My husband fell asleep at the wheel (luckily I was in the car and screamed and he woke up and we stayed on the road.) But that led to diagnosing his sleep apnea, and he has worn his Bi-pap machine every night since, must be three or four years now. He has to be the most faithful CPAP wearer there is. He dislikes it, the cold air blows on his arm or some other discomfort bothers him but he won’t stop wearing it. And he gets good sleep now. This article is interesting but it sounds like an infomercial for the oral devices. But it is good to know that there is an alternative for those who can’t tolerate the CPAP.
I don’t get that some people won’t use CPAP. It was hard to get used to the first week or so, but going on about 15 years, I’m so used to it, and my wife has one, too. The alternative is death, so what’s a little irritation.
The most striking thing about going on a CPAP was that my dreams were so long that they got boring. I spent what seemed like five minutes in one dream standing by a lamppost at an intersection, watching the traffic go by while waiting for someone to meet me there.
It was a godsend that I got it when I did, because not long afterward I was laid off, and had to take a job at the far end of a 2- to 2 1/2-hour commute, getting out of bed at around 5:00am and getting home around 7:00pm. Without the CPAP I would have been an absolute wreck by now, two months into it.
You husband might try the Puritan Bennett Breeze nasal pillow system. My mom gave me one of her spares, and it made all the difference between a moderately-annoying hassle that I put up with for the sake of a good night's sleep with my nasal mask, to something that I could almost forget about while wearing. The one minor drawback during the winter is that the humidifier on my CPAP, even at the lowest setting, leads to considerable condensation inside the hoses due to the comparatively low airflow rate.
He might also take a look at the Resmed Ultra Mirage II if he prefers nasal masks, as it has a very good, very quiet exhaust system that directs the exhaust air along the incoming hose, which you can turn upward, rather than directing the air onto his arm or into your face.