Transition off CPAP to oral appliance

[Mogy]

Hi Sleep Nomad,
I first read your blog about a month ago and seeing your results is encouraging. I take some vitamin D and B-complex, but not at the levels Dr Gormiak feels will help. I also don't get my D levels checked very often.
If you are looking for data when you are not using CPAP, Contec makes the RS01 Sleep Apnea monitor and it is currently on sale on eBay for $100. It has Flow rate monitoring as well as Oximeter data.

[tyrone747]

I was using a dreamwear.

Which kind of Dreamwear? The full face mask, nasal cushion, or gel pillows?

[Sleep Nomad]

Sorry Tyrone!

I didn't realize that there are three versions of that mask. I was using the nasal cushion. I was never able to do it with a nuance pro nasal pillow mask. I have never used a full face mask, so I am not sure about that.

[Sleep Nomad]

Hi Sleep Nomad,
I first read your blog about a month ago and seeing your results is encouraging. I take some vitamin D and B-complex, but not at the levels Dr Gormiak feels will help. I also don't get my D levels checked very often.
If you are looking for data when you are not using CPAP, Contec makes the RS01 Sleep Apnea monitor and it is currently on sale on eBay for $100. It has Flow rate monitoring as well as Oximeter data.

Thank you for pointing out the Contec device. For $100, that sounds like it might be worth investing in. Right now I am using a pulse ox with a vibration alarm. I have dialed my vitamin D to about 1000iu a day since October. I am sure my level has come down but I haven't had it tested since October I think. I found for myself that I don't need to go as high as her levels to feel the impact on my sleep.

[Sleep Nomad]

It turns out that there is some precendent and an actual study that supports what I have encountered. I am a little over a month off the CPAP machine and doing well (Posted my pulse ox on my blog if interested). I should point out that I do a lot of things to support myself staying off of it as well.

MADs have variable efficacy but in one study half of patients with OSA previously treated with CPAP, who were able to tolerate the MAD, no longer had clinically significant OSA for up to a month after CPAP cessation (12).

This is from an article that lays out why it might be possible to reverse sleep apnea. If you are at all interested in reversing it or at least reading some encouraging words, that paper is worth reading for sure. The article was published in 2016.

In his view, CPAP use may allow patients to enter a “remission phase” of sleep apnea, or that reversal of these changes may also allow for successful treatment with non-CPAP therapies in selected individuals that would otherwise not work as initial therapy.

Obstructive sleep apnea: can the downward spiral be reversed—a summary of John Stradling’s ATS keynote speech

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4990690/

[heartchakra]

Hi Sleepnomad,

I also use the Lookee Vibrating pulse oximeter for my mom who has REM related sleep apnea - Which brand do you use ? Have you found it to be accurate ? I find its mostly accurate when there is no movement but goes awry sometimes if there is much movement of the hand.

I have also got a MAD device made by her from the dentist and it seems to help but it is still early days to come to a conclusion