poppiesroses, did you have a sleep study? if so, do you know what your AHI was? I don't know very many people where oral devices work. They may in very mild cases of sleep apnea where the AHI or Apnea Hypo apnea Index is clos to the normal person which is 5 or people stop breathing on average 5 or less times per hour for 10 secs or more. The other problem with an oral device is you have no way of knowing if it is effective treatment or not. At least with a CPAP machine it will tell you if your treatment is effective.

I stop breathing 9 times in one hour.

poppiesroses, that is mild SA, the oral device ifit works, normally reduces apnea, for example, if it is currently 9 it may bring it down to say 5, but you don't know. I'm not sure if you have been given a choice between an oral device or a CPAP or not. I know which one I would take. I think oral devices cost between $200 and $400 so you could try it. Can you tell us what symptoms you have that caused you to have a sleep study, that is the other way of knowing if your treatment is working, if those symptoms disappear.

I was tired all the time. I'm overweight. My mom had it. So I was tested. Right now I've been given a cpap machine to try out. My mom would get awful colds from it. I'm just getting over pneumonia. Do when I tried it out for a couple hours a few days it was sooo cold I didn't want to use it again. We always have the air conditioning on as it gets too stuffy in our room. So last night I tucked then hose under the covers. It does have a humidifier but I woke up with a sore throat this a.m. regarding the orals. I wanted to compare the two.

With the CPAP, you can raise and lower the humidity, what brand and model CPAP do you have, also what mask, pillows, nasal or full face mask? Also the sore throat could be if you are a mouth breather and your not using a full face mask. The other things is at the start different people react differently to CPAP. I have had a cold since I started as my immune system is getting so much better due to my CPAP. Just from what you have said about your weight and your mother, this illness can and most likely is hereditary, losing some weight my help but won't cure it. I hope we can help you adjust to CPAP, at least your trying it. There are lots of tips we can give you as well as support, please try to stick with it the advantages far out weigh the disadvantages.

Philips respironics system one. Nasal pillow system. I'm claustrophobic but can seem to handle the nasal pillow. Will they be able to tell from the card whether I'm breathing through my mouth or nose. My husband said he doesn't hear me snore anymore. When I'm facing him he can hear my breaths out.

Also I'm sleeping very hard. Especially in the morning. I don't think I'm waking up as much. I used to wake up and wonder why. Recently I woke up finding it hard to breathe .

They won't be able to tell you whether your breathing through your mouth or nose, your husband will know if you don't, if you get that awful sound that comes out, you are breathing through your mouth. The two options for mouth breathers are use a chin strap to keep your mouth close (doesn't always work) or a full face mask. Normally people that breathe through their mouth during the day will so at night as it is a habit so if your say watching TV see how your breathing is your mouth closed, are you breathing through your nose. There is free software you can use to see that data yourself which I can show you how to download and use, but your probably need to get your mask situation sorted first and just get used to CPAP before you go done that track. Another measure of whether CPAP is working or not is how you feel during the day are you feeling better than before, but remeber for most people CPAP takes about 3-6 months to really kick in.

I never breathe through my mouth during the day, but I am a mouth breather at night. ,I CANNOT wear a full face mask (they keep me up all night), so nasal pillows and nasal masks are my only option. Sometimes my nose gets too stuffy for a nasal mask, but the pillows can kind of blast through the stuffiness. I also CANNOT wear a chin strap (keeps me up at night), so I tape my lips closed with paper tape. I've now been doing that every night for 7 months. Yes, it's getting old, so I got fitted for the oral appliance. The first night I wore it, I was in very bad pain, so I'm going back to have it adjusted again. My Dad swears by his and I hoped it would be a fix for me since I've worn a mouth guard for years and I'm used to sleeping with a dental appliance... But, no. I guess there's no great remedy.

I recommend you use distiller water, wash the pillows every night and was the other cpap parts once a week to stave off colds. Good luck!

MrsHannah, are you by chance a sales rep for this air purifier? I notice that you have posted in several different support groups singing the praises of this air purifier.
Most sleep apneas, mild or otherwise have nothing to do with air quality. They are caused for the most part by the tongue relaxing to the back of the throat or by the throat collapsing on itself.

I agree with Liz, we shouldn't be giving people false hope for something as serious as sleep apnea.

Hi poppiesroses,

I went back to have my oral appliance (OA) adjusted. They're sending it back to the lab to have material added to the front to stabilize it. It'll be another month ~ this has been a LONG process. Also, just so you know, my insurance wouldn't approve the OA until I went back to the sleep doc and had her say I needed both the cpap AND OA. And, after insurance, the OA is still $400 or something.

A final 2 cents about the cpap: be very, very grateful that you sleep hard. Feeling claustrophobic is no fun, but waking every 2 minutes because there is a mask on your face is worse than the original apnea! I started using the Wisp nasal mask and this is the best mask I've ever tried: completely silent, very light and the head gear has smart clasps, the hose sits in a holder at the top of your head and doesn't shift at all when you toss and turn all night. Bliss:
http://www.cpap.com/productpage/wisp-nasal-cpap-mask-fit-pack-pr.html?gclid=CJGw_JX1k7gCFcU5QgodrC0APg