Portrait of Rachel Stanton, JavaSleep contributor
JavaSleep Contributor

Rachel Stanton

36 pieces published
A close-up, macro photograph of a middle-aged man's face resting on a white pillow…
Sleep Apnea July 2026 · 5 min

I Asked Whether Sleep Apnea Was Coming for My Eyes. Here's What I Found.

I have used a CPAP machine every night for four years. In that time, three cardiologists and one primary-care doctor have talked to me about my heart. Not one has mentioned my eyes.

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
A photorealistic close-up portrait of a person reclining peacefully on a bed in a…
Sleep Tech June 2026 · 5 min

Can Extended Reality (XR) Actually Put You to Sleep? The Biology Says Maybe

Here is a claim that should not be true: the single most overstimulating consumer device of the decade — a screen strapped two inches from your eyes, rendering a glowing world at 90 frames per second…

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
Sleep Disorders June 2026 · 5 min

I Stopped Calling It Snoring: Living Beside Central Sleep Apnea

The loudest sleep apnea is the easy one. The dangerous one is quiet. That sentence sounds backwards, and for the first month I lived beside it I would have argued with it.

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
A close-up, intimate photograph of a sleeping person's face resting on a white pillow…
CPAP June 2026 · 5 min

I Slept on a VPAP for Three Weeks: A Breath-by-Breath Review

For three weeks I swapped my fixed-pressure CPAP for a VPAP — variable, or bilevel, positive airway pressure — and tracked what changed breath by breath.

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
A close-up macro photograph of a modern white CPAP machine resting on a wooden…
CPAP June 2026 · 5 min

CPAP Machine Setup Fails More Often at the Login Screen Than Anywhere Else

You can get the mask fitted, the pressure prescribed, the humidifier filled, and the machine humming beside your bed — and still not be "set up." Because the part of CPAP machine setup that strands…

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
Sleep Apnea June 2026 · 6 min

If You Can't Stand CPAP, Is There a Real Sleep Apnea Treatment That Works Instead?

There is a specific object in a lot of bedrooms: a CPAP machine, boxed or shoved under the bed, used for nine nights and then abandoned.

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
Sleep Aids June 2026 · 5 min

Natural Sleep Aids and the 7-Minute Question: What Melatonin Actually Does

Somewhere in the last decade you probably absorbed a number, even if you can't place where: melatonin helps you fall asleep about seven minutes faster. Not seven hours. Seven minutes.

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
A close-up photorealistic shot of a printed sleep study report resting on a dark…
Sleep Apnea June 2026 · 6 min

Sleep Apnea Severity Is a Number — and the Number Is Stranger Than It Looks

There is a number on your sleep study, and it probably has a decimal point. Maybe it says 27.4. Maybe 8.1, or 62.0.

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
Close-up photograph of a person lying in bed at dawn, viewed from above, with…
CPAP June 2026 · 9 min

Your CPAP Still Shows Apneas. That Doesn't Mean Your Sleep Apnea Treatment Failed

There is a small ritual that almost every CPAP user develops in the first week. You wake up, you pull the mask off, and before you've fully decided to be awake, your thumb is on the phone, opening the…

By Rachel Stanton · Read →