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14 min read<\/p>\n14 min read<\/p>\n
LANDON STRUGGLED TO figure out what his problem was\u2014and then he had to grapple with finding a solution that didn\u2019t drive him crazy. The 39-year-old hair stylist from Chicago was always tired in the morning and thought he had recurring trouble with allergies<\/a>. \u201cI would wake up with a sinusy pressure headache all the time,\u201d he says, noting that he tried nasal strips and all sorts of allergy pills.<\/p>\n His father, who was overweight and had a big \u201cdad gut,\u201d had been diagnosed with sleep apnea and used a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, but as a slim, fit young guy, Landon didn\u2019t think apnea could be the explanation for his congestion and headaches. And he sure as hell didn\u2019t want to wear a CPAP every night.<\/p>\n But after talking to a client whose 7-year-old son was using a CPAP device to deal with similar symptoms, Landon decided to do an at-home sleep study. And that\u2019s when he learned he didn\u2019t have allergies. Just like his dad, he had sleep apnea.<\/p>\n \u201cAdjusting to my CPAP was awful,\u201d Landon says. The CPAP machine\u2019s mask, latched on to his face, didn\u2019t feel right. The tubing was unwieldy, which made changing positions during sleep nearly impossible. \u201cAt first, I felt like I was being suffocated, like an octopus was wrapping its tentacles around my head while I was sleeping.\u201d<\/p>\n For months, his nights were agony, and he had thoughts of abandoning the device altogether. The stress of using his machine got so bad, he says, he \u201cactually asked my doctor to give me anti-anxiety medication<\/a> to help me adjust to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Landon stuck with it, he says, because he knew from his dad about the dangers of trying to live with untreated apnea. Without a CPAP, he\u2019d be at greater risk for heart problems<\/a>, cognitive issues<\/a>, and the general feeling of being zonked out for the rest of his semi-waking life.<\/p>\n By weathering those first rough months, and with additional help from follow-up adjustments over the next few years, Landon says he eventually found a way to make peace with his CPAP. He now considers the device a lifesaver he wouldn\u2019t sleep without. But many patients never reach that hard-earned inflection point\u2014the physical and emotional discomfort is just too much.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a chance that a sleep apnea pill, which would fix the biological reasons behind airway collapse, could help people sleep easier. The drug is currently in clinical trials.<\/p>\n Which is a legitimate crisis when you consider scale. Experts estimate<\/a> that nearly 84 million adults in the U.S. have obstructive sleep apnea\u2014and that a staggering 80 percent of those cases remain undiagnosed. One study<\/a> found that more than one in three men met the diagnostic criteria for sleep apnea, twice the rate for women.<\/p>\n Apart from living life in a zombie-like state, the lasting effects of untreated sleep apnea really are brutal. \u201cThere\u2019s a slew of long-term chronic health issues that can occur if you have untreated sleep apnea,\u201d says Ruchir P. Patel, MD<\/a>, founder of the Insomnia and Sleep Institute of Arizona. Heart attacks. Mood disorders. Early death. (To name just a few.)<\/p>\n As it was for Landon, struggling to land on a diagnosis of sleep apnea can feel like a nightmare. But then there\u2019s the ordeal of actually finding the right treatment. Most patients are directed to CPAP devices, which are considered the gold standard for apnea management. While they\u2019re a dream for some, others see them as medieval, restrictive, claustrophobia-inducing, intimacy-killing machines.<\/p>\n Online, CPAP users share their frustrations and struggles with the device\u2014but also how the treatment has dramatically improved their lives. \u201cIt\u2019s not what I wanted, but it\u2019s definitely what I needed,\u201d reads one post.<\/p>\n The therapy may be effective, but many apnea sufferers find it so uncomfortable that they\u2019re compelled to explore other life-altering options: various operations, surgically implanted devices, pricey custom mouth guards paid for out of pocket. None of these options are simple either.<\/p>\n Fortunately, sleep specialists and researchers feel like they\u2019re finally zeroing in on better, less frustrating ways to help patients. The big question is whether men will wake up to the fact that they have sleep apnea\u2014and stick with the treatment.