I have sleep disorders. My apnea was terrible. I would wake up gasping for breath. All the usual signs of apnea. I had a sleep study done and of course the CPAP was recommended.
Instead I got nasal ventilators. Get them at the drugstore, get them off Amazon, just get them. They are like little barrels that go in your nose to open up your nasal passages in ways that a breathe right strip will never do.
I now sleep like a rock. No more drowsiness during the day, no more waking up at night gasping for air. Before you get a CPAP, you must try these nose ventilators.
I tried those nose ventilators that hold open my nostrils and I found they did help. I think they are working on a surgical machine that cuts out the extra tissue so the nostril passage is more open.
It was only a partial fix though. My issue was when I fell asleep the back on my throat would relax and close. It was then I would struggle to breath until I stopped breathing and woke up just enough to breathe again. Then as I fell into a deeper sleep it would happen all over again. This is what caused the sleep apnea in me.
It’s the air pressure provided by the machine and a good to moderate seal of the mask that stops that repeating pattern.
There are pillow designs that can help one sleep on their sides with a CPAP mask. One doesn’t HAVE to sleep on their back. Sometimes I do a part back part side positions to sleep. One position for more than a couple of hours will cause nerve compression which will cause pain and/or numbness in my legs. I could probably use a better mattress topper made from memory foam of different stiffness layers.