deviated septum

[fuzzy96]

hi everyone. i want to share this thread with the folks here as maybe it will help some.
i have always been a mouth breather. and a snorer. i've been tired as long as i can remember. after mono in my mid 20's the doc's all said it was chronic fatigue syndrome - linked to the lingering effects of mono. years go by the the latest medical fad(so to speak) was that i had depression. feed him pills and all will be well. yeah right. finally my new wife took me to my family dr .she told them how i would quit breathing, turn multi shades of blue and black, along with the flailing arms and legs. luckily my doc had been to a symposium on sleep apnea earlier in the year. so i get a sleep study followwed by titration.
i've been a hose head going on 2 years now. recently ny stuffiness got so bad it was all but impossible to tolerate my cpap.my doc sent me for allergy tests. just so happens the doc is an ear,nose throat specialist. allergy testing showwed minimal reaction but the doc wanted to get to the bottom of things right then(imagine that)!! seems all these years i've had a deviated septum. hm...yesterday i had surgery to correct this .right now i'm all stuffed up and my upper palatte and top teeh are a little sore.(normal i'm told)i will keep y'all posted as to my recovery. the surgery is not for everyone.hopefully this will help.funny how our medical system has got to the point where no doctors want to take the time to truely evaluate a patients needs or concerns. why won't sleep docs send confirmed apnea(osa) patients for evaluatoions by an ENT doc b4 handing out machines?

[MurphysLaw]

Sorry to hear you're under the weather right now, but if it's any consolation, a friend of mine had that surgery and she said it was the best thing she ever did. She said it was rough immediately following the surgery, but after that she never had any sinus troubles whatsoever.

Good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress.

Lynne

[jrt]

It will be interesting to find out if the surgery helps your apnea to the point of not needing cpap or to lower the pressure used. Only one of three ent doctors said it would help me so I cancelled the surgery after seeing ent #3 after #2 suggested surgery. Keep the forum posted on your progress.

[GuyK]

Several years ago, as I was going through a series of appointments with an allergist, looking for causes of chronic sinus problems, I mentioned to him that I had a deviated septum (one can look up my nostril and see that very plainly). He dismissed it at the time saying "everyone who passes through a birth canal has some form of deviated septum."

He eventually referred me for an ENT surgical consult, who noted a "moderately to severely deviated septum" and wanted to correct it (of course he did, he's a surgeon!). I asked if that would help my sinus problems clear up, and he said "probably not", so I didn't have it done.

Fast forward several years, and my somnodoc refers me to an ENT, and I mention the previous note of "moderately to severely deviated septum". He, too, suggested that it might need to be fixed if CPAP therapy is less than optimal for me.

[john_dozer]

Just guessing here, but it seems surgery for a deviated septum would make CPAP more effective/tolerable but not really eliminate the need for CPAP unless you were pretty close to borderline already.

[Virtus Velox]

As a result of facial reconstruct in Nam, I've had deviated septum for over 40 years, and a few other anomalies left over
Since I became a hoser, almost two months now, I've never felt better.
scenario: sliding down long stair well hand rail that turns into a razor blade, immediately followed by a large vat of high grain alcohol ... kinda close to the pain level that three facial reconstructs felt like... third time I told them, "get it the way you want it, cause I'm NOT doing this again!"
Perhaps the surgical methods have vastly improved since then. They could not put me under with general anesthetic because they had to see if they hit brain
CPAP Rocks! Broke nose and all

[fuzzy96]

as promissed here i am at day 3 post op. day one post op was spent on the couch so i could lay my head to one side . this allowwed it to drain somewhat but breathing was still pretty much mouth only. this made for cotton mouth like you wouldn't believe.ice applied to my face was pretty much useless, but hey - trying it never hurts. the pain was not too bad but the claustraphobic feeling you get froma stuffed head sucks.at one point my head plugged so bad i couldn't swallow. it created a vacuum that would make kirby jealous!!! my upper pallate and front teeth are a little sore but no worse than being in a good bar brawl. day three is much better. i can actually get some air through my nose. the wife said i actually breathed thru my nose and didn't snore. though she could tell i was stuffy. promissing observation but way too early to tell anything. i feel i could actually go to work but i wouldn't be giving my usual 100%. the doc was only giving me sugery day and next day off but i took vacation and am glad i did. i was able to go last night to my boy's football game and i think the cold air(34 deg) actually helped . it got where ice could not. i got lots of boogers so don't tailgate me lol. as i said i am on here to let you know how my process is going so if anyone has any questions please post or pm me. i did this for me but if ANYONE is helped or whatever i will feel i am doing something to help my fellow hoseheads-- wait , didn't nixon say that?
till next time rick

[JeffH]

Just guessing here, but it seems surgery for a deviated septum would make CPAP more effective/tolerable but not really eliminate the need for CPAP unless you were pretty close to borderline already.

Bingo! We have a winner. My experience exactly.

[sharon1965]

ditto what jeffh said

but i had my septum repaired so that i could breathe better and more easily, eliminate headaches, chronic congestion, sneezing fits and to help my cpap to work optimally, not ever in the hope that it would elminate the need for cpap...my apneas are due to throat anatomy, not because of a deviated septum

[roster]

ditto what jeffh said

but i had my septum repaired so that i could breathe better and more easily, eliminate headaches, chronic congestion, sneezing fits and to help my cpap to work optimally, not ever in the hope that it would elminate the need for cpap...my apneas are due to throat anatomy, not because of a deviated septum

Ditto me in. I had a double deviated septum corrected and all six turbinates resectioned. I can certainly breathe easier through my nose and am very happy to have had the surgery.

However, as Sharon said, obstructive sleep apnea is typically a blockage in the throat not in the nose. My apnea is controlled only by using cpap. Fuzzy, I suspect if you really had apnea before the surgery, you will still have it after the surgery.

[fuzzy96]

i never expected this to be a cure. there is no sense having a cpap stting on your bedstand if you can;t or won't use it. being able to breathe through one's nose may reuce the pressure needed or lesson the amount of events. i knew this going in .

[fuzzy96]

well i'm back just to let y'all know how it's going. i can breathe easier now but am still stuffy. doesn't help all the dust and fumes at work.
i still have my apneas . been on my cpap a little and it does seem easier to breathe and i can tell the difference. am playing with humidity levels as it seems different now,. will be back to doc tomorrow. worth it?
well the jury is out but so fari say yes

[ojoseyes]

WHAT HAPPENED, DID YOUR DEVIATED SEPTUM SURGERY HAVE ANY REAL GREAT NOTICEABLE CHANGES?

[49er]

WHAT HAPPENED, DID YOUR DEVIATED SEPTUM SURGERY HAVE ANY REAL GREAT NOTICEABLE CHANGES?

As an FYI, you are posting on an old thread. You might want to search the archives on deviated septum as there is a huge thread in which people reported their results.

49er

[Wulfman...]

WHAT HAPPENED, DID YOUR DEVIATED SEPTUM SURGERY HAVE ANY REAL GREAT NOTICEABLE CHANGES?

Read his post in this thread and see if that answers your questions.

viewtopic/t35500/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38 ... um#p340876


Den

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