Did you wake up "False-Refreshed" when you first started?

[KillMyApnea]

Dear CPAPers, When you first started with CPAP, did you (or do you still) wake up in the middle of the night feeling fully refreshed and like you had enough sleep only to crash a few hours later feeling darn tired like you never slept? It's like your good sleep sensors are confused? I'll explain...

Before CPAP, I needed 8+ hours of sleep to feel semi-OK. I started CPAP therapy only a few weeks ago, my AHI/therapy seem to be working and I feel better overall than I used to before CPAP....except for certain days that I will describe here. Every night (almost) I wake up after 4 or 5 hours of sleep feeling refreshed and like I had enough sleep. Some nights I'll ignore this feeling and try to sleep more after like a 15 minute break out of bed. Other times I trusted this feeling and went on to have breakfast etc, and I would crash in 2-3 hours feeling very tired and like I didn't sleep. Those days I trusted the false feeling I get very miserable because of how tired I am.

So I learned not to trust this "False-Refreshed & Had Enough Sleep" feeling. Only trust the clock. 8+ hours sleeping works. So my question to you: do you wake up "False-Refreshed" on CPAP and know you need to try to go back to sleep? If not now, maybe when you first started?

Thanks!

[dreamingofdreaming]

Yes. I hadn’t had really good sleep for so long. Most of the time now I will fall asleep on one side and sleep without moving for most of the night.

[chunkyfrog]

Maybe; it gets better.

[zonker]

So my question to you: do you wake up "False-Refreshed" on CPAP and know you need to try to go back to sleep? If not now, maybe when you first started?

Thanks!

no.

[Miss Emerita]

If you google biphasic sleep, you'll see that some scientists and historians believe it is pretty natural for people to sleep in two phases separated by a period of wakefulness --though I think there's some dispute in scientific circles about this.

At any rate, it sounds as though your way of life isn't well suited to having your sleep in two chunks separated by a couple of waking hours. You're still very much in the period of adaptation to CPAP, so do what seems to leave you feeling most refreshed the next day.

That said, the guidelines for good sleep say to get up and leave your bedroom if you're awake for more than about 20 minutes. Do something low-key, like reading a printed book. (No screens.) Go back to bed when you start feeling sleepy again. Would following that advice leave you wide awake for several hours, do you think?

[KillMyApnea]

I'm not really looking for a solution since the only solution is to just try to sleep for as long as possible. My original question was sort of a survey, I just wanted to check if others experienced the same thing when they first started CPAP. Seems to be a mixed bag so far.

[ChicagoGranny]

Did you wake up "False-Refreshed" when you first started?

No, I let him sleep as long as he wanted to.

[harrywr2]

After a year I still wake up 'false refreshed'.
Before CPAP I 'slept' 10 hours a night and woke up exhausted.
Now I reliably sleep at least 4.5 hours, sometimes 6 hours and wake up feeling 'fully refreshed', I then lay in bed until I fall back asleep.
Once I get to 7 hours sleep I'm good to go. I had to give up regular coffee in the morning because I'm too 'wired'.

[klv329]

Any time I wake up feeling "refreshed" or wide awake without the groggy relaxed period I know something went wrong.

Perhaps the "refreshed" wake up concept comes from repetitive commercials about beds and pillows and what not, and not from normal people. You know, brain washing, buy something you don't need.

It happened quite often until I got my treatment right with ASV. Now if happens it's more stress related, eating food that irritates my stomach, and sometimes I just can't figure what caused it. Thankfully it's not that often.

[chunkyfrog]

Any time I wake up feeling "refreshed" or wide awake without the groggy relaxed period I know something went wrong.

Perhaps the "refreshed" wake up concept comes from repetitive commercials about beds and pillows and what not, and not from normal people. You know, brain washing, buy something you don't need.

It happened quite often until I got my treatment right with ASV. Now if happens it's more stress related, eating food that irritates my stomach, and sometimes I just can't figure what caused it. Thankfully it's not that often.

Brain washing, compliments of Madison Avenue.
I have never fully accepted the hype of waking up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for one reason or another.
It simply is NOT NORMAL.
You drag yourself out of bed when you have to--
How you feel is often related to attitude more than anything else.
Sleep is so womb-like--hard to
get
up.
"Mom, I think I have a fever."

[zonker]

Did you wake up "False-Refreshed" when you first started?

No, I let him sleep as long as he wanted to.

[kteague]

Yes, I had that experience, and still do. I pretty much give in to it because I can nap any time I crash. However, I do feel more alert and alive when my day is not punctuated by multiple naps Lately I've tried to be more of a clock person, disregarding how I feel at that first wakeup, knowing that I need a certain amount of sleep. Makes for a better day.