Suddenly really tired after two months of CPAP

[Lorne]

I started APAP therapy on July 26, 2009 and am hitting the two-month milestone as of tomorrow. I'm far less tired during the day and far more able to concentrate, have better memory retention, want to eat far less (!)--it's all good stuff. I've gone from needing 75 mg of trazodone each night for several years to be able to sleep at all to being without meds since the end of August, which meant that, without the drug, I would wake up about every 2 hours and maybe be in bed 6 hours total each night.

About two weeks ago, I began waking up only once at night, and now, over the past week, I don't remember waking up at all and am sleeping through the night. But now I seem to need 10 to 11 hours of sleep a night compared to a "normal" 7.5 hours a night before being diagnosed. I'm presuming my sleep patterns are stabilizing/adjusting or I'm paying off what could be a massive sleep debt. I'm not sleepy during the day, but lately, once 9 pm hits, I just have to go to bed. I've normally been a night owl, so this is kind of weird for me.

I mean, I'm not complaining per se; it's just that my sleep patterns have been all over the map since I started CPAP, and I've never paid so much attention to my sleep patterns and sleep hygiene as I have in the past few months.

Has anyone else experienced this sudden need to get hours and hours of sleep?

[Flats]

Lorne, I feel you, I just posted that same thing tonight. I was telling my wife I went from 6 hours of good sleep and being active and energetic all day to now getting those same 6 hours but instead of sleeping from midnight to 6am and feeling fresh, by about 8pm I feel like I ran a marathon and just want to lay in bed. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer and have another follow up with my doctor in about 2 weeks. I hope he can find someway to bring the magic back because I really miss the extra energy and spunk.

Flats

[rubymom]

You know, I hadn't really thought of it til I read your post, but I guess I can relate in some way. I've been on xpap since April. At that time, I could easily stay up til midnight or 1 a.m. and wake up around 6:30. Now I find myself dragging by 9:00 and ready to sleep around 10 or no later than 11. I do feel like I'm getting better quality sleep now that I have in years so I suspect it is my body enjoying it and wanting more.

[Muse-Inc]

Did y'all consider that getting sleepy around 9-10 PM is NORMAL? Once you start getting restful sleep, things -- all things like sleep patterns, blood gases, biochemistry, appetite & metabolism, brain starts to heal affecting mood, temper, cognition, long- & short-term memory, attention span-concentration-focus -- start to normalize. This may be your new, perhaps temporary, pattern. My first 4 nights were hellish (tho my 8-10 pee trips a night stopped the first night never to return...yea!); 5th night slept 9 hrs straight without a wakeup, thus began 8-10 hrs of sleep for several wks. Now, it's 8 hrs with occasional 6-7 or 9 hrs. These patterns vary for me depending on how well I am doing; when I lost 53#s, I was unable to maintain the seal in the back of my throat and started losing therapy air with the return of apnea symptoms...I had to move from my beloved OptiLife pillow mask to the Hybrid which covers my mouth and has nasal pillows. I am recovering from that backslide; I hope I will resume recovery at the point where I was when the loose lips phenomena occurred.

[BleepingBeauty]

I'm having a similar experience re: the amount of sleep I'm getting/needing. I've been on therapy since late 2007, but I've only been getting truly effective therapy for the past two months or so. For the longest time, I was only sleeping 5-6 hours a night, and I sure wasn't feeling rested during the day.

What's changed for me:

I started out with an M-Series PLUS machine, so I had no data and no idea what was going on while I was sleeping for most of my therapy journey (and apparently, neither did my useless ex-sleep doc). I bought myself a data-capable machine in June. My mask (Swift LT at the time) was leaking like crazy.

I adopted good sleep habits. No more late nights, even though I'm a former confirmed night-owl.

I started using a full-face mask at the beginning of August.

Now, with full data and a full-face mask, I'm getting the best therapy ever. And I'm sleeping a lot longer than I used to (now averaging between 7-9 hours a night) and have had two nights recently where I slept for more than 9 hours.

I suspect that I'm only now starting to really repay my sleep debt. (Hey, better late than never, right?)

[jweeks]

You know, I hadn't really thought of it til I read your post, but I guess I can relate in some way. I've been on xpap since April. At that time, I could easily stay up til midnight or 1 a.m. and wake up around 6:30. Now I find myself dragging by 9:00 and ready to sleep around 10 or no later than 11. I do feel like I'm getting better quality sleep now that I have in years so I suspect it is my body enjoying it and wanting more.

Hi,

I had something similar happen. My theory is that I was so tired that I was cat-napping a lot during the daytime. I'd also catch some naps sitting down watching TV in the evening. As a result, I was catching up on sleep enough during the day that I wasn't tired anymore by the time 10PM rolled around. Then I couldn't sleep. And when I finally was tired again at 4AM, the OSA didn't let me sleep. I'd get up at 9AM or so dog tired and be zoned out for a few more hours.

Once I started on CPAP, I started sleeping at night. Since I was now refreshed when I woke up, I started doing stuff during the daytime. As a result of the increased activity, I was now getting tired about 9PM, and was ready for bed at 11PM. I'd get 6 to 8 hours of sleep, and be up at 6AM or 7AM ready to go. In fact, I was up earlier than before CPAP and now fully alert, I was having a hard time knowing what to do with myself. I have had to add more hobbies to my list just to keep busy.

Once you start getting into the groove and keeping regular sleep hours, your body will adjust, and you will catch up. Just make sure that you stay on top of your data to make sure you are getting effective therapy.

-john-

[Spirit]

I'm hitting my 2 month mark, and my sleep pattern has been all over the place, from crashing early, napping during the day to insomnia.

But the past 2-3 weeks, I've been sleeping deeper and longer then ever, averaging 10-11 hours solid sleep, I haven't taken any naps the past 2-3 weeks, feel improved during the day.

I get super tired around 10pm-11pm now. When I used to take naps, I would stay up all wee hours of the night.

I've notice a sleep pattern correction developing, the longer I stay on cpap. The Quattro mask has alot to do with the positive changes, prior to Quattro I was sleep deprived.

[rubymom]

I feel like a dummy, but I hadn't even thought about the naps. I would often come home from work and sleep for an hour or so out of necessity. And on weekends, I could take 2-3 hour naps. I don't do that anymore. I'm getting more normal every day!!