Diagnosed with sleep apnea last September. I started CPAP use following a septoplasty/turbinate reduction surgery in November. It took me about two months to adapt and find a mask that worked for me… I slept well for about three weeks, then my daughter was born and I stopped using the CPAP for about a month. Once I got back into the swing of things, I noted a marked uptick in restful sleep.
I’ll say this: it makes a difference, for certain. I don’t have in-depth analytics, but anecdotally, I can tell you that my ability to comply with sustained power workouts is improved when I get good sleep vs. when I don’t. I had two consecutive nights of poor sleep Thursday and Friday nights, and Saturday’s Palisade was “failed”. I experienced similar failures during Sustained Power Build after my daughter was born.
So, I think you can expect that your ability to comply with your training plan is going to improve, due to improved recovery. That said, I wouldn’t go into your training expecting to be able to train at a higher FTP immediately because you’re sleeping better. The effect of the improved sleep will pay off in improving your training process… but it’s still a process. It’ll allow you to push higher than before with reduced mental fatigue and improved recovery, but the tangible payoff is going to take a period of weeks or months.
I have the ResMed Airsense 10. It also offers the online sleep tracking and analytics. I’ve been very happy with the combination of that CPAP with the dreamware nasal pillows. I don’t see a need to tape my mouth shut, personally… I just hold a pillow and support my lower jaw with it, no issues.