Diagnosed - Deferred Treatment

I've had apnea for a long time. I'm tired all the time. I was diagnosed officially almost a year ago. The treatment is expensive. I hate the mask. I almost fell asleep driving again. I'd like to try some of the oral / dental appliances. I'm just not sure if I have that "kind" of apnea --- I mean I don't know if I spend that money out of pocket -- much less than the cpap if it will help. How does one know if an appliance will work? Can you test them or is there some kind of other criteria to use?

I am a dentist working in dental sleep medicine. Oral appliances work only for obstructive sleep apnea. They do not treat central sleep apnea. Your sleep study should tell you which kind that you had. An oral appliance works well for most people with mild to moderate OSA and for a smaller percentage with severe OSA. An OTC cheapie appliance WOULD NOT be a fair test. There is a very good appliance called a MYTap which dentists can fabricate in office for a charge of around $450-$650 that would be a very good tester for you. It would only last about 1-2 years, but if you are doing well, you could invest in something that would last much longer. Arthur B. Luisi, Jr., D.M.D.

Thank you very much for this information.

You say that you hate "the mask" but there is a huge variety of masks available now. What have you tried? Finding just the right one for you can make the world of difference. It sounds like your symptoms are pretty severe, so it may be well worth your while investigating what can be done to make CPAP more usable for you. You can pick up a new CPAP machine from http://www.secondwindcpap.com/ for as little as $250 USD, less if you're OK with second hand.