my husband is on cpap... has been for around 7 years now.

Over the time we have had 2 different masks (tried a few different styles in-between). Currently his covers only his nose. He also uses a chin strap to keep his mouth closed. He is on APAP, which means it stays on a low pressure and only raises up when you are having an apnoea.

Best thing about the machine is it has a chip that reads the data, so when he goes to see the sleep specialist, or when we just want to know what is happening (apnoea levels, frequency7, snoring levels etc) we can get the data without needing another sleep study.

Getting the CPAP was the best thing we ever did.. we would be living in different rooms without it. He can actually function during the days, feels so much better mentally for getting a decent sleep (and so do I). We went through resperonics, and even if I could have brought a cheaper machine on the internet, the post sales follow up (6 years later) is great. We can always pop in to get the card read for free, and they are so helpful with different masks (especially when my husband was having surgery and just needed a different type for a month).

Compliance is the biggest issue, and in all honesty, a lot of people give up on it, but it is worth persevering. It probably took a month or so once he found the right masks to get him to stop taking it off in his sleep.

Hope that helps, and good luck!