I was diaggnosed with severe sleep apnea 2 months ago after deteriorating in energy and waking up gasping a lot. I could feel my throught closing when going to sleep sometimes so I knew what was happening. The results were a lot worse than I thought they were. My sleep study showed that my AHI was 82.7, arousals 50.8 pr hr. I was stopping breathing up to 35 secs at a time frequently. (Deep sea diving would be a good option for me, no need for too much oxygen!). I started trialling a Resmed Auto machine first and nose mask. I had huge problems with mouth opening and the neck strap causing pain in my neck(I do have a severe neck condition). I tried a chin strap but it pulled my jaw back and caused more pain. By this stage I was ready to keel over with tiredness until I came across an article on the Internet where a cervical collar was used for a patient with sleep apnea. Thid rang a bell for me, I have a cervical collar which I use for travelling & housework to protect my neck. It worked really well, it kept my mouth shut as my lower jaw could not drop and it actually improved my neck condtion having it kept still & warm overnight. I then experimented with chiropractor's pillows. Using the low sided one still made my neck go back too far & more air escaping. I turned the pillow round and used the end so my neck was in a tunnel. It worked wonderfully, it fitted in with the cervical collar, my head felt comfortable & a bonus - I could sleep on my back or side as it was narrower than a normal pillow postion. I am sleeping really well now with long periods of up to 4-6 hrs in one stretch over 7-8 hrs. My mental energy is returning & I have had to go out walking to use up the energy so I can get to sleep!. I have been using the CPAP 3 weeks now and I am delighted. The apneas are down to 1.7 per night average which is astounding. My husband is very supportive & has watched my struggle with interest & compassion. I am very involved in my community and family so I look forward to being more motivated & spontaneous instead of dragging myself to be dutiful & pretending to be myself. Regards to all on this site, Ruth