Waking up with headaches after a nap?

I was papping peacefully for about 6 hours when I woke a lot earlier than I usually do. No biggie, I had to help get the kids to school and after the munchkins leave the house that figured I could catch up some lost sleep by taking a nap. I fell asleep quite easily (but was too lazy to mask back up) and slept for about 1.5 hours. When I woke I felt really hungover and had a wicked headache for a good 30 minutes before I was somewhat feeling normal. I am actually more tired after a nap than when I initially woke up.

Is this typical of naps? Naps are supposed to be refreshing but the first 30-60 minutes upon waking I feel like crap. I would like to blame apnea but I highly doubt that with my borderline mild apnea that I can feel this crappy with papping.

I think I have only ever napped once with my CPAP but I cannot for the life of me remember if I felt hungover or had a headache when I woke.

What happens to you when you nap and forget to mask up?

CPAPSteve wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:12 pm

What happens to you when you nap and forget to mask up?

The same thing that happens any other time you sleep without the CPAP. There's nothing magical about naps that prevents apnea.

lol I guess that was a silly question on my part... I guess if you feel like crap when you sleep with CPAP then a nap shouldn't be any different.

My doctor even told me that I could've probably squeaked by without a CPAP if I slept on my side but what actually woke me from the nap was what felt like tonsils falling into my throat as weird as that may sound.

I take my nap at 2pm till 4pm on weekends only. I ALWAYS mask up and feel like I've slept all night when I wake. What's the use of having the thing if your not gonna use it, whether it be for napping or an all nighter...

doctors confuse people with borderline and mild, etc. the degrees of apnea are ahi numbers. lower numbers per hour are more mild and higher numbers per hour are more severe, etc. the ahi or number per hour has nothing to do with the pressure needed to fix them or the amount your o2 is dropping in the process. your borderline ahi may be causing your o2 to drop considerably, causing the headaches when not masking up. the way to see for yourself is to get a cheap recording oximeter and monitor your o2 while sleeping with and without your mask.

we got a surprise when we found out my wifes o2 was dropping with and without cpap.

I recall in my sleep study that my 02 saturation was 0.9 minutes below 90% and 0.3 minutes at 82.3%.

AHI score was very low at around 5.9-7 if I can recall so hardly bad.

I did tell the RT that when I did wake up before CPAP I was often tired and cranky with headaches. Headaches have diminished significantly. Referring back to my original post that a short nap on my side surprised me with a headache and feeling super groggy and more tired than before napping. With an AHI as low as mine before therapy I would think that I shouldn't have this issue sleeping on my sides. Apparently I need it no matter what as it seems.

CPAPSteve wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 07, 2018 2:52 pm

I recall in my sleep study that my 02 saturation was 0.9 minutes below 90% and 0.3 minutes at 82.3%.

AHI score was very low at around 5.9-7 if I can recall so hardly bad.

You shouldn't view your sleep study as gospel, they are often wrong.... Though almost never in a "the study results are worse than reality" way.

False negatives happen...

That is a valid point. I wonder if I can request a more thorough sleep study. Then again I'm a quiet sleeper to begin with and I haven't the slightest clue in Canada if I can just "ask" for one since our healthcare is paid for by everyone.

Due to a lousy, stressful night (thanks, Silverscript)
I needed a nap this afternoon.
I used my CPAP, (duh) and had a nice restful 2 hour nap, shared with the kitty.
I have a long history of pre-cpap headaches, (they are a "thing")
and I choose not to have another, thank you.

CPAPSteve wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 07, 2018 6:54 pm

I wonder if I can request a more thorough sleep study.

Why should you care, other than to obsess about immaterial things?

Plus, there's no guarantee that the next one, or two, or five would be any more accurate, due to the biggest variable... the squidgy meatbag on the end of all the wires and sensors.

Just do the meatbag a huge favor, and ALWAYS wear your CPAP.
All we ever need to know is that it WORKS.
More info is only needed when it doesn't work.

All valid points. I'll make a mental note that the next time I pap while I nap I'll make a note of the headaches.

Interesting about the sleep studies... the gentleman that presented the report to me was pretty nonchalant about the matter and said "yeah you could benefit from a CPAP if you want" and didn't put much effort into educating me on what apnea consisted of or why CPAP was useful. When I asked how accurate the level 3 sleep studies are he told me it was extremely accurate. I thought it was bizarre when I came onto this forum to hear that others have to have in lab sleep studies done and thus made me question how accurate a level 3 study really is.

The takeway is that idiots can be found anywhere,
Including sitting under their shingle.

I get a short lived headache and overall unwell feeling like I've been holding my breath and was on the verge of passing out sometimes (elevated heart rate, sometimes a dizzy feeling or ringing in my ears) even if I nod off in my computer chair at my desk for just a few min.

I'm not sure how well I'd do with a 1.5 hour nap with out my PAP.

No sleeping with out XPAP... EVER, at least for me.




Rest well,

Gryphon

CPAPSteve wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:22 pm

When I asked how accurate the level 3 sleep studies are he told me it was extremely accurate.

Yeah.... not so much. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3883848/

"good"... certainly not "extremely accurate".

It tells you you've got a problem. It doesn't necessarily tell you how bad the problem is, and certainly can't even come close to saying "you don't have a problem".