I stopped using a CPAP machine to sleep a few weeks ago. After 17 years.
My O2 levels are now solid in the 90’s. And I have to admit losing 80 pounds was key. Walking ~3 miles/day at [a moderate] elevated respiration rate helps, too.
My sleep doc told me I could stop. That I had corrected everything causing my sleep apnea as far as he could determine.
Frankly, I’ve been very happy with the solid sleep I’ve enjoyed over the years with a couple of different CPAP machines over time. Wore the first one out in a decade.
Took a year before I tried this. Love the change.
“What Happens When You Breathe : Our lungs sustain a delicate equilibrium in our bodies, while exposing us to a world that seems increasingly out of balance.” (The New Yorker Jan 18 issue) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/25/what-happens-when-you-breathe
Meanwhile: “Air Quality Regulators in “Cancer Alley” Have Fallen Dangerously Behind : An audit found that the time it takes the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to issue penalties to polluters has doubled. Some companies that have been known to violate air quality rules were able to keep at it for years, or even decades.” (ProPublica 1/29/21) https://www.propublica.org/article/deq-louisiana-pollution