I am a college senior with sleep apnea. For me, it makes it so I can't focus, i have no energy to do things I like, much less need to do. I am miserable and stressed all the time. I do not know what to do. I have not been formally diagnosed, but I have reason to suspect I might also have insomnia. I tried using sleep aids, such as ambien, but they didn't help me fall asleep. All they did was make me extremely groggy when I got up in the morning.
I tried using the CPAP, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not fall asleep with it. The mask freaked me out and the noise the machine made kept me awake. On the rare occasion I actually started to fall asleep, I immediately felt the need to get up to go to the restroom. After what felt like hours just staring at the ceiling, I would give up each night. And then I ran out of time to use it. The insurance company didn't care that I was trying to get used to this bizarre feeling machine while going to school full-time. I didn't meet their time requirements, and they were kind of rude about it.
After some time, I again met with the ENT who initially got me set-up with the sleep-study, and he recommended an oral appliance. I met with a dentist who would make it, and he basically said it would cost a ton of money. My mom did some research, and she recommended I try the Zyppah before buying a custom made one, just to make sure I could fall asleep with it. I ran into the same problem as the CPAP, no matter how hard I tried, I could not go to sleep.
Apologies, this part gets a little gross. It causes hyper-salivation, which I thought I could handle. The guy who makes it said it would go away after some time, but failed to say when that would be. I tried sleeping on my side with it in, but my pillow and side of my face kept getting soaked. I tried sleeping on my back with my head tilted back. I almost choked. I even threw up 1 or 2 times while attempting to fall asleep with it. I actually cried a few times because I was so tired and just wanted to be done with sleep apnea.
