He did a a few sleep studies at Cabrini, and also went for an xray which showed that he had a smaller than average airway when standing, let alone when lying down. Because this part was past the tonsils/adenoids part, and he also has a small jaw, they did not think surgery was going to fix it. From everything i read, unless it is enlarged anenoids/tonsils, surgery doesn't work. It is very hard for the surgeon to know exactly where is collapsing, and even if they do get that part and fix it, another area can develop later...
DH got diagnosed a week before our wedding at 21 - so the dr also though don't go the CPAP, and said to get the splint. For a start it was over 1k, it reduced but didn't stop the snoring (it was still very loud and i still got bad sleep for 2 years!), it didn't stop all the apneas, he grindes his teeth at night and put pressure on the splint, and it broke twice (first was under warranty and they fixed it - second he almost swallowed it and choked, and this is what made us move to the CPAP).
CPAP is fantastic, i wish we had done it sooner. As it is adjustable pressure, along with a memory chip, it is like a built in sleep study every night. He is supposed to take the chip to be read every 6 months, so they know whether they have set the right paramaters. It stays on the lowest pressure, until it detects a apnoea, and then it increases its pressure to overcome the apnoea, and then lowers again. The older models only have 1 setting, but this can be quite uncomfortable when falling asleep, so the better models are good.
There are like 6 different masks you can choose, some of them are quite unobtrusive.. DH has one of the bigger ones, only because he has a beard and the smaller one pulled on the hair, but as you won't have that problem you can get one with just little nose prongs.
CPAP is the gold standard for sleep apnoea, the only thing that fixes it and the snoring. DH feels so much better than he ever did with the splint, because he is finally getting a good nights sleep. I also feel better as his snoring doesn't bother me. The machine is quiet, like having an aircond hum in the room.
We got ours through resparonics (sp?) in Brighton. The lady's name is Vivianne i think - i will check. She has been great. They have a trial one, where you pay a deposit and a minimal amount and i think you have it for 2 months or something top try and see how you find it (it does take about 4 weeks to get used to havingt he headmask on, but once you are used to that you don't notice it apparently), and then if you buy it you get the hire fee off the purchase price. You can claim it on tax, and some PHI also cover the cost. I think ours was around $1500 in total, but considering it will last a lifetime we are happy.
Anyway, at least get the CPAP trial and see how you go - you will be suprised about how good you feel.
Also, in regards to it being a turn off - they are not as bad as you think, and DH just takes it off (or only puts it on when he is about to fall asleep), its a elastic headband so you can just pull it off and i don't think it will effect your sex life that much TBH.
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