Dear Random Guy,
You can see from my username what a huge impact your post had on me. For the life of me, I can’t believe the venom that has been directed at you about this. I agree with all of the ways that you characterized them (e.g. f-ing asshole) based on their unbelievably intolerant replies to your post.
I have searched for years for a fix for the relentless grogginess that I feel when using the CPAP. If I take it off in the night or otherwise I have about two hours at the end of the night with it off, I wake up feeling refreshed just like I did before I ever used CPAP. On top of that, I use a pulse oximeter device with my phone that allows me to see just how wonderful the benefits are of using a CPAP at night to easing my apnea. Like night and day. I need the CPAP to manage my sleep apnea, and I must do something about the daytime grogginess.
I’m going to give your suggestion a try, but really, after working with my sleep doctor for a long long time on this, I’m kind of at the end of my rope. I get the hours of sleep that I need 7 1/2 to 8 1/half hours, and I do all the things that you should do to get a good nights sleep. if I go off the CPAP for a few days, the grogginess abates—and my measured apnea gets really really bad. It’s an unbelievable quandary.
I’m willing to put up with an hour and a half to two hours of Apnea a night, I have moderate apnea, to see if the grogginess eases. I’ll give the switch a try that you suggested.Thanks again.
randomCPAPguy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:00 pm
Hi,
I’ve never really posted, though I have read through some sleep apnea forums to try to find a solution to feeling extremely groggy from your CPAP or APAP machine. I have a ResMed Airsense 10 that I started using 6 months ago. I definitely have enjoyed the benefits, but I found that I was sleeping through alarms and taking hours to feel normal again. Prior to my ResMed machine, I could literally wake up at any time with an internal alarm clock in my head if I knew when I needed to be up. So, after realizing this new problem, I started putting triple Keurig doses (yes, cold black un-fresh coffee) next to my bed ready to go, multiple alarms, etc. I read on several forums about some mobile apps that help to get you out of your deep sleep gradually using progressively increasing sounds and white noise. I tried all of these, but none of these really worked (and in addition, the alarms woke up others in the house.) I would often fall asleep even after downing the coffee, turning on lights, etc.
I don’t know all the science behind it, but I know these machines get you into a really deep sleep state, and it is somewhat artificially regulated because it’s not the same sleep you’d get naturally. I believe I read that the sleep cycles are fixed for something like 30-45 minutes.
So here is the solution I found:
I went on Amazon and bought a Smart Wi-Fi electrical switch. There are many on there, and I’m not trying to peddle any brand. I believe the one I bought was called (Edited by mod : to remove brand name). The switch is a simple on/off circuit that you can control with your mobile device, and you can also set a schedule. So, if I want to wake up at 7:00 AM, I set the schedule on the smart switch to shut off (hence turn off the machine) at around 5:30....I’m sure I could experiment more to find the range of possibilities, but that may be for each individual. At 5:30, my ResMed shuts off, though I still sleep just fine and don’t wake up. During that time, though, my sleep seems to transition to a more natural state. Then a low volume alarm or smart phone vibration at 7:00 wakes me up and I am much more alert, ready to start the day like I was prior to using my machine.
Hope this helps.
