DIY Sleep Apnea Fix Update: What We’ve Learned

I started getting sleep issues during the beginning of university and during a bodybuilding phase but I treated it as "that's what life is, you don't sleep. Welcome to adulthood." after growing up with an over weight and extreme snorer father who was very much on the stance of "shut up and be tired, that's what life is" By this point I was already getting to where it clearly wasn't normal and it's extremely affecting my life but I was so weak and exhausted that daily chores felt like I was carrying 20lbs weights on my arms. After years of broken sleep, it completely shipwrecked my schooling and gym routines. This lasted 3-4 years I thought it was backpain ruining my sleep, since I would wake up 3x a night with a sore neck and back. I decided to check with a doctor. This did nothing, they told me I was too young to have these issue and just needed to fix my routine. I tried some basic tips, fixed sleeping times, new bed, new office chair. etc. Didn't change a thing. I ended up learning that I snore. Being single all of university, I never heard this. I started looking into this on my own and it was an absolute eye opener [0][1][2]. I never realized how important nose breathing is. It's not at all the same as just breathing through you mouth. I always had issues breathing through my nose when sleeping and always just breathed through my mouth. I would wake up with a completely dry mouth. This is bad for your teeth, it changes your jaw structure, and allows you to choke during s

Essential Craftsman on Youtube is where I first heard about mouth taping, he just uses a "GrifGrips Sports Tape", which I was interested to try until I realized it's not really compatible with my beard... I sleep only "ok", been trying a lot of things to improve it. I have borderline apnea (5.2 events per hour, they start treating at 5), and my Garmin watch puts my SpO2 average around 90, which is maybe a little low for sleeping, but my doctor isn't worried about that. I was hoping the tape would up my "sleep score" a little, but again I haven't tried it. Essential Craftsman did say he tried the nasal strips and they increased his SpO2 a couple percent. I've tried them over the last week and while it seems easier to breathe through my nose with them, they didn't translate into any increased SpO2 over night according to my watch. [this video]