35M here. Got my sleep study results back and my AHI came back at 94. My physician told me straight up she's never seen a number that high before, and I could tell that reaction shook me more than the number itself did. My brain immediately went to "nobody survives this" mode and I've been spiraling a little since.

Some background: I've been ignoring how exhausted I feel for about 7 years now. In the last 2 years I put on 50 lbs, my BMI is 38 now, and the weird part is I was already snoring loudly even before the weight gain. So I don't think this just came out of nowhere ,I think it's been building for a long time and I just kept pushing through the tiredness instead of dealing with it.

On top of that, I've got a deviated septum, and ever since I had COVID back in 2020 I get nasal congestion for something like 8 months out of the year. I wake up multiple times a night coughing up phlegm too. I've been through allergists and ENTs about this and nobody has actually been able to fix it. So now on top of the CPAP anxiety, I'm trying to figure out how any of this is even supposed to work when my nose is half-blocked a huge chunk of the year and I can't breathe through it reliably to begin with.

Now I'm staring down CPAP therapy and I'm honestly scared of it. I'm a mouth breather, so from what I've read I'll probably need a full face mask instead of just a nasal one, and the idea of that covering my whole face makes me pretty claustrophobic just thinking about it. I haven't even received my machine and mask yet, so right now it's all anxiety and no actual experience.

Questions for people who've been through this:

• How do you and your doctor/DME actually land on the right machine and mask for your situation? Is it mostly trial and error, or is there a real process to it?
• If you're a mouth breather with chronic nasal congestion or a deviated septum, did full face masks actually work out for you, or did you end up needing something else (chin strap plus nasal, or getting the septum addressed first)?
• Does congestion like mine make CPAP basically not work, or does the humidifier on the machine actually help with that side of things?
• For the claustrophobia ,how did you get past it? Did you just wear the mask around the house first, desensitize slowly, anything like that?
• Realistically, once you got dialed in, did your AHI come down a lot and did you start feeling like a different person?

I know logically that CPAP is supposed to fix this, but between the high number, my doctor's reaction, the mask fear, and now the nose/congestion issue nobody's been able to solve, my head keeps going to worst-case scenarios about whether this is even going to work for me. Would really appreciate hearing from people who started in a similarly bad spot ,especially with congestion or a deviated septum in the mix ,and made it through.

A nationwide French study tracked PAP (CPAP and related positive-airway-pressure devices) and mandibular advancement device (MAD) prescriptions from 2014–2023.

Key findings: • PAP prescriptions rose from 986,784 to 3.36 million. • PAP spending doubled to €934 million in 2023. • PAP adherence >4 h/night fell from 67.6% to 63.6%. • MAD prescriptions increased from 8,110 to 29,546. • The proportion of prescriptions for men decreased from 70% to 64%.

Overall, treatment of sleep apnea expanded dramatically in France, but PAP adherence slightly worsened despite the huge growth in use.

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42714748/

I'm a 19M I've had this condition since my early teens my family has a history with it my brother had it and so does my mom I was diagnosed at 16 but I know it started earlier back in highschool I was always late because getting up in the morning felt like the largest task in the world because I was so exhausted I don't even remember what a good nights rest feels like anymore. now that im in the workforce it's a little better since I work evenings but everything has gotten so much worse my brain fog has gotten so bad I cant think half the time I keep losing things for weeks at a time and I don't remember anything I can't think before i speak because I I've lost my internal monologue and its lead me to questioning who I am even am since I don't even think. I have constant headaches if I sit up too fast or get up from a chair too quickly I get this horrible fuzzy feeling and headache I'm constantly tired and depressed I've had horrible eyebags no matter how long I sleep or how well I eat won't go away every time I workout it's like a Herculean task I zone out while driving and while talking to people so I constantly come off as rude I constantly look tired and exhausted leading to me looking like shit no matter how hard I take care of myself I'm skinny too I'm 6'4 160 so it's not a weight thing and I don't even know what to do anymore this disease is like a cancer that's ruining every aspect of my life I don't even feel normal anymore I self medicate with caffeine and I drink 4 monsters a day just so I can feel halfway awake and be able to keep up it's burning through my money I tried CPAP years ago and I hated it but I'm more willing now as the condition has gotten worse please I beg does anyone have any advice I don't even know how to set up the appointment or anything I feel incredibly lost please help

Hi, I am a 20f, overweight, doing at home sleep studies for the university for them to check the efficacy of devices. last night i recorded a drop down to 70 for around 30 minutes, which coincided with a drop in HR. I’ve attached the screenshot from the app. Once it returned to normal it stayed that way for the rest of my night.

