very interesting...im glad you are getting quality sleep now i hope it continues :)

Higginsp, we dream in REM sleep and most of us with SA never get to REM sleep because we are woken up continuiously when we stop breathing, not sure why your dreams are not good dreams versus nightmares but possibly the increase in oxygen, below I have give a description of sleep cycles and how they work, it is important for us to get through full sleep cycles and between 3 to f5 per night to gain restorative sleep, that is why yourbreathing (emphysema) is getting better. It will get better and better over time, it may not ever be fully healed but won't get worse.

sleep occurs in recurring cycles of 90 to 120 minutes length and is divided into two categories - Non REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and REM sleep

Non REM sleep is divided into 3 stages which are determined by the pattern of brain activity.

Stage One is light sleep or the transition from wakefulness to deeper sleep. Some people may not think they are asleep at this stage. Muscle activity and brain waves slow down and some twitching may occur during this time. This stage usually lasts for about 10 minutes.

Stage Two is a true sleep state. Heart rate and breathing rate begin to slow down and response to external stimuli such as light and noise gets less as the brain shuts down.

Stage Three is known as deep sleep. Breathing and heart rate are at their lowest during this time and muscle activity is limited.

REM Rapid Eye Movement) sleep (also known as dreaming sleep). When we are dreaming our eyes move backwards and forwards under the closed eyelids. During REM sleep heart rate increases, body processes speed up and breathing is irregular. If we are woken up during this cycle we will usually recall our dreams and be less confused and more 'with it' as the brain is very active.
Fortunately our bodies are effectively paralysed during REM sleep to prevent us from acting out our dreams which could in some situations have severe consequences. This stage usually begins 70-90 minutes after we fall asleep and usually lasts for 20-30 minutes.
Generally we have 3-5 episodes of REM sleep each night.

Wow, Tez62! That was awesome information! I understand it much better now! Thank you so much!

It surprised me though when you said, "It (the emphysema) will get better and better over time" because of the restorative sleep I'm getting now. I've been told the emphysema is a progressive disease and will get worse over time. Am I misunderstanding you?

How did you ever get so knowledgeable about all this (and actually retain that knowledge)? Wish I had your ability to retain so much information! I can barely remember what I had for breakfast this morning.

wow tez you truly are amazing thank you for sharing your knowledge with us

As Tez said I rarely entered REM sleep so that I could dream. The few occasions I did dream were all connected to my SA episodes. They were dreams of some sort of event that would cause me to feel as though I was suffocating, or drowning. I always woke gasping which we know is typical for SA. After getting my CPAP and getting REAL sleep I began to have lots and lots of dreams, some were vivid nightmares. 2 1/2 years later I still dream and vividly but the nightmares have ceased. I think in the beginning my subconscious was just catching up on processing the events of my life. And I believe that one of the functions of our dreams is to process happenings in our daily lives. Granted, some don't make sense, at least to the conscious part of our brain, but it's how the subconscious understands and "files" things away for us.

I decided once I got diagnosed I wanted to know as much about the illnees and the obvious extention was sleep in general. I learn't most off the internet either on websites like this or basically Google. Sleep cycles are very very important for everyone not just SA patients. I probably shouldn't have said the emphysema would get better, I meant inprove as in breathing which you seem to have found in the early stages with the sleepweaver. I do believe and this is just from myself and others that have said they get huge improvements in their illness's and in some cases, total remissions, but that depends on the illness and the person. My depression has totally lifted and I've been off all meds for months now. I suppose what I meant to say is it can bring us hope and without hope what do we have, not much.

Thank you to everyone who responded. What you all said makes sense to me, so now I can just relax and enjoy the wonderful sleep and dreams that have eluded me for so long. Sweet dreams!!!