I will admit it.  I've been a complainer.  2 machines, 4 settings, 5 masks and 6 weeks later, I can't say that I'm feeling better yet.  But I am curious if maybe some of the things I've been reading lately, on this forum, could be part of 'my problem'.  

What I was doing is waking up 1/2 to 1 hour before my alarm, taking off my mask and snoozing w/o it until the alarm went off.  Since I've recently read that that negates the whole thing, I've been leaving the mask on.  When my alarm sounds now, I am in such a deep sleep that I'm quite groggy for awhile (more than pre-cpap days).  

Could it be that by taking the mask off daily for a short period of time that I am not only negating the effects, but hiding my sleep debt too?
Now that I'm wearing it I can barely wake up for my alarm.  Could it be that my slept debt is screaming for more sleep and thus the morning grog and my general state of not feeling better???

I have noticed that on those rare nights that I can be in bed for 10 - 12 hours that I feel one heckuva lot better.

Any thoughts, ideas, solutions, or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I should add that the time I wake up (pre-alarm) is about 6 hours after I originally fall asleep, with at least one wakeful period in the night battling leaks.  Not enough sleep for me.

I used to retire to bed at around 11:00 PM when I worked for Verizon, and got probably 6 hrs sleep if I was lucky. I didn't know any different, feelingwise, I thought how I felt was normal. I have since retired after 32 years. A long time to feel a certain way.

I have just started to retire to bed at around 9:00 PM recently in the past two or three months (only because my wife used to so she could get to sleep before I started snoring and would keep her awake), and what a world of difference!! I feel much more rested. Now this was BEFORE I started using the CPAP machine.

I now drive a school bus and I'm up at 5:30 in the morning, and on the road at 6:45 AM. Now that I am using the CPAP machine for almost going on two weeks, I feel even more rested in the morning. Just unbelievable!! (And the best part is no more snoring, and my wife has returned to our room) Yippee!!!

I guess everyone is different with regards to the amount of sleep you need. I find that I need at least anywhere between 8-10 hrs to feel refreshed in the morning. Minimum of 8. But the machine has made THE difference. I never remove mine until I'm up.

I would urge you to keep trying until you find a comfort level with both the machine and the amount of time you require before giving up. This will take time. I hope you work it out!!

Paul,
Good to hear that your wife is back in your bed!  I tried to go to bed one hour earlier last night, without any improvement, but it is now the weekend, so I will keep my mask on and try to sleep as much as I can.
Thanks for responding.
Linnea