New thread for group support and ideas for anyone who suspects they need, currently uses, or should be using a CPAP for sleep apnea. Let’s all do the thing together!
Welcoming commiseration, true stories of how you got started and adjusted to it (or didn’t adjust), product suggestions, support and cheering on of success.
I’ll go first. Got my machine in 2021, used it for a short time, IDK how long exactly…in the range of months, but less than a year. Never really got comfortable with it.
With my recent moving into a new place, I unearthed the machine and ordered all new supplies and sanitized the machine. There is no real excuse, but knowing I’m not the only one struggling and/or becoming accustomed to it will help.
I am here!!
I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea in Jan 2025 after a decade of TMJ dysfunction. Part of the body’s response to wake you up when you’ve stopped breathing also makes you clench your jaw. Who knew?!
Before CPAP I was a 8-9hrs a night, woke up still groggy, sometimes took a 2-3 hour nap during the afternoon kind of gal. After 3-4 months on CPAP I pretty much dropped the afternoon nap and naturally wake up around after 7.5-8.5 hours of sleep. Yes, I still have high sleep needs! I think that’s just genetic. I do, however, generally feel more rested if not 100% rested.
I ended up having double jaw surgery to alleviate a mechanical issue in my TMJ joint which also helps with my sleep apnea, and due to the bone healing I’ve not been allowed to use a CPAP in the meantime. I’m having a repeat sleep study in Nov!
Double surgery, oof!
See, it’s stuff like this that I think is going to be so valuable to us all, since, yeah, who knew???
I won’t get the results of my sleep study for 2-3 months but I would love to follow along! If you don’t know me, I’m a 45-year-old mom of teens and a preschooler, I’m in the obese range, and I have asthma (well controlled) and environmental allergies (less well controlled).
I snore and sometimes I am sleepy during the day, to the extent that I avoid long drives in the early afternoon. I don’t snore every night or particularly loudly. The sleepiness problem predates the weight gain, the adult-onset asthma, etc, and I have always been happier with 8 1/2-9 hours of sleep than with 7 1/2-8.
My father has used a CPAP for many years. Prior to that, he snored loudly enough that you could be several rooms away in the house and listen to the alarmingly long gaps in his breathing… and you had a lot of chances as he slept 12-14 hours per day. So that’s what I associate with need but I KNOW obviously most people who benefit from a CPAP don’t have such severe symptoms!
Confession: I find myself more interested in Zepbound than a CPAP, if I do have sleep apnea. I’m super curious because, like, isn’t everyone tired? But most people aren’t nodding off at the wheel on three cups of coffee, or so I’m told.
I think it depends on the cause of your apnea which would help, like, if you just physically have a smaller airway, the CPAP air will kind of force your airways open so you get oxygen.
If I weren’t married to mr. flan I would seriously wonder that, but he snores like a TRAIN but has a perfect in-lab sleep study score and wakes up naturally between 6-7am every morning full of energy and joie de vivre (unless our children have been getting him up all night which would make anyone exhausted).
hello hello!
diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2017 while I was in community college. I was sleeping 8-11 hours a night, never felt rested, and started getting extremely cranky. I had a hard time getting to sleep and staying asleep.
I was diagnosed with sleep apnea & insomnia (caused by the apnea).
I got my machine, felt rested for the first time in months, & never looked back. I did eventually switch from the over-the-nose mask to the little cushion one that sits under your nose.
I am loving this! I just got diagnosed with severe sleep apnea at age 55. I’m a little salty that my doctor didn’t catch it/suggest a sleep study, and I’m a little sad that it’s taken so long (I am assuming it has contributed to many of my issues like being chronically tired, low energy, cognitive fatigue, chronic pain, inflammation, metabolic disorder, dry eye syndrome, etc.).
Anyway, I will be calling my insurance company on Monday to see where to send the CPAP order and also to ask them if they will cover Zepbound. The impetus for me to ask for a sleep study was wanting to go on a low does GLP-1 for its anti-inflammatory effects and to help with chronic pain.
I am a side sleeper (in part due to back/hip pain), so am expecting the transition to the CPAP to be rather annoying.
I’m in! I bought my CPAP in May. It’s been a long tough ride with the various providers here in our region of Canada. We are not allowed by law to set any of the settings on our CPAP but humidity. I find that extremely frustrating. The clinician sets everything via wifi.
