How My Dad's Sleep Apnea Went From Bad to TERRIBLE… A Wakeup Call For People With Sleep Conditions

My dad's been living with severe sleep apnea for 8 years. Started when he was 60 - snoring got so bad Mom moved to the guest room. Then came the gasping. The choking sounds. The terrifying moments where he'd stop breathing completely.

He tried everything. 

❌ CPAP machine (couldn't tolerate it - ripped it off every night). 

❌ Dental appliances. 

❌ Lost a bunch of weight.

Nothing helped. 

He was surviving on 3-4 hours of broken sleep, waking up 40+ times a night gasping for air…

Last month changed everything.

I was visiting my parents when I heard a crash at 3 AM. Found Dad slumped against the hallway wall - he'd gotten up dizzy and disoriented from oxygen deprivation and lost his balance.

Being the stubborn man he is, he insisted he was fine. "Just got up too fast."

But Mom and I dragged him to the ER anyway. 

The doctor didn't sugarcoat it: "Your father's heart is working overtime from the constant oxygen drops. Untreated sleep apnea at this level can cause stroke or heart attack."

Mom broke down crying. Dad just looked... defeated.

Two weeks later, we took a family trip to Miami. Mom thought getting away might help Dad's mood. We splurged on the Ritz-Carlton.

First night at the hotel, something weird happened. 

Dad went to lie down around 8 PM to "rest before dinner."

He didn't wake up until 7 AM.

Mom actually shook him awake because she panicked - he was breathing so quietly and steadily. No snoring. No gasping. No choking sounds.

When he finally woke up, he sat up looking confused.

The rest of the trip, he slept like he was 20 years old. 

By day three, his face had color again. He wasn't falling asleep at lunch. He could keep up with my kids at the beach.

Before we left, I begged the front desk manager to tell me about their pillows. She tried to brush me off until I explained Dad's situation.

"They're Derila Ergos," she finally admitted. "But they're specialty medical pillows - not available in regular stores."

Wrong. I found them online that night.

Turns out these were designed by Dr. Tanaka from the Tokyo Sleep Institute specifically to fix the root cause of snoring - chin position. 

When your chin tilts down during sleep, it blocks your airways. 

This pillow's unique curves keep your chin properly positioned all night, no matter how you turn.

I ordered two sets. When they arrived, Dad was skeptical. 

"A pillow can't fix eight years of sleep apnea."

First morning after using it, he walked into the kitchen and made pancakes. Alert. Energized. Like the old dad I remembered.

Mom started crying. Good tears this time. 

"You didn't snore once," she whispered. "Not once."

It's been two months. 

✅ Dad sleeps 7-8 hours straight every night. 

✅ His sleep tracker showed his apnea episodes dropped from 42 per hour to 6 - mild range, no longer dangerous. 

✅ His cardiologist was so shocked she asked what changed.

"My daughter got me a pillow," he said.

She laughed until she saw his latest heart readings. Then she asked for the website.

I'm sharing this because I know someone reading this has a parent suffering like mine was. Watching your dad - the strongest person you know - literally suffocate in his sleep every night is terrifying.

The Derila Ergo works because it's not just a pillow - it's engineered to maintain proper chin position. 

Think about CPR - first thing they do is tilt the head back to open airways. This pillow does that automatically, all night long

These pillows aren't cheap (though they're 70% off right now). 

But compared to the $1,300 CPAP machine gathering dust? 

Or another ER visit? Or finding him blue-faced one morning?

Worth every penny.

They have a 30-day trial period. 

Order one. If your dad (or you) doesn't breathe better, send it back.

But I'm betting you'll be ordering more, like I did. 

Got one for myself and my husband who "barely snores" - except now he doesn't snore at all, and I'm back in our bedroom after 2 years of sleeping separately

Don't wait for a middle-of-the-night emergency. 

Don't wait until the oxygen deprivation causes permanent damage.

P.S. 

Quick warning: There are knockoffs all over Amazon that look similar but don't have Dr. Tanaka's actual chin-positioning design. 

They're just memory foam pillows with weird shapes.

Get the real Derila Ergo from their actual site - I put the link below. 

My friend learned this the hard way when she tried to save $20. 

The fake one made her dad's snoring worse.