Any feedback with results from the Inspire sleep device?

I have been dealing with sleep apnea for about nine years....a full year undiagnosed, at least, and now eight years using a PAP device nightly. I have also spent a lot of time reading up on sleep apnea and am a member /advisor over on apneaboard.com forum. The advisor is not meant to mean I'm really up on the topic and able to give advise...it means I advise the forum staff on matters that might make members' experience and success greater if we change X and not Y. So, NOT an ex-spurt.

There are many bright ideas. Some work, despite being intuitively brilliant or because of it. And vice versa. The Inspire product has mixed reviews. Some swear by it, others say don't waste your dough. It's one of those things many choose because they can't adapt to a PAP machine and its delivery system. It doesn't help much, but it may help....some....to open the airway, which is really the problem all but 'central sleep apnea' patients suffer from. There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive (90% of all patients formally diagnosed), central (which is a brain condition), and 'complex' apnea with is a dreadful combination of the two. Central sleep apnea is most often successfully treated with therapy provided by expensive machines called 'adaptive servo-ventilators.' Obstructive apnea is treated with straight PAP pressure or with adjustable/bi-PAP machines, depending on the user's individual needs. Pressure therapy works. The Inspire product is meant to 'stimulate

This is a cut 'n paste from 'sleepfoundation's' website:

A clinical study found that after 12 months of using the Inspire device, 66% of study participants
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cut their AHI scores by at least 50%. The study also determined that 75% of participants had at least a 25% reduction in oxygen desaturation index (ODI), which measures how frequently a person’s blood oxygen level dips below normal for 10 seconds or longer. The median AHI score decreased by 68%, while the median ODI score fell 70%
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The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
The NEJM is recognized as one of the world’s leading medical journals. Published continuously for over 200 years, NEJM delivers high-quality, peer-reviewed research and interactive clinical content to physicians, educators, researchers, and the global medical community...'

So, you'd want to be a 'reject' from PAP therapy, a concerted college try, and you'd want to bear the expense and relative permanency of an implanted device that electrically stimulates tissues in your tongue and throat.

Inspire Sleep Therapy, well I had it installed in Oct 2025 and activated in Nov 2025. I have been back to the Sleep Doctor once a month to try different settings on the Inspire device. I am not happy with Inspire. My fatigue is worse. I continue to nap during the day as my sleep pattern in the evening is disturbed by Inspire. Snoring is gone, but coughing, additional mucus and dry mouth has taken its place. No benefit - this prompted awake endoscopy. After new setting, still no relief. Now going to meet with ENT to see about removal of INSPIRE.

Also not happy with Inspire my sleep split test two weeks ago showed first 3 hours =78 per hour with inspire on 68 per hour
also asking to have it removed

my Cpap machine set at 14 reminded me when i was a kid at the gas station filling my bike tires with air an goofing off with the air hose
my friend suggested to start at a lower rate so i started at 4 - 3 weeks later I'm at 7 one of the best sleep I gotten in a long time down to 3-4 per hour
hope this helps

Thanks, all, for your comments. I feel badly when people don't do well with what 'should be' a promising technology and their subsequent devices, My hope it always that they should work, and work well, for a lot of patients. Thankfully, PAP therapy is a mature tech and it works well for a great many of us.

@bigj Hi. Newer cpap machines will auto set the pressure. The Dr. Sets the pressure range. So consider getting a new device if you can.

@bigj, you might find additional tips and experiences in these related discussions:
- Has anyone tried the new OSA device, Genii or Inspire!: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/has-anyone-tried-the-new-osa-device-genii-or-inspire/
- Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/inspire-upper-airway-stimulation/