I need more sleep...

[SteveP]

I have read a few posts where people were saying they need less sleep since they are on CPAP treatment. Not me!

I seem to need more sleep than before. I am judging that by my sleep pattern during weekends. I probably sleep an hour more per night than before. I go to bed ealier than before, I drink less than before and eat about the same as before. I sleep very well and it's not rare that I will sleep 9.5 to 10 hours on weekend nights (no alarm clock). My sleep pattern during the week is the same as before (about 8 hours a night) and is interrupted by the #&%$#@ alarm clock.

Am I normal ?

SteveP

[puffin]

Normal, yes just a lazy bugger!

I found that I sleep longer now. Before treatment I would sleep between 6 to 7 hours, nodding during the day. Now I feel like I could sleep forever at weekends. The strange thing that I noticed was that I could go with out full sleep for 20 to 24 hours pre-osa, working on auto. Not now, I need my full 8 hours. It was almost like I had a built in tolerance to being tired.

[SteveP]

Normal, yes just a lazy bugger!

CPAP has unveiled my real nature!!!

The strange thing that I noticed was that I could go with out full sleep for 20 to 24 hours pre-osa, working on auto. Not now, I need my full 8 hours. It was almost like I had a built in tolerance to being tired.

Exactly ! At 10 pm I sometimes have problems staying awake. My wife says " I thought CPAP was going to make you more energetic, cure your daytime sleepiness..." To be honest, 10 pm sometimes feels like middle of the night, so I don't call that daytime sleepiness! And true, I am very alert 15-16 hours a day. But I need my 8 hours sleep!

SteveP

[chelseauk]

I find i need as much sleep if not more..

But when you think about - you were never really sleeping before with SA - so any sleep would be a lot more !

I REALLY believe in sleep debt - years of not sleeping HAS to make a difference and i think the body needs to make that up a bit.

Also i think the body is quite capable of making hay whilst the sun shines (How does your system know you won't start waking up again) ! So it starts to grab all the sleep it can.

[Joe McManus]

Perhaps the body gets used to how comfy sleeping now is with CPAP. Sleep used to be hell for the body. Now it loves it. So perhaps it's this comfort zone that subconsciously makes you want to stay in bed.

CPAP/OSA has great effects on your metabolism which could affect hormones and chemicals to do with sleep. I'll ask a few medically inclined people I know about this.