use cpap in 2 distinct sleep cycles

I just started using a CPAP machine for the first time. I have used it for about 10 days. Before I started using the machine my normal sleep cycle was to deep for about 3-4 hours and be wide awake so I would lay there and listen to the radio for an hour or so and doze off and wake and then after going to the bathroom I would sleep for another 3-5 hours.

Since I started wearing the CPAP I tried to wear it all night. This didn't work well becuase when I was kind of awake in the middle of the night I would keep the mask on and it drove me crazy and made it so that I couldn't go back to sleep. I would keep having to scratch my nose, etc. It was sort of self defeating because it would keep me awake.

Now, I am wearing it for my initial sleep cycle, When I wake in the middle of the night I just do what I always did and doze and listing to the radio. When I get up to go the bathroom I put the mask back on. So I am now wearing it for about 7 hours per night and feel ok.

My question is, should I try to wear it during the dozing in the hopes that my sleep cycle will eventually change and I won't need to be awake for one or 2 hours or, since this seems to be working for me and I don't mind listening to the radio in the middle of the night, just carry on as I am doing?

My thoughts are that one should try to get one continuous sleep during the night, but I realize that not everyone can do that. If I am forced to get up to P then I just disconnect the mask and re connect it again. That puts me back in the Auto Ramp mode of my ResMed machine, and I don't find it that difficult to get back to sleep. The machine will only stay in the Auto Ramp mode for 30 minutes max, and then it increases to the treatment pressure, so I think I would find that uncomfortable if I was not asleep. However, each machine is typically set up differently.

You may want to read the information at the link below. The intent of the material is not CPAP specific, but more techniques to get a better sleep without using medications. I have found many of the tips quite helpful. For example they recommend that if you cannot sleep, then get up -- don't stay in bed. Also, one of my issues was that I was trying to sleep too long, as I am retired and have no specific time to get up. I have tried to go to bed later, and get up at a specific time. I try to limit my sleep time to 8 hours max. Studies have shown that we only need 7-8 hours of quality sleep per night to get a full rest. I think if we try to push that then sleep quality and insomnia can result. I also try to avoid napping during the day, as that also reduces sleep demand and can lead to insomnia.

Sleepwell - It's No Dream

Hope that helps some

That was an interesting website.

I have no need for compliance and I will always hate my machine and my mask in particular so I fail to see a reason for keeping it on when I am awake.

I tear it off the instant I wake don't even look at it until I am committed to going back to sleep.

I tend to live by the same concepts Sierra outlined although I do take the occasional daytime nap if my nights have been seriously disrupted by health or machine issues and my sleep times are all over the place because they naturally drift later of their own accord but revert back to really early when we have the grandchildren over which is at least 3 nights per week.

It has been a long time since I have slept several hours straight so I presume age and other circumstances tend to put many of us in the same place, sleeping in two or more shifts.

I am never in bed before I am ready to sleep. I wander around and try to get a few loose ends sorted then I play some boring game on the comp or read a book in a comfy chair then the moment the next wave hits I hi-tail it back to bed.