<\/p>\n IF YOU\u2019RE UNFAMILIAR with the terrifying condition, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is when you literally stop breathing while you sleep. That pause in life-sustaining oxygen can last 10, 20, or even longer than 30 seconds. It can happen once a night, once an hour, or even more\u2014much more.<\/p>\n Snoring<\/a> isn\u2019t OSA, but it\u2019s a pretty damn good indicator. Snoring happens when your tongue and other soft tissue in the back of your mouth collapse backward and partially block your airway. Lots of people snore sometimes\u2014especially men\u2014and many different factors, including alcohol consumption<\/a>, certain medications, sleep position, and allergies, can cause snoring or make it worse. But when the soft tissue routinely blocks your airway and causes breathing to stop, that\u2019s likely OSA.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have sleep apnea and your upper airway gets closed off, that prevents air from moving in and out of your lungs in a normal way,\u201d says James A. Rowley, MD<\/a>, a professor of internal medicine at Rush University. That disruption, he says, causes a momentary reduction in your oxygen saturation and forces your brain to keep waking you up so you can actually breathe. So not only is OSA a serious medical condition, it\u2019s also extremely annoying.<\/p>\n How dangerous and annoying is quantifiable. Doctors have developed a scale called the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)<\/a> to classify the severity of a patient\u2019s sleep apnea. An AHI score of 5 to 15\u2014meaning that, on average, you momentarily stop breathing between 5 and less than 15 times per hour when you sleep\u2014is considered mild OSA. Someone who has between 15 and less than 30 sleep disruptions per hour has moderate OSA, while an AHI of 30 or above is regarded as severe. But get this: It\u2019s possible for people to have an AHI over 60, meaning their sleep and breathing is disrupted more than once a minute.<\/p>\n By now it\u2019s probably obvious why suffering from OSA at night can absolutely crush your days. \u201cImagine getting only four hours of sleep every night, and doing that over and over again,\u201d says W. Christopher Winter, MD<\/a>, a Men\u2019s Health advisor<\/a> and sleep specialist based in Charlottesville, Virginia. \u201cYou\u2019d soon see how it impacts your concentration at work, your focus, your ability to put sentences together. That whole cognitive, emotional, and attentional side of sleep apnea can be dramatic.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not uncommon for people with depression<\/a> or ADHD<\/a> to find that those problems diminish or even go away if they are diagnosed with and treated for OSA, Dr. Winter says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt COMPLICATES ALL KINDS of things,\u201d Dr. Winter says. \u201cI don\u2019t know what MEDICAL RISK FACTOR wouldn\u2019t be associated with SLEEP.\u201d<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s all the other stuff that can come with chronic apnea-ridden sleep: cardiac problems<\/a>, Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a>, dementia, blood sugar abnormalities, renal issues, mood disturbances, and way more. \u201cIt complicates all kinds of things,\u201d Dr. Winter says. \u201cI don\u2019t know what medical risk factor wouldn\u2019t be associated with sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n Given all the health implications, it\u2019s fair to ask why an estimated<\/a> 66 million adults in the U.S. have undiagnosed sleep apnea. Part of the problem, experts say, is that general practitioners are overworked and undereducated when it comes to sleep disorders.<\/p>\n \u201cMost doctors don\u2019t get the education about sleep disorders that is needed during medical school and residency training,\u201d says Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, MD<\/a>, medical director of sleep medicine at Millennium Physician Group. \u201cIf we\u2019re lucky, some of us got two hours of sleep education during medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n Think about it: When was the last time your primary care physician asked you how you were sleeping? \u201cWe need to stop taking temperatures as a vital sign,\u201d says Dr. Winter. \u201cWe should just get rid of temperature and ask people, \u2018Do you snore and are you tired during the day?