How much sleep before you felt better?

Hello all
Slowly I've been really improving and I'm now getting about 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 hours of sleep a night regularly with AHI under 2 and leak rate under .12 lps. I definitely see a difference in the way my body fights sickness, but I still feel really sluggish during the day and my attention span...well if I pause for a second half way through a sentence, I forget what I was talking about. Goldfish memory.
I was just curious:
How long was it till you felt decent on xpap?
How many hours were you sleeping per night before you felt OK throughout the day?
I know it will vary from person to person, but I wanted to get a general idea of how others were doing.

You are correct in your thinking that each is different as far as feeling better. I started my therapy in early Feb. within about 6 weeks I started to feel a bit better and didnt' even realize it it just kind of dawned on me. That was a great boost. As time is passing though I am still noticing more and more benefits.
I started out being able to use my machine for a full nights sleep. There was just no question of being able to, I knew I had to so just did it. The more you use your machine the better you will feel. I know everyone is different and some people have a hard time getting used to sleeping masked up but the more consistantly you do mask up the faster and better you feel and it may just creep up on you as it did me.

I'm no "spring chicken", but I feel better with around 6 1/2 -7 hours sleep per night. I keep regular hours, generally trying for bed at about the same time every night and, while I have my radio set to come on in the morning (I like waking up to quiet classical music), I almost always wake up about 15 minutes before the radio comes on.

Everyone is different of course, but I think regular sleep hours are very important.

I think it is true that the older we get the less sleep we seem to need. I'm 69 and this seems right for me. My data is very good and I feel rested (given other health issues I have- these are variables for everyone as well). I usually have an AHI below 1 and my leak rate is good. Your leak rate look good and your AHI is good as well.

If you could get a little more sleep and kept regular sleep hours (don't know if you do or not), I think you would feel better. It does take time though and, you are right, that timeline is different for everyone.

I have been on cpap for several years. I guess I was one of the lucky ones, the first night I had my machine i slept about 7 hours uninterrupted which was incredible for me. I have had some nights that I haven't slept that well but I cannot express how much better it is now then before cpap. I was having a terrible time staying awake during the day, even fell asleep several times while driving. I have not done that since making the relationship with my little bedside friend.

irishpeacock wrote: How long was it till you felt decent on xpap?
How many hours were you sleeping per night before you felt OK throughout the day?
I know it will vary from person to person, but I wanted to get a general idea of how others were doing.

I've been on the hose since September 15th, 2008... with only getting the AHI consistently down to 5 or less since October 3rd, 2008.

I have noticed that I am able to get through the day without feeling extremely sleepy and am able to get through an evening watching TV without falling asleep or at least feeling extremely drowsy. The therapy is having an effect but I think in my case I need more time in on the hose for the full effects to register. I don't know how long I've had the apnea condition but suspect for 5 years at least. It takes some time to reverse the effects of those 5 untreated years and I'm certain I'm still adjusting to the therapy.

Yesterday was a huge exception. Woke up feeling fine. Went to a movie around mid-day and was not feeling sleepy at all. Driving from the theater to the mall I suddenly felt a strong wave of tiredness/sleepiness overcome me... I was pretty much done for the rest of the day. Put in 10 hours of sleep last night with all of it on the hose.

I'm not certain what to attribute the above wave to. I had been taken the bike to work all week which I find tiresome due to the uphill climb on the way home and that I'm still overweight. Also there were at least two nights I did not get enough sleep... one night only got 6 hours which for me is not enough. I find I need at the very least 7 - 8 hours sleep to feel decent the next day... and with me at least it seems a consistent sleep schedule works best. Staying up until 1pm one night and in bed by 10pm the next doesn't work the best.

I know to get myself back on track I need to do the following:

- Achieve a more consistent sleep schedule such that I hit the sack at around the same time each evening. For me this will be by 10pm if I am to get 9 hours time in... perhaps 11pm if I only need 8 hours.

