Relatively new CPAP user - question about time asleep

[Simpy]

Hi, all

I was diagnosed with sleep apneoa last October (around 39 events a night). Before that, I used to sleep about 11-12 hours a night. My doctor said I did this to compensate for the poor sleep I was having, which was very much true. I used to feel horrible if I didn't get enough sleep.

Since that time, I've gone through various masks. I tried Airfit 10 nasal pillows, but I get nasal congestion from hayfever and that didn't work. I since went on to full face masks. I tried the simplus for a while, and that was going great (with a nasal gecko). But it got progressively harder and harder to maintain no leaks (chinstrap to prop my jaw up didn't help either), until one day I just couldn't sleep with it anymore. I since tried another FFM - same story. I then even bought different types of mask liners - none of them worked (they made the leaks worse).

Right now, I'm on the Oracle 452 mask (the mouth mask). It took a few nights to adjust, but this has been pretty good for me. I get much lower leaks now (I have Rescan on my computer) and the mask is just less hassle. I sometimes wake up once during the night, but I go straight back to sleep. I've only been using it a week so hopefully that will get better as I become more used to it. I'm using the full face setting on the machine at the moment.

With all that said, my question is: why am I still sleeping so long? I'm still sleeping for around 10 hours a night, sometimes more. Granted, I feel good most days when I'm awake, but I thought being on CPAP would reduce the time I needed to be asleep. I'm in my 5th month of cpap, so surely the benefits re sleep duration should have kicked in by now?

I'll have a weird day sometimes where I sleep for like 7 hours (on old masks) and feel SO good that it isn't funny, but I can't discern a pattern for why I have them occasionally but not most days.

One thing that might be affecting it is that I typically go to sleep at 12 or 1 am. I've tried changing my sleep pattern to sleep earlier, but I end up sleeping just as long.

I should also say that my AHI is always below 2 (80% of the time below 1). I've noticed the only events I get with the Oracle mask are central - never any (or maybe one or so a night) obstructive ones. My pressure is 15 on CPAP mode.

Thanks

[Julie]

If you download SleepyHead software from the 1st post on main pg (Pugsy's Pointers) you'd be able to get a lot of info to go on and if you then posted the graphs (using a link from Imgur.com) here we could probably help... it's a standard way of responding to this kind of problem.

[Simpy]

I use ResScan.

But I'm just really after some general experiences from other people who used to sleep a long time and if they do now on CPAP or not.

Anyone?

[Simpy]

Hm. It appears I may need to post my info after all.

Looking deeper into my resscan reports and from reading on this forum, it seems like my flow limitation values are rather high. Given that my AHI is so low, this could be the cause for why I'm still feeling tired.

[kteague]

Sleeping too many hours is said to be a problem as well as short hours, so it's good you're looking into this. Here's what my checklist would look like in searching for a possible cause.

1. Assess machine data for clues. (My ditto to Julie's input.)
2. Check sleep study report for irregularities that could explain it. (Anything from sleep stage abnormalities, unexplained arousals, limb movements, centrals, etc.)
3. Check any meds for sleepiness as a side effect.
4. Work with doctor to rule out health conditions unrelated to the sleep apnea.
5. After all else has been ruled out, ask your sleep doctor about ruling out narcolepsy, especially if you have any other symptoms besides sleepiness. I put this last because it will mean more testing and that testing won't be valid if other factors are at play clouding the picture, nor necessary.

But before you set out to solve the problem, make sure there is one. If a lot of of your 5 months was spent with mask issues, how long have you actually been sleeping well with good numbers? If you've been sleeping well on the treatment only a couple months, it may be that it is still too soon for you to have recovered. Good luck figuring it out.

[kteague]

Just saw your last post. Maybe you've already found clues. Forgot to respond to your question about sleep time for others. Before CPAP I could sleep around the clock, but with many many brief wakings. After getting my CPAP treatment optimized, it improved, but I had another sleep disorder, PLMD, so I still had poor sleep so slept a lot trying to make up for it. It wasn't until my legs were calmed that my sleep time decreased. Generally now I will wake up after about 8 hours and feel ready to start my day. Now that's not saying I don't still nap though. But it's only every couple months I have a night where stay down over 9 hours. Maybe there'll be something you can fix about your sleep that will in time decrease your need too.

[Simpy]

Dear kteague

Thank you for your wonderful response.

1. I've attached my ResScan report from last night (right click -> open in new tab to see the right side) (link = http://i.imgur.com/XO8cIVm.png)
3. I don't use meds, so that's not an issue.
4 & 5. May need to do this later on.

You make a good point re making sure there is a problem. I'm fairly sure there is: I've gone back and forwards feeling great and not feeling great. I've been on so many different masks and what not that it's been a rollercoaster. I know though on those days where I sleep 7ish hours, wake up, and go all day without feeling the least bit tired that that is how I should feel. How I feel currently is similar to what I felt like when I wasn't on CPAP at all.

[kteague]

I'm not seeing the report, but then again, I'm not going to be the best at helping you with it. If it's posted, I'm sure some of the gurus will be along in the morning to weigh in. I'm ok at overviews, but when you mentioned flow limitations, I knew I was out of my league. Good luck.

[Simpy]

I just added the direct link in my post so you should be able to see it now.

Also, I've just noticed that I have no data for 'flow' in ResScan. I have downloaded all detailed data for all my time, but no days show any 'flow' data. Is that normal? Edit: figured it out. I needed to select the additional box when downloading detailed data .

[Simpy]

The more I understand this, the more troubling it seems to be.

My flow rate data, from what I've read so far, seem to be rather troubling.

Link: http://i.imgur.com/pumAeN9.png

[Julie]

Click off the calendar on the left and include leak rate graph/stats instead.

[Drowsy Dancer]

CPAP or APAP? What are your settings?

Flow limitations certainly impair the quality of your sleep, so it is possible your treatment is still suboptimal. One way to test this would be to bump up your pressure (or or minimum pressure) by a modest amount for a week or so and see what happens to your FL and to how you feel in the a.m.