\u2019 That would profoundly change the face of health care.\u201d<\/p>\n So if you know you snore, you have trouble sleeping, and you\u2019re tired all the time\u2014or if, in true 2026 fashion, your smartwatch is sending you alerts that your nighttime sleep disturbances might indicate OSA\u2014it\u2019s kind of on you to bring up sleep apnea with your physician. But after an actual OSA diagnosis, the next step, arguably even trickier, is treatment.<\/p>\n EVEN IF YOU\u2019VE slept like a baby your entire life, you know about CPAP machines. Since the 1990s, these devices have been the go-to treatment for people with sleep apnea. Maybe your own dad even wore a CPAP. (Experts speculate<\/a> that genetics may account for as much as 50 percent of the risk of developing OSA.) Today the device is still the most-prescribed form of sleep apnea treatment, even though it\u2019s basically a fancy air compressor.<\/p>\n A CPAP works by way of a motor that forces air into a tube, a filter that purifies the air, and a mask of some sort that fits over your nose and\/or mouth. \u201cYou know how a balloon expands when you blow in it?\u201d Dr. Abbasi-Feinberg says. \u201cThat\u2019s what the pressure from the CPAP does. If your airway is collapsing, it [delivers] enough pressure to expand the airway and splint it open from the inside to allow oxygen to go in.\u201d<\/p>\n CPAP devices (and their less common cousins, auto-adjusting positive airway pressure, or APAP, machines, which automatically regulate air pressure during the night) are different things to different people\u2014beloved lifesavers or oppressive contraptions that you want to throw against the bedroom wall.<\/p>\n Treatments for sleep apnea include the prescription drug Zepbound (top left), custom-fit \u201coral appliances\u201d (top right), surgically implanted devices like Inspire (bottom left), and more traditional CPAP machines (bottom right).<\/p>\n But they work. Over what is now nearly five decades of research, CPAP therapy has been shown to decrease the severity of obstructive sleep apnea, improve sleep quality, reduce snoring, lower the risk of chronic health problems, and generally enhance quality of life\u2014for patients who can actually stand wearing the device. In addition to all the research that has been done on the benefits of CPAP, scientists have done reams of in-depth studies on device compliance.<\/p>\n Many patients are convinced that CPAP is a massive, untenable pain in the ass. Some people say the masks induce claustrophobia, restrict sleeping positions, require demanding cleaning and parts replacement, and are totally unsexy unless your partner has a thing for fighter pilots.<\/p>\n In one<\/a> 2025 study that tracked 1,907 CPAP users over a two-year span, only 45 percent of them achieved \u201chigh adherence\u201d (defined as at least four hours of use nightly on at least 70 percent of nights\u2014typically the minimum for continued insurance coverage in the U.S.). By comparison, 39 percent were classified as \u201cnon-adherent,\u201d using their CPAP less than 24 minutes per night and\/or less than 10 percent of the time.<\/p>\n A separate 2025 study<\/a> produced even worse figures, concluding that only 38 percent of CPAP users adhered to the minimum standard after three months of treatment. Nearly all the CPAP users I talked to for this story have a love-hate relationship with their machine, and way more than a few have a hate-hate relationship.<\/p>\n One coauthor of that second 2025 study\u2014S. Amanda Sathyapala, MD, PhD<\/a>, an associate professor at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London\u2014researches why people do or don\u2019t stick with their CPAP therapy.<\/p>\n \u201cBecoming adherent to CPAP requires a behavior change. Patients need to understand that [using CPAP] will work,\u201d Dr. Sathyapala says. \u201cIt can be awkward and uncomfortable to start, and many patients don\u2019t really understand why they need such invasive treatment for what they think are minor and common issues of snoring and tiredness. So ultimately, they don\u2019t think the benefits of CPAP will outweigh their concerns about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearly all the CPAP users I talked to for this story have a LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP with their machine, and way more than a few have a HATE-HATE RELATIONSHIP.