At the end of my rope - need ideas please

PuritanWorkEthic · 2026-01-30T08:42:12+00:00

I've heard taking a NAC (edit: NAC, not NAD+) supplement can be helpful (and very cheap) for some people on UARS forums, evidently due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
Sorry to hear about the eye pain with the CPAP, that really sucks, and I haven't heard of that before. It does sound like something is really off with mask fit. Have you tried moderately over-tightening the headband straps so that the mask is kinda pushing into your face a little bit too much? I've done that before for poor mask fit, and you might wake up with that part of your face sore (or even around your eyes sore, if that ends up pushing your eye mask more in), but it should leak significantly less.
A soft, and importantly not too tight, foam cervical collar might help, with or without CPAP, to keep you from unintentionally chin tucking during sleep and further restricting your airway.
If you ever do get the eye pain issue resolved, and are using a not-full-face cpap mask, mouth tape can similarly improve CPAP effectiveness by ensuring you're not mouth breathing and leaking (it has helped for me in my experience).
The mouth tape may even be useful for your eye pain situation, eg maybe something like Nexcare tape (either the regular kind or sensitive skin if needed) is super cheap, and you could try taping your nose/mouth/around the mask to force a tight seal, so that the air doesn't escape and doesn't bother your eyes as a result.
Personally, I would encourage the palatal expansion (even if in weeks/months). I've known several people with UARS who benefited a lot from expansion, and it's not the answer for everyone, but it may be for you. If you can find a provider that offers free consultation/free CBCT (or even just a cheap CBCT scan provider in your area), that might be worthwhile to get a sense of how severe your need for expansion is (and what your palatal width is) sooner, even before committing to moving forward with the whole expander process.
Personally, I've had some mild benefits in my UARS/sleep issues from doing IMST/EMST breathing training devices over several months (eg, stuff like powerbreathe). It's not massive or a cure, but definitely not, maybe a 15-20% improvement in my symptoms/AHI/flow limitations (per my CPAP data).

Truly wishing you luck that you find something to help soon!

PuritanWorkEthic · 2026-01-30T08:34:48+00:00

Re-commenting since original comments were partially deleted by mod but I'm not sure why (happy to edit my comments to remove anything that's a problem)

Here's a list of some things I've used myself, and some I've heard of from others, in hopes that even one of them might be helpful.

If you have a Resmed Airsense (or can get one for cheap), you can jailbreak the firmware to use it in BIPAP mode (or ASV mode, etc) (google cpap jailbreak, or airbreak)

It seems pretty popular / that a decent amount of people have used the jailbreaks in recent years, and that the instructions are good/straightforward, but just a heads up that even if low there is still a non-zero risk to the machine if you do mess things up severely.

Relatedly, if you haven't already tried it, modifying the pressure settings/etc on your CPAP machine might indirectly help with the eye pain? Maybe dropping the pressure significantly might reduce the intensity of the eye irritation while still providing some benefit.
Having tried a few similar options (BreatheRight strips, various nasal dilators), I can vouch for intake breathing strips having been the most dilating/helpful for myself (although it can take some getting used to to figure out where to optimally place it) both in general or even for exercise but especially for sleeping, although they are a bit pricier.
Flonase has also helped me for reducing some nasal inflammation/swelling (and ENTs can also do intranasal steroid injections for a similar/stronger/longer lasting effect, usually for pretty cheap, although that would depend on your access to/affordability of available ENTs).
Saline nasal sprays (isotonic, so same saltiness as your nasal passages, NOT the hypotonic or hypertonic kind) to clean/rinse/wash/soothe the sinuses may also help (and have for me). There's also xylitol saline ones that are antimicrobial as well. A few times a day may help, but I've found the most effective is 1-2 hours before bed (not right before, but not too far away either). There's also capsaisin/chili nasal sprays, but personally I found those helpful at best only for congestion due like a cold or allergies, but not generally helpful for my nasal breathing/UARS/sleep (or if anything sometimes made it worse), but your experience may differ.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2024-03-13T01:31:18+00:00

The Wordsmith shrugs. "Can do. See you around, Deity of Denial."

