The sleep specialist said she did see some deviation in my septum, but would not refer me for surgery until and unless the CPAP machine was unhelpful or ineffective. This was before my two overnight sleep studies (first without a CPAP, the 2nd with). So they found I have sleep apnea.

Have you considered such a machine? I found I was able to breathe thru my nose (keeping my mouth shut) after the one night of the sleep study, and now that I have my own machine, that again is true. I am looking forward to seeing if I find swimming easier this summer.