<\/p>\n Add to all this the messy recall<\/a> in 2021 of CPAP machines manufactured by Philips Respironics. The Dutch multinational company initiated a voluntary recall of 15 million devices containing a polyester foam that had been intended to dampen noise but could break down and (yikes) be inhaled by users while they slept. Beyond the obvious issue of having foam particles circulating in your airway, there was also concern that the particles could cause cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n The FDA ultimately received tens of thousands of reports<\/a> that linked these CPAP machines to a range of respiratory problems and potentially hundreds of deaths. Class-action suits followed, as did a shortage of CPAP machines after one of the two big manufacturers left the U.S. market.<\/p>\n Even though the recall wasn\u2019t great press for CPAP, experts see the setback as similar to a recall of a specific car model or one brand\u2019s romaine lettuce, which doesn\u2019t really change the public\u2019s driving habits or salad preferences. CPAP therapy is safe, experts insist.<\/p>\n Of course, patients who were directly affected by the recall have a different point of view. David, a former information systems and cybersecurity expert from Florida, says he felt stuck with a Philips CPAP machine that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would not replace even after the recall was public. In the end, David\u2014who says he\u2019s \u201ccompletely dependent\u201d on his CPAP after requiring years of sleeping pills to get used to it\u2014had to use secondary insurance to obtain a new machine. But he has not yet suffered any direct health problems.<\/p>\n Kevin Ladow, 59, was less fortunate. The former mortgage underwriter from St. Petersburg, Florida, says he\u2019s convinced his Philips CPAP machine gave him lung cancer. \u201cI would wake up some mornings and I would take my mask off, and it would be black. Like, what the fuck?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Five years after surgery and a brief round of chemo, Ladow is still in remission, now using a CPAP device made by Resmed. \u201cIn many ways, I hate this machine,\u201d he says, adding that using a CPAP has helped him go from 25 breathing disturbances an hour to around one. \u201cThat hopefully will save my life.\u201d But as someone who has spent years dealing with lawyers and is still waiting for a payout, he certainly has more than a little ambivalence about CPAP machines. But he\u2019s committed to using one.<\/p>\n Just two of the many (many) CPAP memes you\u2019ll find on social media that make fun of the pain points and inconveniences of the devices.<\/p>\n That \u201clevel of adherence,\u201d as researchers might say, isn\u2019t the norm\u2014for CPAP or really for most health treatments. As Dr. Sathyapala, the CPAP adherence scientist, points out, compliance is an issue with every conceivable medical intervention, whether it\u2019s popping a daily pill or getting 30 minutes of moderate exercise. A 50 percent adherence rate is typical for medication.<\/p>\n If you can get past the frustrations and annoyances of CPAP and have the perseverance to make it a health habit, the benefits are real. But if that\u2019s not you, well, welcome to the wild world of CPAP alternatives.<\/p>\n WHILE CPAP ADVOCATES trumpet advancements in device technology\u2014from lullaby-quiet motors to masks that don\u2019t cover your mouth\u2014alternatives cater to people who either have tried CPAP and can\u2019t tolerate it or would never. These treatments include jawline reconstruction, nasal surgery, and any number of increasingly ridiculous-looking over-the-counter devices.<\/p>\n One popular non-CPAP choice is a small, surgically implanted device that sends electrical signals to open your airway while you\u2019re sleeping. The dominant player in this category is called Inspire<\/a>.<\/p>\n First approved by the FDA in 2014, the procedure, which can be done in an outpatient setting and requires two small incisions, has been completed more than 100,000 times worldwide, with most of those in the past five years. \u201cThe implant stimulates two muscles that pull the tongue forward and lift the soft palate, almost like a garage door lifting open,\u201d says Dr. Patel, of the Insomnia and Sleep Institute of Arizona, who is also vice president and senior medical director at Inspire.<\/p>\n Research shows that if you medically qualify for Inspire, the procedure is effective. One 2020 review<\/a> found that Inspire lowered patients\u2019 AHI by an average of 17.5 after 12 months. But \u201cthe big issue with the implants is that you have to pick the right people to see if they\u2019re good candidates,\u201d says Dr. Abbasi-Feinberg. