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I have moderate obstructive sleep apnea and have been using a CPAP machine for almost 3 years now. Yeah, the mask sucks but with continued use you CAN and DO adapt to it. I use it 100% of the time because I do sleep much better and I'm also protecting my health.

Untreated sleep apnea can kill.

I have “significant” apnea and I agree that the mask is not that bad once you get used to it. But now that I’ve changed out the straps, I have to pull them really tight to prevent leaks and it is scraping the skin off of my nose. I’m not sure if they’re smaller or I need to take it into the Sleep Clinic and have they adjusted.

Sleep apnea was a contributing factor in my father's death. He died of congestive heart failure at the ripe old age of 45. This happened only a couple years before CPAP became widely used.

He started out with bad snoring that over the years turned into apnea as he gained weight. The lack of quality sleep made his body yearn for energy which he fed with food. The triangle of obesity, apnea and exhaustion killed him. These days the easiest of these to treat first would be the apnea. With the apnea treated he could have curbed his diet and then tackled the weight.

During my journey into my 40's I have fought my own battle with my weight. I have never been nearly as fat as my father, but I finally got tired of being 20 then 30 and finally 40 lbs over the weight I graduated college with. I finally stopped that trend this winter with a paleo-type diet. I won't lie to anybody. I ate plenty of unhealthy snack foods, but I am really beginning to believe that a significant portion of my weight gain was also due to the overabundance of grains and carbs in my diet.

I'm down 25+ lb. with 15 left to go and should get there by June at the rate I've been going.