Sleep Apnea Support/Questions Thread

[awsmith4]

My ultimate problem is my weight and i am working o that, with that said has anyone used one of the moth pieces offered on tv? I am looking for a temp solution until I finish shedding the pounds

No experience with those Albert sorry.

So your sleep study doctor said lose some weight and all will be ok?

[awsmith4]

Originally Posted by ahc4353

No experience with those Albert sorry.

So your sleep study doctor said lose some weight and all will be ok?

That and get my broken nose fixed, until then I was looking for a cheap fix so I don't have to sleep in the yard

[awsmith4]

Originally Posted by awsmith4

That and get my broken nose fixed, until then I was looking for a cheap fix so I don't have to sleep in the yard

Let me clarify, I have a small fracture on the inner part of my nose that has been there for years. When I quit smoking cigarettes 3.5 years ago I gained close to 50lbs and that is apparently the leading cause of my snoring and the break just adds to the noise.

Originally Posted by awsmith4

Let me clarify, I have a small fracture on the inner part of my nose that has been there for years. When I quit smoking cigarettes 3.5 years ago I gained close to 50lbs and that is apparently the leading cause of my snoring and the break just adds to the noise.

So to clarify, you have not had a study and you are only going on Doc Albert's diagnosis. Correct?

[awsmith4]

Originally Posted by ahc4353

So to clarify, you have not had a study and you are only going on Doc Albert's diagnosis. Correct?

Went to the Doc he just sent me to an ENT and the ENT looked me over and gave me that diagnosis. I asked both about a sleep study and neither thought it necessary. Just going on my doctors diagnosis

My name is Mert, and today is 3 weeks post-op for tonsillectomy, reshaping the soft palette, fixing a deviated septum and reducing the turbinate glands in my sinuses. In my sleep study I was found to have 124 apnea events per hour, so my breathing interrupted twice a minute, and my oxygen was down at about 82. I am quite claustrophobic, so pretty much couldn't sleep in any mask...and the cpap had to be turned up so high I panicked because I felt I couldn't exhale, so that led to surgery. Well, that and the fact that my tonsils were 3 and 4 times larger than normal.

As of right now, only three weeks in and still not fully recovered from surgery, I am not snoring, my sinuses are clear and I am actually dreaming again (I couldn't remember the last dream I had before surgery). I would say that the first two weeks were the most miserable thing in my entire life, and I have a history of kidney stones, so I know a little something about being miserable. If you can live with the cpap, do so, cause tonsillectomy and the soft palette reshaping is about the worst thing an adult can go through and not be life threatening, imho.

I am looking forward to this weekend, my first cigar in about 4 weeks!

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by LordOfWu

My name is Mert, and today is 3 weeks post-op for tonsillectomy, reshaping the soft palette, fixing a deviated septum and reducing the turbinate glands in my sinuses. In my sleep study I was found to have 124 apnea events per hour, so my breathing interrupted twice a minute, and my oxygen was down at about 82. I am quite claustrophobic, so pretty much couldn't sleep in any mask...and the cpap had to be turned up so high I panicked because I felt I couldn't exhale, so that led to surgery. Well, that and the fact that my tonsils were 3 and 4 times larger than normal.

As of right now, only three weeks in and still not fully recovered from surgery, I am not snoring, my sinuses are clear and I am actually dreaming again (I couldn't remember the last dream I had before surgery). I would say that the first two weeks were the most miserable thing in my entire life, and I have a history of kidney stones, so I know a little something about being miserable. If you can live with the cpap, do so, cause tonsillectomy and the soft palette reshaping is about the worst thing an adult can go through and not be life threatening, imho.

I am looking forward to this weekend, my first cigar in about 4 weeks!

Thanks for that story, it is interesting to hear about the other types of treatment available. I weighed the possibility of having the procedure you did, but chickened out after reading stories about how bad it was and how there was no guarantee that it would work completely. Sounds like the pain part of those stories was accurate. Of course, my biggest worry popped up when I read some people complaining of loss of taste due to the clamp they use to hold your tounge down. I couldn't bear the thought of not enjoying my cigars anymore, so CPAP for me! I wish you luck in your recovery. I'd love to hear updates as you progress.

Originally Posted by BigCat

Thanks for that story, it is interesting to hear about the other types of treatment available. I weighed the possibility of having the procedure you did, but chickened out after reading stories about how bad it was and how there was no guarantee that it would work completely. Sounds like the pain part of those stories was accurate. Of course, my biggest worry popped up when I read some people complaining of loss of taste due to the clamp they use to hold your tounge down. I couldn't bear the thought of not enjoying my cigars anymore, so CPAP for me! I wish you luck in your recovery. I'd love to hear updates as you progress.