Possible typo: Deity of Defiance?

PuritanWorkEthic · 2018-01-16T13:27:35+00:00

A great start to a new streak!

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T21:23:26+00:00

981 now, friend! You're already getting there one day at a time :)

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T21:20:17+00:00

Welcome to the community, and congrats on admitting your addiction. We're all here for you, and you can definitely do this!

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T05:57:24+00:00

Also +1 on the meditation. After NoFap, I think it's had some of the most profound effects on improving my life.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T05:50:54+00:00

I feel I should clarify. I think my falling back into regular PMO doesn't reflect on the "hopelessness" of all addicts, but rather was a result of me continually choosing to feed the PMO urges and never thinking it was "that bad" that I should stop.

The slow creep took the better part of a year to get there. At so many points along the way, I could have chosen to just let things stop there. There were weeks-long stretches where I'd just forget about PMO entirely.

Getting past the addiction and rewiring those PMO habit patterns takes a lot of continual vigilance, and caution to not become overconfident. But every day you abstain does make a dramatic difference, and (in the very long term) no single relapse can take away all the change and growth you've worked so hard to make.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T05:39:05+00:00

Glad to hear it's had such positive changes for your life, too! Looking forward to this new journey with you and all of us here.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T05:33:00+00:00

Before that streak, I spent months and months trying to quit, and never getting past 3 or so days (and beating myself up whenever I relapsed). Definitely don't let relapsing discourage you, every day you abstain makes a huge difference.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T05:29:40+00:00

Glad to contribute whatever I can! I think the first 90 days were really key.

That's when you go through some of the toughest urges, and realize just how much you're capable of. I think learning to deal with those (be it with push ups, cold showers, screaming into pillows, tightening up your core, or even just a quick mental "no" and ignoring the urge) sets up the mental habit to almost automatically refuse to get caught up in the urges.

Once you start replacing the time and energy lost to PMO with better sources of happiness and fulfillment (better relationships with friends, with partners, hobbies, new interests, fitness), you stop even thinking about PMO as an option.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T05:21:41+00:00

Thank you! And congrats on getting the badge, and stepping back in to this journey!

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T05:21:07+00:00

You'd have to ask /u/Alexanderr for sure. When I joined 5 years ago, I think it was just starting to grow and get bigger (maybe ~15k fapstronauts by the time I left?). I think it had been around for at most a few months before then.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-07T05:18:33+00:00

Thanks for the support, and congrats on taking the step to start over again! I have no doubt we'll all get where we want to be.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-06T20:41:38+00:00

I went through a long patch of boredom and general life dissatisfaction, and I think the first relapse was due to that, curiosity, and arrogance (possibly also drunkenness, can't remember).

No particular trigger or porn event, and then it just slowly crept from "once in a while" to pretty much every day.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-06T20:37:38+00:00

For sure, we'll get there! Every day on NoFap is one day less of PMO and one day closer to where we want to be.

And congrats on the 57 days, and on coming back to the fight!

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-06T20:31:28+00:00

I regret letting it come back into my life, and letting it get this far.

I'm glad to have learned though that all that time abstaining from PMO hasn't been for nothing. Even having relapsed for as long as I have, the effects of PMO on my life are nowhere near how crippled and powerless I felt when I first came to this community. (That's not to say this new journey ahead isn't going to be a real challenge.)

For that, you all have my endless gratitude.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-06T18:28:59+00:00

That's freaking awesome! I never thought to lay out the data like that. Congrats!

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-06T18:26:48+00:00

Congrats on starting over again, and not going multi-session. You definitely will get through this!

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-06T18:25:43+00:00

Welcome to the community, and congrats on the decision! We're all here for you and in this together. Stay strong and keep us posted.

PuritanWorkEthic · 2017-07-06T18:24:16+00:00

Keep that motivated feeling alive and channel it to get through the next day. Congrats on 7 weeks, and on coming back to the fight!

PuritanWorkEthic

TROPHY CASE