1 month on CPAP and still crave a nap every day

[derek70]

Finally managed to get AHI<4 and AI<1 but I feel worse than when I started.
Have used APAP every single night since the day I got the machine.
I'm in bed an average of 6 hours every night, lots of wake ups and usualy 1 hour strugling to sleep after 3 hour of sleep.
I'm still very tired and crave a nap every day.
I know even if I don't feel better on CPAP, not treating apnea can do serious harm to my body and make things worse, shouldn't I have at least some improvements in my energy?

[Pugsy]

You don't stand much chance of seeing any improvement until you get more hours of sleep and especially unfragmented sleep. Lots of wake ups during the night completely destroy the normal sleep cycles that our bodies need to recoup and re-energize.

So.....why the wake ups? What can be done to minimize them? Insomnia? Sleep onset insomnia (can't fall asleep in a timely manner? Sleep maintenance insomnia (can't stay asleep, wake often, can't go back to sleep). Pain somewhere in your body? Mask fit or leak issues or pain from mask. Meds? Bed comfort?
Anything and everything that might be causing you to not be able to sleep soundly and let the body recover.

[ThirdOutOfFive]

Pugsy is right, as usual. There are many things that affect sleep. You have to do some observing and thinking, then lots of trying different ideas to get to a point where you are comfortable with PAPpy and able to get quality sleep. Don't give up. You need this therapy. You deserve to get good sleep.

[Samba]

When I started cpap I had lots of wake ups ( mask & leak or hose problems, cpap noise etc...) but at least I never left the bed like before (4-5 times a night).
It took me 6 months to get use to it, so hang in there. After 2 years i still nap everyday without the mask for 10-20min .

[Mary Z]

You may have hypersomnia and never get over needing a nap. Some people don't.

[derek70]

You may have hypersomnia and never get over needing a nap. Some people don't.

Mary, I'm feeling tired due to interrupted sleep at night.
People with hypersomnia experience prolonged night sleep.
It's not my case. I'm sleeping an average of 6 hours per night and waking 2 or three times every night.

[chunkyfrog]

W had to get rid of the old saggy mattress, because we finally were rested enough to NOTICE what a miserable bag of lumps it was.

[archangle]

Sometimes it takes more than a month to get the full benefit of CPAP.

Even without apnea, naps can be a nasty addictive habit. Try the various suggestions for sleep hygiene.

Some time back, I read something about adjusting eating times being a miracle cure for adjusting your sleeping habits. Stop eating 12 hours or so before you want to wake up. Maybe it doesn't work, but it's easy enough to try.

[Julie]

Hi - If you think there could be any chance that you have GERD (acid reflux) that's waking you up, you might want to look into that ... do you drink coffee late in the day, or acidic juices, eat spicy food?

[teknomom]

When you say you crave a nap, does that mean that you actually nap or that you just want to? If you are napping during the day, it will affect your nighttime sleep patterns. Good advice given by the other posters! So many things to try.

[DoriC]

You may have hypersomnia and never get over needing a nap. Some people don't.

Mary, I'm feeling tired due to interrupted sleep at night.
People with hypersomnia experience prolonged night sleep.
It's not my case. I'm sleeping an average of 6 hours per night and waking 2 or three times every night.

Derek, you may be in bed an average of 6hrs a night but probably getting less than 4hrs of restorative sleep with all the wakeups so certainly not enough. As the others have said, you have to look at your sleep hygiene, mask comfort, meds, mattress, bed pillow,etc. How late in the day are you taking your nap? How do you feel after your nap?. Lots of things to think about but it usually takes more than 1 month to adjust so hang in there.

[Pugsy]

Six hours of "sleep" fragmented by awakenings and difficulty getting back to sleep is a recipe for still needing a nap in the afternoon. Six hours of near perfect sleep with zero awakenings might not even be enough to get past the need for afternoon naps. It isn't enough hours of sleep and certainly not enough hours of good restorative sleep. Add in an hour of being awaking trying to get back to sleep and there simply is not enough hours of sleep for the body to go through the sleep cycles it needs to go through.

I have found I need around 8 hours of sleep to get me to bypass that afternoon nap need and if I happen to wake up several times a night for whatever reason even 8 hours of sleep isn't enough to prevent the need to nap.

Often we expect the cpap machine to fix all our sleeping issues and we expect to have all problems completely erased. The machine only fixes sleep apnea issues. If you have other factors contributing to wake ups, sleep maintenance insomnia, minimal hours of sleep...we can't expect the machine to fix those issues. You have to identify those issues and work as best you can on resolving those issues.

Even if you didn't have sleep apnea, didn't use the machine and still only got maybe 6 hours of highly fragmented sleep with hour long episodes of being awake during that 6 hours of sleep, you would still likely feel like crap or want to nap.

[derek70]

When you say you crave a nap, does that mean that you actually nap or that you just want to? If you are napping during the day, it will affect your nighttime sleep patterns. Good advice given by the other posters! So many things to try.

I mean I just want to, not actually nap.
'm trying hard to have a sleep routine.

[lullaby]

Well, i've just reached the 8 month mark on CPAP. 8.5 hours every night, average ahi of 2 and i still crave a nap every arvo as i'm still exhausted. I'm about to have the full blood tests to see if anything else is going on. I actually didn't wear my mask the other night for the first time in ages and i swear i was more alert the next day. Go figure.

[RocketGirl]

W had to get rid of the old saggy mattress, because we finally were rested enough to NOTICE what a miserable bag of lumps it was.

You know how, when you're tired, the strangest things can strike you funny? I had a rough night last night and felt rather punchy all day, and this morning, your phrase "miserable bag of lumps" lodged in my head and wouldn't let go...

The neighbor's dog barking his head off at 5:30 am? "Miserable bag of lumps" growls I.

The minivan that cut me off on the highway? "You miserable bag of lumps!"

Comment to general vicinity when I knocked a full cup of coffee galley-west onto the carpet? "@$#%^Miserable bag of LUMPS!"

My son accuses me of being the most G-rated swearer in history. Wait 'til he hears this one.

(So as not to post a total derail - I'm a little more than 3 months in, and I still want infinite sleep. Most nights are wonderful and I actually can get through the work day, unlike how it used to be - but I'm ready for bed by 9pm. So I think that craving naps isn't out of the norm for one month in. Still, if it seems to you like something's not right, it's probably a good idea to see your doctor to make sure there's nothing else going on.