underforge00

I had bizarre sleeping patterns also, that can be fixed with a bit of discipline and applied knowledge.

You're lucky to be diagnosed so early with sleep apnea. I wasn't diagnosed with extreme obstructive sleep apnea until I was 27. Effectively 27 years of feeling run down constantly.

School was hell as I was always tired in the mornings and exhausted in the afternoons. University was much the same, barely making it to lectures due to being exhausted.

My work has also suffered, especially early starts, I would be lucky if I had 3-4 hours 'sleep', not to mention not having any solid REM sleep or dreams.

Now I have my apap machine it feels like I'm clawing my life back. Mentally sharper, better concentration etc and my blood pressure is coming down.

It's a result of the body being able to enter the REM state and stay in that stage. If I don't use the apap machine I'll continually stay in a light sleep state, not breathing for up to 30 seconds at a time, 'waking up' but not consciously and repeating this pattern for 8-10 hours. At that stage I'll wake up and feel like utter garbage.

With the machine, I'm able to go into a deep uninterrupted sleep allowing REM to occur, then wake up feeling refreshed after 7 or so hours.