‘Holy Grail’ Sleep Apnea Pill Can Cut Episodes by More Than 50%

New York Post ^ | May 29, 2026 | Reda Wigle

[nickcarraway]

A promising new drug could put an end to cumbersome CPAP machines and allow millions of Americans to breathe easy and sleep soundly.

Researchers at the biopharm company Apnimed have been developing a sleep apnea drug called AD109. After various clinical trials, they are preparing to file for FDA approval.

“A pill for sleep apnea has always been the holy grail,” Dr. Andrew Wellman, a Harvard sleep researcher, told Forbes, noting that over the past several years, at least 40 drug candidates have been tested for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) without success.

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TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: cpap; medication; sleepapnea

[jimtorr]

When I was tested, I had 32 episodes an hour. I don’t think this pill would help me. Besides, the cpap machine helps me breath past my usually clogged sinuses.

I’ve had many sleepless nights when I could not breath while horizontal.

[ducttape45]

I have sleep apnea. I was diagnosed with it back in 2016 but didn't start using my CPAP semi-regularly until I was hospitalized with Covid and pneumonia back in 2022, and even then I didn't use it full time until the end of 2023/beginning of 2024. Now I use it every time I lay down in bed or to sleep at night. It took some getting used to but now I can't imagine going to bed without it.

I have two CPAPs, an AirSense 10 and an AirSense 11. The AS10 I got got back in 2016, and AS11 in 2024. I use the AS11 regularly but keep the AS10 as a back up, just in case. I would love to find someone who can change out the foam ring, and update the firmware, in it but ResMed is being very uncooperative about helping me find a local repair shop. They want me to take it to one of their reps where they can charge me hundreds of dollars.

As for this new pill, nope, not gonna go that route. It would take years of proven success with NO side effects for me to even consider it.

And I know someone who died from sleep apnea back in 2023, right before I retired. He was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (he would wake up 8-9 times a night unable to breathe) and was waiting for his CPAP machine when he passed. Very, very tragic. I still think about him, he was a very good friend and Christian man.

[LilFarmer]

She sounds like me.

I thought my hubby had sleep apnea, because of his snoring but he started keto and stopped snoring completely while on it. When he goes off, he snores again. The reduced inflammation from keto has been almost a miracle pill for his snoring, sinuses and allergies. Within a week of eating carbs regularly again, it all comes back.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Bfl

[jagusafr]

I discovered completely by accident (literally - I dropped my bicycle and road rash required me to sleep on my left side) that all I needed was a wedge pillow. I had tried CPAP and 2 mouth guards with little success. Sleeping on my left side on the wedge completely cured my sleep apnea.

[TalBlack]

If I recall APNEA can strain a weak fatally.

[faucetman]

Have you ever heard the term “died in their sleep?

“Sudden Cardiac Death: Severe sleep apnea is linked to abrupt cardiac events during sleep”

Heh, just take a pill and you might cut your risk of death by HALF! (what about the other 50% the time?)

You stop breathing, you don’t start again, you don’t wake up EVER.

Severe sleep apnea is no joke.

A full sleep study is the ONLY way to know if you have sleep apnea and just how bad it is.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

The Holy Grail is lose weight and stop being obese.

[tired&retired]

Per Google AI

“AD109 combines two established medications into a single, fixed-dose tablet:

Atomoxetine: A selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (NRI) that activates upper airway dilator muscles.

Aroxybutynin: A novel antimuscarinic agent that prevents the airway from sagging or collapsing during sleep.

Clinical Trial Results

AD109 has completed large Phase 3 clinical trials (including the SynAIRgy and LunAIRo studies), which showed highly promising results across a broad range of patient weights and OSA severities:

Patients taking AD109 experienced a 44% to 47% reduction in the Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI)—the primary measure of breathing interruptions—compared to roughly 6% to 18% for those on a placebo.

Over 40% of patients saw their disease severity category improve, and nearly 23% achieved complete disease control (fewer than 5 events per hour).

Meaningful improvements were also observed in blood oxygen levels and oxygen desaturation.

[CopperTop]

"..The Holy Grail is lose weight and stop being obese.."

Yes, you are an Opinionated Blowhard. d;^D

I've had CNS related sleep apnea since I was a young man in the military. Been on CPAP since '93. It is no joke and def nothing to be trifled with. It's not necessarily the sleep apnea itself that'll gitchya. But the side effects. Try waking up while riding down the grassy median of a highway at a good clip on your Harley. Or waking up right before impact to the rear end of a dump truck stopped in a construction zone (everything goes into slow motion, weird). It'll get yer attention. And there were many more before I pulled my head out my arse and got with the program.

Many a man dies every year of stubbornness.

[tired&retired]

My severe sleep apnea went away instantly by taking the supplement “Diamine Oxidase Enzyme” (DAO).

It eliminated all nasal and respiratory inflammation instantly as it degrades histamine in the blood. It is not a histamine blocker like Benadryl and other nasal decongestants. They merely block the specific histamine receptors. They do not degrade histamine in the entire body like DAO.

I first ordered it off Amazon while laying in the hospital ER. It came the next day and I took 2 tablets before bed. I woke up in the morning after a good night’s sleep and felt 20 years younger, without using a CPAP.

All lung congestion was gone. Same with my sinus congestion and inflammation in my throat. But the biggest surprise was that my brain fog and joint pain were gone.

An even bigger surprise, it also eliminated my heart arrhythmia.

I researched it extensively, reading a stack of journal research articles on DAO about 6 inches thick and started making my own DAO. While there is very specific protocols that are critically important in making DAO Enzyme, it is basically sprouted dried green peas. It’s 100% safe.

PS. It also eliminated acid stomach as the parietal cells that produce stomach acid in the fundus of the stomach are stimulated to produce acid by histamine in the bloodstream resulting from the stomach’s gastrin stimulating the entrrochromaffin like cells in the stomach lining to produce histamines.

[tired&retired]

There are two types of sleep apnea:

Obstructive & Central

Central is caused in the brainstem, not obstruction.

[DIRTYSECRET]

**I have used a Resmed Sleep apnea machine for alomst two years now. I sleep so much better than I used to.**
I’ve never had a problem sleeping at age 72. Large prostate makes me get up once a night for now.

**I do know someone who died from sleep apnea.**
At 72 I’d be ok with it if it’s a silent death. It’s becoming a live vegetable that worries me.

[tired&retired]

I find it interesting that the drug given in the study includes Norepinephrine (also called noradrenaline). An organic chemical that acts both as a stress hormone and a brain neurotransmitter. It plays a critical role in your body’s “fight-or-flight” response by increasing alertness, boosting heart rate, and constricting blood vessels to elevate blood pressure.

High levels can lead to severe anxiety, hyperarousal, and high blood pressure.

[Jim Noble]

Let me guess:

$10,000/month

[tired&retired]

Problem is that sleep apnea causes hypoxia or oxygen deficiency.

This can cause many problems, including brain fog and neuronal death.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

That’s awesome

[Red Badger]

“Can sleep apnea be fatal or turn one into a vegetable?”

Only if your wife kills you in your sleep for snoring too loud................

[Red Badger]

Spray some Afrin up your nose before you go to sleep.............

[jimtorr]

I use Fluticasone (Flonase) whenever my sinuses are clear enough on both sides to snort it. That works well, but I’m clear enough only about 1/4 of the time.

The rest of the time I use phenylephrine pills. That works okay, but not as good.

I only found out about both of these from my sleep doctor after I complained about not being able to breath, in spite of 9 psi from the cpap mask.