Cpap and strange dreams?

Welcome @jaliscum, There is an older discussion you might want to scan through to read what others with similar experiences have shared.
-- Does Sleep Apnea cause weird dreams?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/does-sleep-apnea-cause-weird-dreams/

I've had some strange dreams on and off even before I started using CPAP so I'm really not sure the CPAP triggers the dreams for me. How long have you been using a CPAP machine?

If you really do benefit from PAP therapy, there's a good chance your 'sleep' prior to commencing the therapy was only charitably called sleep. It was disrupted constantly and you almost never had a chance to enter REM state sleep. Now, properly sleeping, you're getting real dreams. You've just forgotten what they're like!
😀

When I first started using a CPAP, I was told to expect some weird dreams, vivid nightmares, and other uncomfortable experiences for maybe a month.

They weren't kidding.

As @johnbishop explained above, your brain has a lot of catching up to do, and it'll take you on some interesting trips for a while.

Mine lasted about three weeks, as I recall (that was 25 years ago). I felt so much better afterwards that the nightmares had been a very small price to pay.

In fact, a year or so later I built one of my most creative and successful projects ever. I could not have done it had I still been so sleep-deprived.

I personally haven’t had issues with dreams but my dad did. He dreaded using his machine it really bothered him. His doctor gave him something to calm him before bed that seemed to help. He only needed the meds for a few weeks while he adjusted to using the machine.

@johnbishop i have seen a big increase in my dreams since using my CPAP but none were what I would consider bad dreams. I figured it was due to improved sleep quality with the CPAP.

Welcome @55randyman, I think you are probably right. I saw this information on better sleep that mentions REM sleep associated with dreams - https://www.sleepfoundation.org/dreams/how-do-dreams-affect-sleep. It sounds like your sleep has improved since using a CPAP. How long have you been using one?

@55randyman The CPAP machine, if fitted well and set for the correct therapeutic values, will help the patient to sleep with far fewer 'arousals'. Each time you experience hypopnea or an outright obstructive and apneic event, you awaken, even partially, due to your brain's protective nature and wanting to ensure you are more alert to deal with whatever the threat appears to be...in this case hypercapnia, or high levels of CO2 that become toxic if left unflushed by regular breathing. (Our diaphragms work when CO2 level in the blood gets too high, NOT when our oxygen levels get 'too low.')

Then, sleep in healthy people goes in stages, with one of them being REM sleep which is associated with dreaming. If an arousal happens before REM, that process is interrupted and begins all over again, although it CAN be sped up and you might dream inside of only 20-30 minutes, and not the normal 90-ish minutes it takes from the onset of sleep at bedtime. So, with proper sleep stage progression newly enabled by proper PAP therapy, now you're beginning to dream and some of them might be not only vivid and maybe disturbing, but they're also more memorable for their emotional and memory associations from real life.