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t work for everybody.\u201d In other words, you have to be the right kind of screwed up.<\/p>\n Dr. Winter, the Charlottesville-based sleep specialist, says that surgical implants shouldn\u2019t be considered as a first course of action. \u201cWith these surgeries, you don\u2019t have a mask on your face, but you\u2019ve got hardware in your neck and your chest,\u201d he says. \u201cI like to test people out with CPAP because it\u2019s reversible and you haven\u2019t cut into anyone\u2019s neck.\u201d (Not to mention that Inspire went through its own FDA recall<\/a> of certain devices back in 2024.)<\/p>\n Which brings sleep apnea sufferers into the realm of treatments that may be out-of-pocket, experimental, and just on the horizon.<\/p>\n Mandible Advancement Devices<\/p>\n In many cases, there is a link between sleep apnea and how your jaw is aligned. Custom-made mandibular advancement devices (MADs) are much more effective at treating sleep apnea than anything you\u2019d buy on Amazon. While most research has focused on patients with mild to moderate OSA, a 2025 study<\/a> concluded that people with severe sleep apnea who used a MAD lowered the incidence of breathing disruptions by an average of 73 percent. But they typically cost a couple grand and aren\u2019t always covered by insurance because the treatment is provided by dentists rather than physicians.<\/p>\n Pros: It\u2019s effective and it doesn\u2019t require surgery or a mask.<\/p>\n Cons: It is not cheap, might not be covered by insurance, and can cause jaw pain and bite-alignment issues.<\/p>\n A GLP-1 for Sleep Apnea<\/p>\n In December 2024, the FDA approved Zepbound<\/a> as the first prescription drug to treat overweight people with moderate to severe OSA. Unlike Ozempic and other popular weight-loss drugs that target only GLP-1 receptors, Zepbound is the first injectable medication that acts on both GLP-1 receptors and a hormone called GIP, helping to reduce fat and inflammation in the neck and tongue area. \u201cJust to be clear, this drug is not fundamentally treating sleep apnea,\u201d says Dr. Winter. Much as with MAD devices, the likelihood of getting insurance coverage for Zepbound varies.<\/p>\n Pros: It can help overweight patients minimize or even eliminate sleep apnea symptoms.<\/p>\n Cons: It\u2019s costly, it doesn\u2019t help thinner patients, and symptoms could return.<\/p>\n A Pill<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/65473c60-9df8-4ba8-94b7-e2d0bd3ff6a4.jpg\" "\\"A")
Craig Cutler<\/p>\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/99cd81fb-9d0d-4c04-bbe5-10bb5c343fe0.jpg\" "\\"Three")
@insta.tr3, @cpapreviews, and @mikeystonemusic<\/p>\n![\"Gradient](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/646ac240-9665-4c05-9eff-045371d72ee2.png\" "\\"Gradient")
What \u201cApnea\u201d Even Means<\/p>\n![\"Blue](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/25d5f520-b661-4f29-bf5c-0e38c8d6f0ce.png\" "\\"Blue")
The Dream Machine?<\/p>\n![\"Medical](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/17256b7f-4e98-4997-888e-f5b9b44aa51a.jpg\" "\\"Medical")
Eli Lilly and Company (Zepbound). BlueSleep (oral appliance). Inspire Medical Systems (Inspire device). Resmed (CPAP machine).<\/p>\n![\"Patient](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3e137771-7eba-49c4-afc5-4c4e821b39a4.jpg\" "\\"Patient")
@respiratorytherapymemes and @sleeplayground<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c47cdbab-6f27-46f3-964c-0e89cfe82e0b.png\" "\\"A")
The Other Fixes<\/p>\n
![\"Gradient](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9d123bde-a0a9-4f53-9289-fbc36fb3b025.png\" "\\"Gradient")
<\/p>\n![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/78114323-d089-413a-8303-dd3768dda279_1580767522.file.png\" "\\"Headshot")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"14 min read LANDON STRUGGLED TO figure out what his problem was\u2014and then he had to grapple with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[330996,1240,330995,874,97,252,253,265529,873,247624,330994,316394],"class_list":["post-776253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-collection-sleep","tag-content-type-feature","tag-contentid-25d23f48-886f-4f1e-9f14-c110753d1526","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-16","tag-shorttitle-the-very-real-nightmare-of-sleep-apnea-treatments","tag-sponsored-false"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}