sleepiness vs fatigue?

Why do some people feel sleepy and others feel fatigue...

During the day I am never "sleepy" but always feel "fatigued". I have mild sleep apnea so is that the reason I don't feel sleepy?

Do people with severe sleep apnea get more sleepy than fatigued?

My problem has always been sleepiness and a lack of alertness - both of which have improved since I started using my CPAP. If you don't have this issue, it may be because your apnea is mild.

Fatigue (a lack of physical energy as opposed to a tendency to doze off) can have many causes including apnea; it's entirely possible something else is to blame.

Like so many things with OSA, whether a person feels sleepy or fatigued or both during the daytime really depends on the individual.

I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea back in 2010. Prior to starting CPAP, I would often feel tired or fatigued during the day, but not sleepy. Hubby was diagnosed with very mild OSA this past summer and he's just started therapy this week. His symptoms? Severe daytime sleepiness, but seldom daytime fatigue.

And the reactions to starting CPAP are also highly individual. Hubby and I represent different ends of that spectrum: So far Hubby is a CPAP natural---he's had no problem getting to sleep or staying asleep with the mask on and he's already starting to feel less sleepy during the daytime (and he's only used the PAP for 4 nights now) and waking up feeling more rested with CPAP than without. Me? As soon as I started CPAP, I developed severe daytime sleepiness for the first time in my life along with a nasty case of insomnia that took months and months to resolve. It took 5 months for me to notice any positive changes in how I was feeling during the daytime and it took 9 months for me to feel like my sleep was finally starting to get back to "normal". Needless to say, most people are between hubby and me, but closer to hubby than to me: Most people start to notice a real difference in how they feel within a few weeks to a couple of months after they get the hang of sleeping with the mask on their nose.

Dave007 wrote:Why do some people feel sleepy and others feel fatigue...

During the day I am never "sleepy" but always feel "fatigued". I have mild sleep apnea so is that the reason I don't feel sleepy?

Do people with severe sleep apnea get more sleepy than fatigued?

Dave I have moderate apnea (23 AHI) with chronic fatigue being my dominant symptom. My scores on the sleep docs " sleepiness test" are always the same, the fatigue is off the charts and the sleepiness is low.

I have severe apnea (AHI=49.6). I experience both sleepiness and fatigue. I also sleep an ungodly number of hours each night (I slept for 18 hours and 34 minutes several days ago). My other major complaint is not being able to wake up in the morning or get out of bed.

The sleepiness is always there, but worsens as the day goes on. After being awake for about 4-5 hours, all I want to do is sleep.

The fatigue isn't immediately apparent when I first wake up, but creeps up on me during the course of the day. It normally takes me 1-2 hours before I actually feel "awake," (or, at least as awake as I ever feel) so I'm not sure if that blunts my body's recognition of the fatigue.

I have severe apnea AHI=140 during sleep study. I had both sleepiness and fatigue.

I think it was both equally.. actually as I look back 1 year ago I think I was at deaths door..

I had an ahi of 35+ but never had daytime sleepiness, only fatigue. 'Sleepiness' to me is where yiu can't keep your eyes open, Fatigue is not being able to get off the couch. I bet an EEG could detect the difference!

Without cpap, I have both sleepiness and fatigue. The first to clear is the sleepiness. I will feel cheerful, and mentally energtic. I remember feeling like dancing, only I didn't have the energy. With time and better sleep, the energy improved too.