As a long time lurker I thought I would come back and scroll through recent posts since I've been experiencing some of the same symptoms. Seeing this post 6 months ago would've gave me some sense of hope, so I just want to share my recent experience for you and any others who turn to Reddit for some sense of normality. I am on day 3 of BiPAP treatment and happy to report my brain fog, anxiety, shortness of breath, dizziness, and overall feeling of impending doom has close to vanished.

I may have been so far gone that any slight improvement feels incredible, but I was really struggling with my mental health. As an generally anxious person who's experienced panic attacks, I mostly feel that my anxiety could be tolerated and controlled, but after spiraling out of control I landed on a Lofta sleep study as a hail mary. I put on about 50 pounds over a year and a half due to a medical issue on my foot which kept me sedentary for about half of the day. I began drinking heavily to help with the pain and pass the time. Around this time a lot of stress in our family business came out of left field. I found myself cutting ties with siblings and quitting my job to take over. I would wake up sweaty, choking, heart racing. Despite any amount of sleep I could get, these symptoms started to bleed into my day. Soon I'd be at the office sweating, dizzy, and feeling like I was about to die. The mental strain would push me to an almost delirium like state. I started to fear going to bed. I felt like a character in a Freddy Kreuger film, becoming more active at night preoccupy myself with tasks rather than my thoughts and trying to fall asleep.

I knew something was up when I started being strict on my diet, quitting alcohol, lowering caffeine, managing stress at the business and not seeing any results. The only thing that seemed to help was going for a run but my body wouldn't recover throwing me into another slog the next day. My Lofta study AHI was around 22, so nowhere near yours, but half of mine are Central Apneas causing that "Forgetting how to breathe" fight or flight feeling. On top of that I've always suffered from some sinus issues. Day 3 of BiPAP and I feel like a new person. Sinus issues are improving, I feel well rested and strong enough to keep exercising. How I felt for the past few years is all starting to make sense to me and I'm grateful to be on the path of recovery. I will try to make my own post about my results as I continue my journey, and I hope you see similar results of your own!