- As much as I enjoy the cycling it appears to be hard on me considering the route I have to take. I need to switch over to walking as an exercise so that I'm not knocking myself out yet still getting exercise.

- Lose weight! I lost it before... and unfortunately need to lose it again. The excess weight is causing issues with the cycling

What everyone else needs to do will vary... but that is my story. In my case it is a combination of things I need to do rather than simply being on the hose to get my health back on track. I'm certain carrying around 50 lbs less will make a huge difference. I have a couple of 50 lb plates from a weight lifting set... carrying one of those plates around the house tires me out... I'm sure much the same as carrying around 50 lbs of excess built-in weight does.

profish wrote: I have not done that since making the relationship with my little bedside friend.

So true. This was another obstacle that I found very hard to overcome. In the very beginning of my CPAP experience, going to bed at night took much energy as I'd walk into the room and see the blasted thing glowing green in the dark!

In the end, I stuck some stickers on it and called it my "friend".LOL!! Yeah, I know...you guys may think I'm nuts but now we're the best of buddys!

In relation to what was asked by the original poster, it took me a few days until I noticed a relatively big enough difference to write this paragraph. I'm now 3 weeks strong and I've fallen in love again with my wife who says I'm now as silent as a cat at night! LOL!!

BTW, Hello everybody and thanks for listening!

~Andy

BlueMax wrote:In the end, I stuck some stickers on it and called it my "friend"

In my flat, we refer to it as The Dreadful Thing of Doom.
As in:
"How was the Dreadful Thing of Doom last night?"
"Oh, you know, dreadful. And full of doom."
To each his own :p

I started CPAP therapy over four years ago. Prior to that I would fall asleep in traffic, in meetings and while having conversations with people. My wife was so agitated with me. I took to the treatments immediately, full face mask and all. By the end of the first week my life had changed drastically. I now can't sleep well without it. I travel frequently and finally bought a 420G for travel. Everyone is different but it will help. I know of some on CPAP who still function on 4 to 5 hours while I routinely get 8 hours a night.

The night of my titration I fell asleep within 30 minutes and only awoke twice that night. I felt so much better the next day it was unreal, best night of sleep in a long, long time. Now I am awaiting for my prescription and am back to being tired and moody and cannot wait to get my hose on! I think it's all individual for us and how severe the apnea is.

Good luck and continued improvement to you!

profish wrote:I have been on cpap for several years. I guess I was one of the lucky ones, the first night I had my machine i slept about 7 hours uninterrupted which was incredible for me.

I see that you use the mask I used during my titration and this was so comfortable and leak free that I am going to use it and demand it be put on my script I loved it so much! Was this your first mask of choice? How are you liking it?

I've been at this since mid August. I didn't have that miraculous feeling the morning of my titration, but I did the first day I used the machine at home. I noticed a difference immediately, but it tTok about a week before I started feeling "better", and I was feeling "good" after about 3 weeks, and could tell I was on the right track. The last 2 weeks though, I haven't been feeling as good. I've been waking up several times a night with mask problems. I'm trying to troubleshoot my mask problems and leaks right now, and I am hoping to get back to feeling better again as soon as I get this stuff resolved. There is no doubt to me, though, that I really need my machine. My sister told me she started noticing differences at about the two week mark, and by a month, she could see a noticeable improvement, which continued to get better for several months. She feels great now.

Michelle, I started using the OptiLife only a few months ago. Up until then I had used several different nasal mask of which my favorite was a Profile Light. I had great results with that mask for years and still keep one handy. I also have a hybrid that I use on nights where I have a stopped up nose which gives the option of breathing through both the nose and mouth. I don't use it except when I have to though because I have always done really good with little mouth breathing since I started my treatment and I don't want to ruin that. One of the things that I have always tried to avoid was using too many nose sprays and allergy pills to clear my nose, I don't want to become dependent on them, also their effect tends to wear off during the night. I keep an old fashioned Vick's Inhaler by the bed and usually use it each night right before putting on the mask and that seems to help a lot. I love the menthol smell of that inhaler and it clears me out real well.