the more wake ups I might have during the night for whatever reason the less energetic I might feel in general. Somethings I have some measure of control over but other things I don't control.
Like night before last the thunderstorm that disrupted my sleep.
Or the night the cat wanted to bounce off the ceiling onto the bed.
Or the dogs hearing boogers outside.
Or the fact that my back hurts more with cooler, damper weather.

But the killer headaches, nocturia and nodding off to nap at 9 AM are totally gone. So I know that there has been considerable improvement in the OSA related symptoms and if all that was wrong with this old body was OSA then maybe I would feel like I was 25 again but I have other issues that the cpap machine can't fix.
I think a lot of people get disheartened because they don't feel that "miracle" that they read about because often we have other issues that the cpap machine can't fix no matter how much we would like to blame OSA for every thing that is wrong with us.

[BlackSpinner]

I seem to recall reading posts when I first arrived here in May, that once you get going using your machine as intended, all night long, not everyone feels peppy right away. I had severe apnea for years, probably a decade or longer, and I have finally crossed the borderline of masking up at bedtime and sleeping for a good 7 to 8 hours with the mask on the entire time and waking up to see an AHI of 2.0 or less. Never thought I'd get here, and I no longer feel like falling asleep at red lights, headaches are gone..but, I don't exactly feel energized either. Right now it's early afternoon and I feel like I could use a nap, even though I got a full night's sleep, or close to it. I also notice that I don't remember dreaming very much in the past couple of weeks.

This is normal, right?

Congratulations!
Those are big improvements. Having an afternoon nap (with your cpap) is not bad if it doesn't interfere with your regular nights sleep.
It takes time to heal. It took me about 3 months before I felt energized enough to join the gym.
Not remembering your dreams is good - it means you didn't wake up. In order to remember your dreams you must wake up from them.

[ellen1159]

I seem to recall reading posts when I first arrived here in May, that once you get going using your machine as intended, all night long, not everyone feels peppy right away. I had severe apnea for years, probably a decade or longer, and I have finally crossed the borderline of masking up at bedtime and sleeping for a good 7 to 8 hours with the mask on the entire time and waking up to see an AHI of 2.0 or less. Never thought I'd get here, and I no longer feel like falling asleep at red lights, headaches are gone..but, I don't exactly feel energized either. Right now it's early afternoon and I feel like I could use a nap, even though I got a full night's sleep, or close to it. I also notice that I don't remember dreaming very much in the past couple of weeks.

This is normal, right?

Congratulations!
Those are big improvements. Having an afternoon nap (with your cpap) is not bad if it doesn't interfere with your regular nights sleep.
It takes time to heal. It took me about 3 months before I felt energized enough to join the gym.
Not remembering your dreams is good - it means you didn't wake up. In order to remember your dreams you must wake up from them.

Felt a little tired yesterday afternoon and decided to go with it, and take a nap. Slept two hours and felt great afterward. I think I'm expecting too much too soon from the CPAP treatment. Glad I'm going to be starting a temporary office job tomorrow, that runs til the end of the year. If I'm busy I don't notice the fatigue, and I should be legitimately tired and ready for sleep at the end of a full day's work (been unemployed since June and ready to climb the walls).

It's great to be in compliance!

[Denial Dave]

You are doing great !!!

It took about 3 months of use before I personally noticed any changes in energy. But my wife noticed changed in my personality after 2 months... she said that I was less crabby / easily irritable

my personal theory is that it took those 3 months for my body and brain to accept the use of CPAP and lack of apnea's during sleep.

I'm 58 and I've probably have had some form of OSA most of my life....(I was diagnosed with mild OSA 16+ years ago and ignored the doctors)

I noticed changes in my energy level after my AHI was consistantly below 2.0

There are still day's when my overall energy level is lacking, but the need for naps is gone.

YAY!

[stage0]

Remembering dreams is normal for many ppl; however a percentage will never be able too. This is also normal.

I use a wonderful "app for that" called "Sleep Cycle" for my Ipad to help me track moving throughout the nite. While it is not documenting everything during sleep; it has the option of movements, inputting history, sickness, moods and much more.