Holmes traveled to St. Louis, Mo., in 2017, and he decided he didn’t feel right when he arrived back home, leading to a doctor’s visit and a sleep study.

It turned out he had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and he stopped breathing approximately 60 times every hour.

Bret Holmes and his wife Janece sit in the bleachers during a sporting event.

A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine was the first treatment Holmes tried, but he couldn’t keep the mask on and had panic attacks at night. He tried an oral appliance as well, which helped a little, but he didn’t feel like it was a long-term solution.

Holmes dreaded going to bed because of his struggles. He was irritable with those around him, lacked concentration and was tired all the time.

He didn’t know he was being difficult with others until much later due to his lack of quality sleep.

Holmes decided to start over, coming across Inspire therapy while looking up alternatives.

Holmes continued to research and later made an appointment to see an Inspire-trained doctor. He qualified and was implanted in early 2019.

He soon started to feel better after activation. His quality of sleep slowly improved, and he had some adjustments made during his fine tune sleep study a few months later.

That’s when he really noticed a difference. He started to dream again for the first time in years.

"I was feeling good before, but nothing like that night [following the sleep study]," he said. "After that, I feel like that every night I go to bed now.

Bret Holmes enjoys a vacation with his family.

“The biggest thing is to trust the process.”

Holmes has since lost 60 pounds and isn’t as irritable or tired anymore. He is sleeping 7 to 9 hours per night and began to exercise again.

"If you struggle with sleep, you force yourself to work out, but all it does is make you more tired,” Holmes said. “It is like a never-ending cycle, so it gets really frustrating. I now work out six days a week like I did before."