New to the forum - brainfog

[anton69]

Hello,

This is my first post, I'm a man of 45yrs and have issues with tiredness and lack of motivation since several years. Last year I had a lot of stress and anxiety due to a reorganization and search psychological help. To improve sleep i got a low dose Mirtazapine prescribed as well. This certainly helped me sleeping, but I did not feel better at all and even less motivated. I also started snoring even more than I did.

The psychological treatment did not help much and I stopped with the Mirtazapine 2 months ago, hoping the brainfog would go away. Unfortunately the brainfog did not improve at all. Parallel to this I went to the doctor for my snoring and after an endoscopy I got a sleep test done. According to my doctor my tongue falls into my throat causing the snoring. It appeared that I also have apnea/osas with an average of 15 stops per hour. I also had other things checked, like my thyroid and all is ok. I will get a custom made mouth device / MBA in a few weeks, it will be a Somnodent device.

Would it be likely that the brainfog is caused by the apnea? What I mean by brainfog is a kind of a pressure in my head, lack of concentration and an overall tiredness. If so, how soon after starting with the MBA could I expect to notice improvements?

[LSAT]

You might be out of luck...Very few on this board have had the "mouth device" and of those, hardly any have been successful in stopping their apneas.

[Julie]

Your tongue falling back and blocking your airway is what causes apnea... snoring is a symptom only, and not always indicative of apnea, but in your case may be. You need to get a sleep study to diagnose, confirm and titrate (titration gives you the amuont of pressure needed to keep your (own) airway open - but does not correlate to the severity of your apnea - you can have mild apnea and need a higher pressure, or vice versa. Until tested, do whatever you can to not sleep on your back as it will provoke more apneas (and likely snoring). And brain fog is classic for apnea. Be careful when driving!

[Sheffey]

I will get a custom made mouth device / MBA in a few weeks, it will be a Somnodent device.

IMO, these devices are for losers. I had one made. It was very uncomfortable, and worse yet, it did not prevent apneas.

Winners use CPAP. It works.

[adin67]

Hello,

I'm a man of 45yrs and have issues with tiredness and lack of motivation since several years.
Would it be likely that the brainfog is caused by the apnea? What I mean by brainfog is a kind of a pressure in my head, lack of concentration and an overall tiredness.

These symptoms sound like hypothyroidism(which can cause OSA). Some tests would not hurt(TSH, fT4, ...) + weight lost.

[anton69]

Thanks, i had my blood tested and the TSH, sugar, etc was all fine, so no indication of thyroid issues.

I did have a sleeptest done and the outcome was that I have 15 stops per hour on average, mainly when lying on my back. My doctor advised an MBA based on his finding during the endoscopy.

I live in Holland and MBA's are considered to be effective and reimbursed for mild OSAS of 15 stops or lower. My brother has apnea since 10 years more severe then I though and has a CPAP. He is happy with it.According to the hospital the modern MBA's are very comfortable and effective. I guess if I don't like the MBA I can always switch to CPAP, but a MBA seems less intrusive to me.

[ChicagoGranny]

MBA's

In the States they are called MADs (mandibular advancement devices).

According to the hospital the modern MBA's are very comfortable and effective.

How many of them stuff that metal and plastic in their mouth every night?

Good luck with that, but remember, we will be here to help when you switch to CPAP. Make sure you run it by the forum before you decide on a machine model. Some models are "bricks".

[yoshi]

Long story short, the MAD device you speak of helped my brain fog but only marginally. It was my jump point to find out if surgery would help. My UP3 surgery was wonderful for my apnea and brain fog but only for a couple years. I'm ended up with a sleep study that was the same as before I tried the dental device. I'm only 2 days into cpap so I can't attest to if it's going to be my brain fog solution, but so far I think it's helping. I don't regret surgery for non-apnea reasons but if I were to do this over again, I would personally skip the mouthpiece and surgery. But every body is different.

[49er]

Hello,

This is my first post, I'm a man of 45yrs and have issues with tiredness and lack of motivation since several years. Last year I had a lot of stress and anxiety due to a reorganization and search psychological help. To improve sleep i got a low dose Mirtazapine prescribed as well. This certainly helped me sleeping, but I did not feel better at all and even less motivated. I also started snoring even more than I did.

The psychological treatment did not help much and I stopped with the Mirtazapine 2 months ago, hoping the brainfog would go away. Unfortunately the brainfog did not improve at all. Parallel to this I went to the doctor for my snoring and after an endoscopy I got a sleep test done. According to my doctor my tongue falls into my throat causing the snoring. It appeared that I also have apnea/osas with an average of 15 stops per hour. I also had other things checked, like my thyroid and all is ok. I will get a custom made mouth device / MBA in a few weeks, it will be a Somnodent device.

Would it be likely that the brainfog is caused by the apnea? What I mean by brainfog is a kind of a pressure in my head, lack of concentration and an overall tiredness. If so, how soon after starting with the MBA could I expect to notice improvements?

Anton, due to brain fog:), I can't remember if the link in my signature profile to a 2011 discusses this but you might want to click on it and see for yourself. Unfortunately, once the apnea support forum was taken down by the American Sleep Apnea Association, there ceased to be any good forums to discuss dental devices, particularly since a very helpful sleep medicine dentist, Dr. Luisi, used to post there.

You might go to http://www.talkaboutsleep.com and click on their dental forums to see if the old posts address your concerns. Unfortunately, people seemed to have stopped posting as the lastest one is from a year ago and I only recall seeing one there.

Best of luck.

49er

[Julie]

Has anyone noticed that the OP hasn't come back (and he's not Anton)? Hate when that happens!

[49er]

Has anyone noticed that the OP hasn't come back (and he's not Anton)? Hate when that happens!

Is that a crime?

I am guessing he is following through on his plans to try a dental device and saw no need to return to this board unless he switches over to pap therapy.

[Julie]

No, no... not a crime or anything, just an observatIon about something that drives me nuts - when we all diligently jump in to help someone who never shows up again... nothing to do with you.

[49er]

No, no... not a crime or anything, just an observatIon about something that drives me nuts - when we all diligently jump in to help someone who never shows up again... nothing to do with you.

Oh, I know it had nothing to do with me:). Maybe he didn't perceive being told that dental devices are for losers as helpful.

Anyway, I guess after being told that this forum doesn't discuss dental devices that he saw no need to return since pursuing that was his first choice. Hopefully, he have success and not feel the need to return.

49er

[anton69]

I'm back, sorry for the late reply. I was indeed awaiting the effects of my MAD which I got 5 weeks ago.

Good news is that it did not give me any problems with sleeping, sore jaw, etc. Bad news is that it did not do anything for my snoring, even on the most forward setting. Pretty disappointing for a 1,000 Euro device

I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday and decided to switch to cpap. I already can come back tomorrow for the device and fitting!

I won't have much choice in which cpap device (insurance company only provides Resmed or Respironics) and will be able to choose between a nose mask and a intranasal mask (plugs in my nose).

I'm pretty nervous about cpap, it looks quite uncomfortable. Especially exhaling against the pressure and turning in my sleep seem like a potential issue to me.

I only breath through my nose and don't open my mouth during the night. What kind of mask would offer the most comfort with least noise?

Thanks!

[chunkyfrog]

My cpap has virtually eliminated my brain fog, (((which does not prevent me from pretending
to be a bit dim to avoid explaining stuff to people who wouldn't understand to begin with.)))
I am profoundly grateful that I was never tempted to resort to quackery to address my apnea.
This is the REAL THING. Please do not be fooled by something less.