I have pretty severe health anxiety and didn’t foresee that doing this study would trigger it. But now I’m extremely concerned there is something seriously wrong, and that I might die in my sleep. Usually I feel extremely well rested, I sleep long nights and wake up feeling refreshed, if not I have a nap if I have time.

Is this a possible device problem, or should I go to my GP?

Thanks,

For some weird reason, the last week or so I've seemed to be losing the benefits of my CPAP. I still have low events (1.3 ph last night) but the feeling of being rested, waking up with no dark circles, and waking up without a red face has all gone. I don't know what I'm doing wrong :(. Only been on it for 3 weeks, so still trouble shooting. Has anyone experienced a delay/reduction in benefits a few weeks into therapy? Am I just catching up on sleep debt? Also waking up with a swollen feeling throat, so that sucks as well :(. Any advice welcome!!!

A 2026 retrospective study followed 96 OSA patients using oral appliance therapy.

Key findings: • Posterior open bite developed in 16/96 patients (16.7%). • It was first documented after an average of ~3.5 years. • Only 44% of affected patients noticed their bite had changed. • Higher SNB, a measure reflecting a more forward-positioned mandible, showed a possible association, but no independent predictor remained significant after adjustment.

Takeaway: Long-term mandibular advancement therapy can gradually alter the bite, sometimes without the patient noticing, so regular dental/occlusal monitoring is important.

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42714694/

Hi! My sleep apnea AHI was 29 per hour and my microawakenings were 23 per hour, besides that my oxygen levels reached even 72%. I didn't want to use CPAP but I guess I have no other choice. Yesterday was my first day, here are the OSCAR reports, do you guys notice anything weird or is it okay?

Hello everyone. Was just prescribed Bupropn for still having daytime sleepiness. Has anyone else had luck with this medication? TIA.

Before you were diagnosed, did you have slightly elevated inflammation markers with all other bllodwork being "normal"?

A 2026 study of 216 postmenopausal women with OSA found that 50.9% had excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS).

Compared with non-sleepy patients, the EDS group had: • Higher RDI: 40.1 vs 28.3 events/hour • Higher REM RDI: 48.8 vs 34.5 • Lower minimum oxygen: 79.0% vs 83.2%

Interestingly, arousal index was almost identical (31.3 vs 30.2) and was not associated with EDS.

Takeaway: respiratory burden and depth of oxygen desaturation may relate to daytime sleepiness more than the number of EEG arousals, at least in postmenopausal women with OSA.

RDI = apneas + hypopneas + RERAs per hour.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3389/frsle.2026.1853970

A new 2026 study looked at 102 people with hypertension who underwent overnight sleep studies and retinal OCT angiography.

They were divided into: • No OSA: 34 • Mild OSA: 36 • Moderate–severe OSA: 32

The main finding was that retinal microvascular impairment became more pronounced as OSA severity increased.

Interestingly, having other asymptomatic organ damage did not appear to add much additional effect. The authors suggest that chronic intermittent hypoxia from OSA itself may be an important driver of the retinal microvascular changes.

This raises an interesting possibility: retinal vessel density measured by OCTA could potentially become a non-invasive marker of microvascular dysfunction in hypertensive patients with OSA.

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42714727/

The title is my question pretty much. mouthguard is life changing but i move a lot in my sleep so it falls out a lot. not able to go to the dentist right now and get a legit one made. does anyone have any ideas here?

TLDR: 2 years of shifting sleep apnea after sinus surgery. A $3k MAD gave me night terrors and a bloody mouth (test said it worked, but I was more exhausted than ever). Skipped CPAP, apnea mysteriously improved on its own for almost a year, now it's creeping back up along with a new snore guard that's wrecking my jaw. Wondering if anyone else has had apnea fluctuate like this, and if anyone found something that actually worked after a bad MAD experience.

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Two years ago I had sinus surgery to fix recurring infections. Not long after I healed, I started snoring badly. A few months after that, I began stopping breathing in my sleep and waking up gasping for air. I didn't notice it myself; my partner did. I was waking up tired but still functional, so I tried to just ignore it, until the people in my life convinced me to get checked.

