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I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. Using a CPAP was life changing for me. I won't sleep without it now if I can help it, though it did take me a bi

I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. Using a CPAP was life changing for me. I won't sleep without it now if I can help it, though it did take me a bit of iterating through different mask arrangements. The first few weeks were hard - I slept strangely because I dreamt intensely (and I was told that's normal). Before I couldn't remember the last time I really had a dream. After years of slowly acclimating to not getting real sleep, actually getting good sleep and rest was amazing. It was like emerging from a fog of years that I never realized I was in. Once you get too far in, you don't really realize how tired you were. True, the process to get there wasn't fun. But hopefully you find the end result as beneficial as I did.

viraptor 11y ago
While I wasn't diagnosed with any actual issue, I definitely didn't sleep enough during/after university. I didn't realise this until a few years later I started going to sleep at the same time as my girlfriend. And that was a huge change - like discovering that yes, you can actually wake up before the alarm and not need 5 of them. I got a similar effect too - some crazy intense dreams. It's a great indicator actually - any time I get too tired / go to sleep too late I don't have them. But go to bed around 10pm - I dream a whole story with multiple characters and long enough to make it a crazy movie. On the other hand, recently I started looking at ways to get rid of dreams... they're just too much if they happen every night.
- hemdrup 11y ago
  I have found keeping a routine of going to bed around 11 pm and waking up at 06:00. Results in highest creative performance. The time period from 06:00 to 10:00 is the magic hours :)
- heed 11y ago
  The only thing I've found that reduces my intense dreaming is (believe it or not) cannabis use.
  - facetube 11y ago
    Not at all surprising; there's evidence that cannabis use suppresses REM sleep. Anecdotally, people who suddenly stop taking it after long periods of use tend to report unusually vivid dreams.
    - mhink 11y ago
      That's exactly what's happening with my girlfriend right now. She gave up cannabis after years of heavy smoking, and it seems like every morning she wakes up telling me about the intense, vivid dreams she had. That said, while the quitting process has been quite difficult for her (irritability's through the roof- almost as bad as when I've tried to quit smoking cigarettes), she says she started feeling "better" almost immediately. Probably the best part (for both of us, haha) is that her natural appetite is coming back- and in fact, she's reporting that she's developing a taste for a lot of foods she previously didn't like because the flavor was too intense or the texture was too unusual. The only real explanation we can figure out is that the cannabis intensified culinary experiences to the point where she couldn't handle it, and so she just ended up avoiding a lot of types of food. The brain is an interesting organ.
- Xcelerate 11y ago
  Phenelzine eliminates dreams altogether, but that's probably the worst method of getting rid of them.
kitanata 11y ago
I was diagnosed with moderate-severe OSA last week. This Tuesday I picked up my CPAP. I've used it for two days. I will never sleep without it again. The difference is day and night. I honestly feel like I just snorted two lines of cocaine. I can't remember the last time I was this alert and had this much energy. Unbelievable.
vonmoltke 11y ago
> Using a CPAP was life changing for me. CPAP just barely creates enough benefit for me to keep me using it.
- dlo 11y ago
  What is your AHI? It is very common for a CPAP to be misconfigured or not to be the right size in the first place. You may want to ask a sleep tech for help. There is documentation online as well.
  - vonmoltke 11y ago
    It's about 16, right on the edge of being considered "moderate". I have roughly the same number of conscious wakings with the machine as I do without. I have already had the pressure dropped once. My main problem may be that I can't get enough air through my nose, so I have to breathe through my mouth. Using a chinstrap makes me feel like I am suffocating.
lee 11y ago
Same for me too! I felt like superman after the first time I used it. It's been a few years, and I haven't slept a single night without CPAP. Looking back, I am amazed at how well I was able to function at all. I think not only is my quality of life improved, but I think it's also extended my life. I know that chronic sleep deprivation leads to a variety of illnesses (heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes..etc...).
- simcop2387 11y ago
  One of the worst effects of it that I can think of, is that sleep apnea in general can lead to a slowed metabolism which can make weight gain easier, which leads to more severe sleep apnea causing a runaway condition that causes all of those other illnesses to get worse.

viraptor 11y ago

While I wasn't diagnosed with any actual issue, I definitely didn't sleep enough during/after university. I didn't realise this until a few years later I started going to sleep at the same time as my girlfriend. And that was a huge change - like discovering that yes, you can actually wake up before the alarm and not need 5 of them. I got a similar effect too - some crazy intense dreams. It's a great indicator actually - any time I get too tired / go to sleep too late I don't have them. But go to bed around 10pm - I dream a whole story with multiple characters and long enough to make it a crazy movie. On the other hand, recently I started looking at ways to get rid of dreams... they're just too much if they happen every night.

hemdrup 11y ago
I have found keeping a routine of going to bed around 11 pm and waking up at 06:00. Results in highest creative performance. The time period from 06:00 to 10:00 is the magic hours :)
heed 11y ago
The only thing I've found that reduces my intense dreaming is (believe it or not) cannabis use.
- facetube 11y ago
  Not at all surprising; there's evidence that cannabis use suppresses REM sleep. Anecdotally, people who suddenly stop taking it after long periods of use tend to report unusually vivid dreams.
  - mhink 11y ago
    That's exactly what's happening with my girlfriend right now. She gave up cannabis after years of heavy smoking, and it seems like every morning she wakes up telling me about the intense, vivid dreams she had. That said, while the quitting process has been quite difficult for her (irritability's through the roof- almost as bad as when I've tried to quit smoking cigarettes), she says she started feeling "better" almost immediately. Probably the best part (for both of us, haha) is that her natural appetite is coming back- and in fact, she's reporting that she's developing a taste for a lot of foods she previously didn't like because the flavor was too intense or the texture was too unusual. The only real explanation we can figure out is that the cannabis intensified culinary experiences to the point where she couldn't handle it, and so she just ended up avoiding a lot of types of food. The brain is an interesting organ.
Xcelerate 11y ago
Phenelzine eliminates dreams altogether, but that's probably the worst method of getting rid of them.

kitanata 11y ago

I was diagnosed with moderate-severe OSA last week. This Tuesday I picked up my CPAP. I've used it for two days. I will never sleep without it again. The difference is day and night. I honestly feel like I just snorted two lines of cocaine. I can't remember the last time I was this alert and had this much energy. Unbelievable.

vonmoltke 11y ago

> Using a CPAP was life changing for me. CPAP just barely creates enough benefit for me to keep me using it.

dlo 11y ago
What is your AHI? It is very common for a CPAP to be misconfigured or not to be the right size in the first place. You may want to ask a sleep tech for help. There is documentation online as well.
- vonmoltke 11y ago
  It's about 16, right on the edge of being considered "moderate". I have roughly the same number of conscious wakings with the machine as I do without. I have already had the pressure dropped once. My main problem may be that I can't get enough air through my nose, so I have to breathe through my mouth. Using a chinstrap makes me feel like I am suffocating.

lee 11y ago

Same for me too! I felt like superman after the first time I used it. It's been a few years, and I haven't slept a single night without CPAP. Looking back, I am amazed at how well I was able to function at all. I think not only is my quality of life improved, but I think it's also extended my life. I know that chronic sleep deprivation leads to a variety of illnesses (heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes..etc...).

simcop2387 11y ago
One of the worst effects of it that I can think of, is that sleep apnea in general can lead to a slowed metabolism which can make weight gain easier, which leads to more severe sleep apnea causing a runaway condition that causes all of those other illnesses to get worse.