[sweetsocks21]

I appreciate you sharing your story. I had a similar journey over the last couple years because of the pandemic. Looking back now it was definitely an issue at least as far back as early teens.

I used to work out a lot, and very intensely as that was the only thing that made me feel "awake". It wasn't until the lockdowns when I couldn't get to the gym that it got bad enough that I also started my own journey to this diagnosis.

I had started living more in the dream world than the real world and being awake was a daze. I became distant to the world and lost my imagination, memory, and emotion. I was also questioning how I could ever go on with my current job and life.

Thankfully, I also started a sleep apnea treatment (oral appliance, and later CPAP) after many discussions with my doctor. This mostly fixed my condition. The difference is incredible and I don't have the words to describe how it has changed my life.

So I want to say thank you for sharing your story, you're not alone and I hope others see your story and get the help they need.

If you've read this story and suffer any of the symptoms mentioned, I highly recommend doing a sleep study, it's truly life altering.

[Wagthesam]

I used to be known as someone that partied hard. Even at work I was the guy on the technical teams that found all the degenerates on the sales teams to go out with. Then after the hangovers got too much (probably due to sleep apnea), I switched to extreme sports. Snowboarding in high consequence terrain, kitesurfing, motorcycle track riding, dirt biking single track. Anything that took the edge off and similarly made me clear headed

[lobocinza]

Alcohol and surprisingly even 0% alcohol beer (not sure how much I can attribute to nocebo effect) completely wrecks my sleep. My nasal mucus thickens so much that I can't breathe properly when lying down. And it's not like I'm not drinking water and keeping hydration in check when I drink. I gave up on alcohol completely.

I confirm that exercises do help. Anecdotally last week I woke up with an obstructed nostril. I tried to fix it by washing it abundantly with saline solution, did it a dozen times without much success. Later I went to ride on my road bike and in less than 30s both nostrils were perfectly cleared.