I’ve been using a CPAP for a couple years, and remember everyone making it seem like there would be an instant change that supercharges everything. This never noticeably happened, but thinking back, things without a doubt improved over time. I mostly notice when I don’t have my CPAP for a night, and I wake up feeling like I didn’t get enough sleep with a sore throat.
The main things I notice now... I used to be able to sleep 12 hours a night easy and wake up tired, now I can hardly sleep more than 8 hours and function completely fine on 6 hours. I can drive for more than 2 hours without having to pull over and take a nap. I don’t feel like I’m about to doze off at work regularly. My productivity has overall increased, but it was a gradual change that I don’t notice unless I think back to my productivity in the past.
Before I started CPAP therapy, I was in a lot of pain. Car accident didn't help. I just dragged on wearing down little by little. My apnea got worse to the point that my partner was worried I wouldn't start breathing after stopping. The first day after I felt a lot less pain. I was still very groggy, but I hadn't felt that good in a long time. It took a while to get up to full speed and feeling normal. Months of barely sleeping took months to recoup from. I still like 9.5 hours of sleep. When I start to decline in performance or hit a wall, that's usually what I try to get back to first, because that's just hard to get squeezed in so I get less usually. Then checking if I'm getting enough exercise and calorie intake.
The main things I notice now... I used to be able to sleep 12 hours a night easy and wake up tired, now I can hardly sleep more than 8 hours and function completely fine on 6 hours. I can drive for more than 2 hours without having to pull over and take a nap. I don’t feel like I’m about to doze off at work regularly. My productivity has overall increased, but it was a gradual change that I don’t notice unless I think back to my productivity in the past.