I haven't noticed a loss of taste, but I didn't have the most refined palette before the surgery either! The pain thing...yep, absolutely as bad as they say...I've had a 7mm kidney stone, and this was pretty much dead even with that! Bottom line is, you gotta do something about it if you have it. Good for you that the CPAP worked, that's clearly the better option!

[jkim05]

I went to a medical conference years ago and one of the sessions was on sleep disorders. At the time sleep apnea seemed like one of the strangest problems I'd ever heard of and never thought it would affect anyone I knew. Turns out it's a lot more common than I thought; my dad just had his sleep study last night. I'll let you guys know how it went once I find out and if there's any questions he has.

[kelmac07]

Al...yeah go figure! Every one says they notice the difference with the CPAP machine right away. Doctor says I may not notice it, but I am getting better sleep. So gotta take the doctors word and continue to use the CPAP. Wife enjoys sleeping without her Ipod. Funny thing is, now I notice her snoring...LOL!!

[eber]

Hello my name is Erik and I probably have sleep apnea,

I am in the process of scheduling a sleep study (getting the doctors referral and all that stuff) I already called the sleep institute and after they get the papers from the Doc. I will be in for a study next week.

[icehog3]

Good luck Erik!

[Cenookie]

Hi, my name is Claude. I've had sleep apnea for a little over 5 yrs now. I don't remember the exact #'s of my last sleep study 3 yrs ago, but I remember they were bad. I started using a CPAP but could not find a mask that was comfortable enough to allow me to sleep thru the night. I would wake up fiddling with the tubes, or develop a leak. I stopped using the CPAP 2 yrs ago as a result of this. I don't think I want to go the surgery route. My problem with the different masks is that I'm a stomach sleeper and could never get comfy on my back. Funny that this post started because I'm scheduled for another sleep study on the 13th, and reading all the posts makes me remember how serious this is. I hope they've come up with new head gear that will address my problem with not being able to sleep on my back. If any one has, or had the problem with head gear, a heads up on what gear you use would appreciated.

[PeteSB75]

I'm generally a side/stomach sleeper. I've been using nasal pillows with no issues for a couple of years now. This is the mask I use.

Originally Posted by eber

Hello my name is Erik and I probably have sleep apnea,

I am in the process of scheduling a sleep study (getting the doctors referral and all that stuff) I already called the sleep institute and after they get the papers from the Doc. I will be in for a study next week.

Good luck Erik and keep us posted!

Originally Posted by Cenookie

Hi, my name is Claude. I've had sleep apnea for a little over 5 yrs now. I don't remember the exact #'s of my last sleep study 3 yrs ago, but I remember they were bad. I started using a CPAP but could not find a mask that was comfortable enough to allow me to sleep thru the night. I would wake up fiddling with the tubes, or develop a leak. I stopped using the CPAP 2 yrs ago as a result of this. I don't think I want to go the surgery route. My problem with the different masks is that I'm a stomach sleeper and could never get comfy on my back. Funny that this post started because I'm scheduled for another sleep study on the 13th, and reading all the posts makes me remember how serious this is. I hope they've come up with new head gear that will address my problem with not being able to sleep on my back. If any one has, or had the problem with head gear, a heads up on what gear you use would appreciated.

So glad to read you're going to give it another shot.
Please keep us posted!

So I thought I would keep a list of who needs to schedule their test. This way all of us that are treating our Apnea can hound those that aren't until they do. All confirmed apnea people please feel free to send reminder PM's on a regular bases to the following.

mediccook - Ryan
eber - Eric
beeradvocate - Travis - (Father-In-Law)
dentonparrots - Carl
kaisersozei - Gerard
tripp - Tripp
ggainey - Greg
emjaysmash - M.J.
awsmith4 - Albert
jkim05 - Jeremy - (Dad - awaiting results)
junior - (wife)


Please update the list with the date of your scheduled test.

Well? What are you waiting for? Get going!

[kaisersozei]

mediccook - Ryan
eber - Eric
beeradvocate - Travis - (Father-In-Law)
dentonparrots - Carl
kaisersozei - Gerard May 14
tripp - Tripp
ggainey - Greg
emjaysmash - M.J.
awsmith4 - Albert
jkim05 - Jeremy - (Dad - awaiting results)
junior - (wife)


Yo, I'm psychic--mine was scheduled before the thread started!

I was planning on posting up some pictures next weekend once it's all done, just to give folks an idea of what the test is like.

G

[azherfer]

Originally Posted by Cenookie

If any one has, or had the problem with head gear, a heads up on what gear you use would appreciated.

This is the only mask that I could get comfortable with and honestly, after several months, I hardly noticed it anymore.

http://www.amazon.com/Puritan-Benett...1717472&sr=8-2

Gang I am afraid that my wife has sleep apnea. At night I can hear her taking long pauses between breaths, and she snores really bad, and wakes up tired most days. I can’t convince her that she may have an issue. Any ideas on how I can convince her that she needs to get checked out?