[Hammer]

I've been using a CPAP machine for years, and all I can say is, if you snore, then you should see if you have sleep apnea, and if so, get one of these machines.

When you're overweight, there is extra fatty tissue in your throat, restricting your air passage.. When you sleep, your throat muscles relax and that causes the soft tissue in the throat passage to collapse. When it collapses you can't get any air, so you "wake up" enough to suck in air, usually by snoring. Since this "waking up" interrupts your sleep, you don't get a restful sleep, not to mention that the oxygen levels in your blood drop dangerously low, starving your cells for air. Not getting the proper sleep can cause all kinds of problems. The thing is, you aren't aware that you're not getting a good night's sleep, and that's why this condition is so dangerous.

Look at it like this....how do you think it would affect your health if you got up a few hours earlier than you normally do, every day for the rest of your life? Let's say you need 7 hours of sleep every night, but you only got 5, how would you feel when you got up? Do this every day for the rest of your life and how do you think you'd feel? Even if you went to bed early with the hopes of getting 9 hours of sleep instead of your usual 7, you'd still only get 5, since with sleep apnea, going to bed earlier won't give you more "good" sleep, as you'll still be "waking up" every so often. Sleep apnea affects your body slowly over a long period of time.

With me, I went to the doctor complaining of a dry mouth. I'd breath through my mouth most of the time I was awake, and that was bad enough, but mornings when I would wake up, my mouth was so dry that it hurt. Because my mouth was drying out so much, I couldn't eat anything that was spicy, including salt. Trying to use mouthwash was like gargling with battery acid.

My doctor asked me if I snore. I had no idea, I mean, I'm asleep, so how would I know? He sent me to have a sleep test done. You spend the night at the hospital, where they hook up all these electrodes to your body and watch you as you sleep. They're looking to see if you stop breathing, and if so, for how long. They monitor your oxygen levels also.

After finding that I had sleep apnea, my doctor prescribed an auto CPAP machine for me. An auto CPAP is a small air compressor that draws in air, then gently pumps it through a hose to your face mask. The auto feature detects how much air you need and automatically adjusts the airflow to meet your needs. For example, when you first lay down, you're breathing in more air than after you've relaxed and fallen asleep, so the machine adjusts to this change automatically

I can tell you these machines are amazing. The first night I used mine, I awoke the next day feeling so well rested that I couldn't believe it. I felt fantastic! I will admit that the mask and hose take some getting used to, but considering how much better I feel, it's worth the slight inconvenience.