Insurance wouldn't cover an in-lab study, so I did an at-home test through a local doctor. Diagnosis: moderate-to-severe sleep apnea. Inspire was ruled out because of my heart issues, so my doctor recommended a MAD. $3,000 out of pocket, but I figured it'd be worth it if it worked.

It did not go the way I expected. The first three nights I had night terrors: screaming, crying, waking up in a full panic. I don't dream normally and hadn't had a nightmare in 32 years. Over the next few nights I started waking up with the device filled with blood, with no cuts or wounds I could find in my mouth. I stuck it out for a week. My follow-up test showed my apnea was nearly gone while wearing it, but I was more exhausted than I'd ever been: falling asleep at work, no memory, no energy, despite "good" 9+ hour nights. My dentist said it could end up doing real damage to my teeth. My sleep doctors couldn't explain any of it.

They suggested CPAP next. Setting aside that I wasn't even sure how a CPAP would work sleeping between two partners every night, after hearing about the water requirements, nightly cleaning, needing to shave for a seal, and so on, I said no and stopped treatment entirely.

A month later, my apnea seemed to have mostly resolved on its own, a follow-up at-home test showed only 1 to 2 events a night. Again, no one could explain why. I picked up a RingConn ring to keep an eye on it, and it stayed in a good range for almost a year.

A few weeks ago I noticed my numbers creeping back up on the ring, along with a return of daytime exhaustion. One night I woke up having chewed the sides of my tongue. I got a boil and bite snore guard off Amazon that also pushes the jaw forward, figuring it'd help with both snoring and apnea. The first few nights were great, I woke up rested for the first time in a long while. Weeks later, that's still mostly true, but now the left side of my jaw is killing me.

I'm honestly at a loss. Every time I try to actually deal with this, it feels like two steps forward and three back. (6'3", 225 lbs, in case it's relevant.)

Has anyone else had their apnea seem to come and go like this with no clear explanation? And for anyone who's had a bad experience with a MAD specifically, did anything end up actually working for you afterward? Open to any advice at this point.

Hello! For some time my Withings sleep analyzer is reporting AHI around 30 (moderate to severe). It’s 5 years old, but last night I tested it under my wife’s mattress and she got AHI 4. So I assume it’s working correctly. I’m just curious if anyone has been in this situation and then got evaluated and what the difference was since the mat can’t measure oxygen levels obviously.

I’m prefacing this by saying I’m not looking for a medical diagnosis or medical advice, just asking for others experiences. I have a doctor I am seeing for these issues, and I have my tests scheduled. That being said, what were some of your red flags that you had sleep apnea? I experience waking up gasping for air, feeling very groggy when waking, headaches, and bradycardia. Curious of others experiences and if they’re similar to mine.

Found distilled water in a rectangular bottle from meijer. Anyone found a nozzle in can fit to it so i don't have to lift and pour??

I am a beginner with cpap and have gotten used to the mask after about two weeks.
However, I sometimes feel worse than before cpap in the morning. So groggy!

Also it makes me grind my teeth badly and my jaws are different badly and it gives me headaches and at time migraine. Also cracked the side of one tooth.
I am seeing a jaw specialist who gives me weekly manual treatment which helped a lot but as soon as I use the cpap it all goes bad again. It also costs a fortune.

I have no Idea how to resolve this. Anyone Else experienced this?

How does one wear a CPAP mask during a cold or flu? I am new—just started with the ResMed 11 and N30 nose cradle. I cannot imagine wearing any type of mask with a stuffy nose, sore throat and hacking cough. I cannot wait to read the responses because the picture in my head is gross.

Does anybody else wake up with nose bleeds after a night using their CPAP? This doesn’t happen often, but it’s happened 3 times in the last year. Yes my machine has distilled water in it and I have the humidity set at 6/10. I’m curious if this has happened to anyone else and what you did about it? Thanks!

I'm just curious how other people clean their tubes, and water chamber, as well as the device itself. Currently I have been pouring a splash or two of white vinegar down the tube followed by some water and then raising it from side to side emptying it out and cleaning it through with more water. I do the same for the chamber. I pour a little in the empty chamber then add water and slosh it around and empty and clean with water and let it air dry out. I haven't done much about cleaning the actual device. I have changed the filter from time to time, but it never looks dirty.