Question about obstructive sleep apnea

Hi everyone I had a question regarding my obstructive sleep apnea also wanted to share some of my personal health history.

Since I was a teenager I always struggled with not feeling completely refreshed from my sleep. It was never anything too disruptive to my daily life but I definitely felt like it was hard to get up in the morning sometimes. As I got older and in my early 20's at 22 I developed a lyme disease infection and my anatomical issues became an issue on top of dealing with Lyme disease regarding my sleep. I have a deep overbite and narrow airway due to my lower jaw being set back. This is genetic and has been an issue for me since I was a teen. I also have a deviated septum that an ENT had picked up on. Upon getting an MRI of my sinuses a few years ago the machines picked up that my sinus canal in my left side is extremely narrow.

This causes me to not breathe properly when I sleep in the case I have any kind of fluid in my sinuses or am sick. When I first got lyme disease I had a lot of intense and debilitating symptoms which is when I first sought out help for what I thought could have been sleep apnea. I had an overnight sleep study done where they attacthed monitors to my chest and head. Don't remember what the results were exactly but they said I did not have too many times in the night in which I stopped breathing fully, but that I did have restless leg syndrome. They wanted to do a more comprehensive test for the sleep apnea but I couldn't afford to do it at the time. Co pays were high and eventually my insurance lapped out.

I eventually got the right help for my lyme disease and began to recover from that and regained most of my health back but had residual symptoms here and there, and times where I felt like I was still having some issue. I am 28 years old currently. Throughout my lyme disease and rest of my 20s until now I noticed a more persistant sense of non restorative and non refreshing sleep. Like if I sleep less then 8 hours I can feel a lot more exhuasted then others who can get by with more sleep deprivation and still be better functioning. Other days at times I could sleep a full 8 or so hours but still wake up not feeling 100 percent as well, and sleep has always been something that has been less then perfect since I have had lyme disease in general.


As of right now I had a relapse of some older and strong symptoms of my lyme disease and it made me a bit nervous and stressed out. As I have been treating it for a while, albeit never got 100 percent well but felt pretty darn good almost 90 percent well I would say. I think one of the reasons I am having difficulty fully overcoming my lyme disease, and one of the reasons I have a lot of sleep issues is because of my anatomical issues pertaining to my jaw, deviated septum, and narrowed sinus canals.

I currently do not have good enough health insurance to see a doctor who would give me a more comprehensive sleep study and I would not be able to afford it. So I am trying to find out other means by which I can help myself with this and what others from this forum would know or suggest to do. Is there anyways in which a person can help their obstructive sleep apnea with self treatment before going to a doctor? I plan on seeing someone eventually but I need to go somewhere I can afford, and if they give me a cpap or b pap machine I would also need to be able to afford that or get insurance to cover the bulk of the cost too.

I heard sleeping with a bed wedge for elevation might help? Also I saw there was some discounted site that sells cpap machines for very cheap. But I have no idea how you are supposed to figure out how to use the right amount of air and all of that stuff. I know there are dental devices but I would have to go through an orthodontist to get those. I can't afford to do that right now either. Anyways any help is much appreciated and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read through all of this. I did not intend for it to be so long. I just really want to get fully healthy and stay well because there is a lot I want to do in my life and I don't want to spend more years being restricted from all these obstacles I overcame so far.

One of the things you could look at to possibly improve sleeping is a cervical collar. In some people it helps reduce positional induced apnea -- mainly chin down. Another approach would be an orthopedic style pillow that provides more support to the neck.

Yes, a basic CPAP machine would give you a report on to what degree of sleep apnea you have. Just make sure it is one supported by SleepyHead, and you can get a Clinical Manual to help you with the setup. Here is a link that explains what is involved in finding the clinical manual, and doing the setup.

CPAP Setup Manuals

You can self diagnose and self treat sleep apnea assuming it is of the plain jane obstructive variety with no complicating factors.
You can easily find optimal pressures using equipment that you understand the how and why of what your are doing.
We have many forum members here who have done that very thing.

It takes some hard work and a lot of education on your part.

It does also take some money because you have to buy the mask and machine...now there are ways of getting equipment that won't break the bank but it still costs money up front.
I might have a gently used mask you could try for free but you still need a machine and the mask I might have may not suit you.

So how much money can you devote to self diagnosing and self treating?
And are you willing to work hard on learning this stuff? It's not rocket science but it does take a little bit of education and work to self diagnose and self treat.

Ron AKA wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:11 am

One of the things you could look at to possibly improve sleeping is a cervical collar. In some people it helps reduce positional induced apnea -- mainly chin down. Another approach would be an orthopedic style pillow that provides more support to the neck.

Yes, a basic CPAP machine would give you a report on to what degree of sleep apnea you have. Just make sure it is one supported by SleepyHead, and you can get a Clinical Manual to help you with the setup. Here is a link that explains what is involved in finding the clinical manual, and doing the setup.

CPAP Setup Manuals

Thank you I will look into that and check out the link.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:20 am

You can self diagnose and self treat sleep apnea assuming it is of the plain jane obstructive variety with no complicating factors.
You can easily find optimal pressures using equipment that you understand the how and why of what your are doing.
We have many forum members here who have done that very thing.

It takes some hard work and a lot of education on your part.

It does also take some money because you have to buy the mask and machine...now there are ways of getting equipment that won't break the bank but it still costs money up front.
I might have a gently used mask you could try for free but you still need a machine and the mask I might have may not suit you.

So how much money can you devote to self diagnosing and self treating?
And are you willing to work hard on learning this stuff? It's not rocket science but it does take a little bit of education and work to self diagnose and self treat.

I can devote a few hundred dollars to a machine. I had to self treat my lyme disease and educate myself a lot about it. So that part is no issue for me at all. I just want to do whatever I can myself, so that I don't have to stress about the finances and I can get something I can afford to help me. I am absolutely willing to work hard on learning this stuff too. I have had sleep issues due to my jaw issues and sinuses for a long time, and I feel like treating that will help my overall health and also help resolve and give my body more strength to heal from remaining lyme disease symptoms. Its a win win haha.