I was sold a heated hose in the spring and I sweat so much at night my full face mask literally slides off my face! I was told maybe next year I could buy an unheated hose. Why not now?
I am suspicious I am receiving sub-standard care because we do not have private insurance. Initially when the clinician found out we had no private medical insurance, she tried to sell us a CPAP machine that was very noisy and didn’t help at all. I kept ripping the nasal mask off in my sleep.
Eventually I teased her about trying to sell me a sub-standard machine and she became quite upset. She let me try “them all”. A ResMed I couldn’t try because it stank like cigar smoke - I’m severely allergic to smoke of all kinds - and a Phillips DreamStation 2, which I finally bought in the end. It was quieter than the first one she had me on. The first one was a Yuwell.
I have moderate sleep apnea. Not diagnosed properly the first time ten years ago out west. I had challenges with the sleep clinics here in the east as well. But the tests don’t lie. If you stop breathing 25 x in an hour, you stop breathing. I understand That isn’t bad compared to most people, but it ain’t nothing either. I was having similar problems to the rest of you: asthma, obesity, multiple meds messing with my metabolism. Sleeping 8-9 hoursa night, waking up tired, 2 hour afternoon naps, not trusting myself behind the wheel of a car. Massive headaches on waking, terrible nightmares. Yeah. It sucks. Still does. Dentist asked me if I grind my teeth. I have no idea. Not when I’m awake. Might when I’m sleeping. Who knows? 
Oh man. I had a long-ass post typed out, like four paragraphs and a cat jumped up on me and therefore my laptop and now it’s all gone. 
I’m curious if you’ve seen any benefit to the CPAP?
Actually yes. That’s why I keep trying with it. I don’t have as bad nightmares. My naps are shorter to nonexistent. I wake up with milder headaches that disappear when I get up. I sleep for more like 7 hours a night instead of 8 or 9. I’m still tired on waking though. Just not enough to warrant the afternoon nap.
Thank you! I’m trying to be realistic about my expectations regarding how hard it’s going to be to get used to, and how much benefit I will get, especially in the beginning. I think if I hadn’t heard everyone’s stories here, I probably would have given up after about three nights. I will be much more committed to trying to make it work now.
(Still need to call my insurance company on Monday about getting one.)
That is so long to wait! Be sure to update us when you know and if you end up with a CPAP then hopefully the thread will be a treasure trove of info by then.
I’m not sleepy in the day, but I don’t find the same amount of sleep restful as when I was younger. Hoping the CPAP (after becoming accustomed to it) helps.
It’s also tangled up with perimenopause & medication side effect sleep issues, but maybe that just means it’s more important to use the machine (I’m telling myself).
So glad it’s been so helpful for you! Interestingly, my doctor started me out with the cushion mask and I haven’t tried the bigger one. Wondering if it might be easier to adjust to? I’m a mouth breather and particularly at night. So keeping my mouth closed while falling asleep was an additional adjustment.
Sucks that it wasn’t caught earlier. I was told that I snored long before I was diagnosed. It wasn’t until I was with Current Partner that this was a problem, because Prior Partner was an alcoholic and would be deep “asleep” or kind of sedated and so it didn’t wake him.
Anyway, wouldn’t it have been nice to capture the “other” health and lifestyle benefits sooner? Yes. At the same time, I’m glad we (all) are getting the help we need now.
The sleep technician who set me up said side sleeping is the best position for sleep apnea. So you have that going for you.
That is rough! It’s terrible that you are not able to just get the mask you need. I’d be soooo tempted to try to cut whatever wires are supplying the heat.
Glad to hear it’s somewhat helpful, and hope that maybe the non-heated tube will make more of a difference, when you get it.
I know what that’s like!
Lurking along because I think I don’t have any sleep issues (aside from being the world’s lightest sleeper) but I highly suspect my husband should get tested for sleep apnea. We’ve talked about it. He snores like crazy and is never not trying to take a nap mid-day. He sleeps as late as he wants and thank the lord his work doesn’t care and just is happy that he shows up. Literally.
We sleep separately and it’s great.
I don’t use a cpap but I do have a retainer that pulls my jaw forward while I sleep to prevent my apnea. I am considering getting retested to see if I still have the apnea and if I should switch to a cpap. I just went a few months without wearing the retainer and have started again. My teeth hurt but I’m hoping to be less tired too.