Newbie: Can you feel foggy because CPAP is working?

As a newbie, I am alert these days to all the stuff that can affect sleep, including just random events. But I'm also wondering what can happen just from the body getting used to sleeping again. What sorts of things can a newbie encounter just from the body/mind adjusting to quality sleep again? Can adjusting to sleep bring its own kind of fogginess, at least for a while?

I've had some pretty good nights recently with CPAP, at least compared to the first few days. And one or two nights of waking up feeling really good. And yet in the last few days I feel a little foggy/cloudy like my brain is swimming in cotton, but it doesn’t feel like pre-CPAP fatigue and it’s not exactly tiredness, either. The closest feeling I can liken it to is the feeling I vaguely remember from pre-apnea, teenage days when I might sleep a really long time and strangely wake up feeling a bit foggy from oversleep. I find myself thinking of sleep whenever I feel a wisp of tiredness these days. At times, I feel like I could just lay down and sleep for days in a row. And yet I’m not exactly tired or nappy like pre-CPAP days, either, and the fogginess doesn't quite rise to the level of those pre-CPAP headaches I used to have.

I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea (16 AHI). I've been on CPAP since August 15 and have been adjusting pressure, trying masks, etc. (My current settings are 10 -20 cm H20, humidifier 3, A-flex 1). The last few days I've been getting better AHI numbers (below 2.0), the “clumps” of apneas have been breaking up, and I’m also sleeping longer with the mask (though I'm still waking up once a night)....

You might take a peek at Mollete's Sleep Inertia chapter
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=91348&hilit=+CPAP+Basics+re%3A

Thanks, Pugsy, an interesting read. I think that might have something to do with it: I seem to be waking up in the middle of the night out of REM, and ditto in the morning. But probably not all of the time. I'm curious, is it fairly common to feel sleepy/foggy as you adjust to the benefits of CPAP and your body deals with actually getting quality sleep? Could this have something to do with a "sleep deficit" I've seen references to?

sleepydc wrote: I'm curious, is it fairly common to feel sleepy/foggy as you adjust to the benefits of CPAP and your body deals with actually getting quality sleep?

I don't know how common it is. I have wondered if part of the sleepy/foggy thing is just the body wanting or needing more sleep.
I am still a bit "foggy" in the mornings after 4 years but then I was never a morning person anyway so I really don't expect cpap therapy to turn me into something I never was to start with. Everyone knows in my household to not mess with me until I have my morning coffee and the cobwebs are gone and that has nothing to do with cpap therapy or hours of sleep.

The Sleep Debt thing....I don't know that I hold to that being something that lasts as long as some people think it lasts when they are getting enough hours of sleep long enough to have paid off sleep debt and not still accrue sleep debt.
I don't think Sleep Dept lasts months unless someone is still accruing it for some reason.
That's just my own personal thoughts about it though.

Hi- it might be a good idea to check with your GP and get some routine labs done - not everything is necessarily about OSA/Cpap though we 'go there' first if things come up when just starting out. Have you had a thyroid check lately? Are you eating well? Keeping a consistent bedtime? Not drinking alcohol close to bedtime? So many things might be involved.

So far general health and sleep practices seem pretty good. My recent physicals have been fine; in fact, it was me coming to the doctor requesting a sleep study rather than the other way around. But thanks, Julie, I'll keep that in mind.

I have seen some comments elsewhere that at least some new cpap users go through a foggy adjustment phase as their bodies get used to a different kind of sleep. It's interesing how the whole thing works as such a system. I wasn't too much of a zombie before I caught the apnea, but I'm very thankful I've caught it now before even more damage could be done....

As a former zombie, I can relate my experience.
At first, I didn't really notice much different, except waking up without a headache was nice.
--and not zonking out at my desk was a relief.
I never became Ms Bouncy Bunny, and a few days in, I felt a bit more "down" than usual (adrenaline withdrawal?)
Gradually, I found I had more endurance--this took several months.
After 3 years (+), I'm still waiting for ambition.

Hi sleepydc,

I know I have more energy and endurance than when I first started CPAP, and I keep at it, but CPAP alone isn't the answer. Julie's point of talking to your doctor is right on. As much as I focus on OSA that wasn't the only issue to uncover for me to improve, and I am addressing more than that. I'm still sleepy, and I still have really foggy days, but not as bad as before (as I hear you saying too).

-- SleepyCPAP

I am a newbie and I feel more tired and foggy after Cpap and I also get headaches. I have to start slowly.
I am doing much worse than you.