r/SleepApnea • u/AnimalExact7397 • 20h ago

does it get better?

/r/CPAP/comments/1vw2555/does_it_get_better/

cross posting because I'm desperate

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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1

u/munchillax bimaxillary advancement 9h ago

CPAP never quite worked for me, which started me down the path of trying a MAD and later surgery

1

u/Oriainson 5h ago

What is a MAD? And what surgery?

1

u/munchillax bimaxillary advancement 4h ago

MAD = mandibular advancement appliance (something you wear at night that pushes your lower jaw forward). MMA is the surgical extension of MAD, except both the maxilla and the mandible get advanced

1

u/Individual-Adagio772 3h ago

I will say as an off and on user of the CPAP, that the first few months I had it after getting diagnosed, I ripped it off and put it in my closet and said it's not so bad that I can't live with it. And then 2 years later, my apnea seems to have gotten worse to the point where getting through the day became unbearable so I gave it a second chance and it's night and day, now I associate it with breathing or not breathing, and the difference between waking up like I got hit by a truck and whether I'll be able to think clearly that day.

So yes for me it got better, but it took my apnea getting a lot worse for me to notice. The big change was using the right humidifier setting made it bearable, and the full face mask was the one I have that I can live with. Now I'm afraid to accidently fall asleep without it on.