Not liking this! Considering oral appliance.

[blackrock]

Last few nights I have only been able to keep the mask on about an hour or a bit more. I am joking that CPAP cures sleep apnea by not letting you sleep. LOL. I strongly believe my sleep apea comes from nasal airways. I have blockage causing negative pressure and hence my tongue to fall back. Here is a chart from last night.

Is there a way I can turn the pressures on the Autopap machine to 0 and test to see if I am having any significant apneas?

[stopsnoring]

I had an oral appliance before i started the cpap. i loved it the first week or so and then i had considerable jaw pain and my teeth shifted. i have pretty bad TMJ, so that was the issue for me. Just an FYI for you. Give the mask some time. I've had it for about 3 weeks now. I wake up around 3am every night due to air leaks and take it off. i hear it's a process and getting used to it. good luck!

[kaiasgram]

Is there a way I can turn the pressures on the Autopap machine to 0 and test to see if I am having any significant apneas?

Hi BR -- the lowest pressure your machine can go is 4.

[blackrock]

Is there a way I can turn the pressures on the Autopap machine to 0 and test to see if I am having any significant apneas?

Hi BR -- the lowest pressure your machine can go is 4.

Should I try this? keep the machine on 4/4 and see if I am having any Apneas os Hypopneas. I am scheduled for a sleep study in two weeks, but I am curious..

[kaiasgram]

Is there a way I can turn the pressures on the Autopap machine to 0 and test to see if I am having any significant apneas?

Hi BR -- the lowest pressure your machine can go is 4.

Should I try this? keep the machine on 4/4 and see if I am having any Apneas os Hypopneas. I am scheduled for a sleep study in two weeks, but I am curious..

Given the difficulty with breathng that you're having, I'm imagining that 4 would be so uncomfortable that you wouldn't get very far with it. 4 feels suffocating to many people here who don't even have the congestion issues.

In addtion, at 4cm you're still getting some therapy, so it's not a true, true test.

[Wulfman...]

Last few nights I have only been able to keep the mask on about an hour or a bit more. I am joking that CPAP cures sleep apnea by not letting you sleep. LOL. I strongly believe my sleep apea comes from nasal airways. I have blockage causing negative pressure and hence my tongue to fall back. Here is a chart from last night.

Is there a way I can turn the pressures on the Autopap machine to 0 and test to see if I am having any significant apneas?

That's been my belief for about nine years.......since I started therapy.
My suggestion to you is what I did. Do nasal cleansing before bedtime (and also during the day if/when possible) and turn your humidifier OFF.......use cool, "passover" humidification. Warm, humid air can cause the nasal passages to close up.
It made a HUGE difference in my therapy.
By the way, I LOVE this therapy. It's all about "attitude" and "acceptance".


Den

.

[musculus]

A quick test is to use Afrin and CPAP for 1-2 nights and see if your sleep improve. If not, you will know nasal congestion is not the only reason for your SDB.

[kteague]

I personally would not suggest you potentially torture yourself with a test of a solid pressure of 4 without giving the machine the option of going higher if needed. I speak from experience on the consequences of condemning yourself to way too low pressure. Now, hopefully one night wouldn't kill you, but over the long term, it nearly killed me. Have you already had a diagnostic study and the one in two weeks is a titration? That makes a difference. If you've already had the diagnostic portion, there may be some details in the report that can help you make decisions going forward with knowledge and wisdom. Whether you need to do whatever it takes to adjust to CPAP or look for other answers can depend on things like if your OSA is positional, how severe it is, how much it is disrupting your sleep architecture, and how it affects your oxygen levels.

About your nose - can you breathe freely through it during the day? If a repair is appropriate you could always do that and see how it affects your apnea, but I think there's a whole lot of tongues relaxing and falling backwards even when noses aren't blocked. No science for that, though. If your nose is actually obstructed and you don't want to try surgery on a "maybe", a mask that accommodates mouth breathing might be in your future.

Whether an oral appliance will work for you (or is even necessary) is anybody's guess. Too little information to even guesstimate where you fit in the predictability charts. Maybe it will turn out you are a good candidate. Question that just crossed my mind is... does using the oral device mean one can't mouth breathe? If so, does that make a person with nasal obstruction not a candidate for an oral device? Just asking, trying to understand.

EDIT: Just scrolled down and saw you had another thread with some of the info I was asking about. Disregard any duplication.

[blackrock]

I personally would not suggest you potentially torture yourself with a test of a solid pressure of 4 without giving the machine the option of going higher if needed. I speak from experience on the consequences of condemning yourself to way too low pressure. Now, hopefully one night wouldn't kill you, but over the long term, it nearly killed me. Have you already had a diagnostic study and the one in two weeks is a titration? That makes a difference. If you've already had the diagnostic portion, there may be some details in the report that can help you make decisions going forward with knowledge and wisdom. Whether you need to do whatever it takes to adjust to CPAP or look for other answers can depend on things like if your OSA is positional, how severe it is, how much it is disrupting your sleep architecture, and how it affects your oxygen levels.

About your nose - can you breathe freely through it during the day? If a repair is appropriate you could always do that and see how it affects your apnea, but I think there's a whole lot of tongues relaxing and falling backwards even when noses aren't blocked. No science for that, though. If your nose is actually obstructed and you don't want to try surgery on a "maybe", a mask that accommodates mouth breathing might be in your future.

Whether an oral appliance will work for you (or is even necessary) is anybody's guess. Too little information to even guesstimate where you fit in the predictability charts. Maybe it will turn out you are a good candidate. Question that just crossed my mind is... does using the oral device mean one can't mouth breathe? If so, does that make a person with nasal obstruction not a candidate for an oral device? Just asking, trying to understand.

EDIT: Just scrolled down and saw you had another thread with some of the info I was asking about. Disregard any duplication.

Thanks. I had a home sleep study in october which showed an AHI of 7.7, I think I spent 5 or so minutes under 90% oxygen in that study.

I am scheduled for a in lab diagnostic study in couple weeks. in between this two studies I had one nasal surgery which was not perfect but not bad. so we will see.

Even though I have nasal congestion for some reason I jsut cant seem to breathe through the mouth. Unless my nose is 100% clogged like with a nasal pin, My mind doesn give my jaw the signal to open.

[Sir NoddinOff]

I am joking that CPAP cures sleep apnea by not letting you sleep. LOL.

That's a funny quip. Given that, I'd still advise you to stick with CPAP. I kind of had the same problem with my jaw not willing to open enough to allow me to breathe thru my mouth. What I did was get a dental grinding guard (see below) and mold it to my BOTTOM TEETH, which is not hard to do. Next I cut a notch in the front of it with a razor knife (Xacto) to allow me to get air that way. No matter how much I clench my teeth enough air still gets thru. Nowadays, I'm using a full face mask and my jaw joined the team by backing off a bit with the clenching, therefore I don't have to wear the grinding guard much any more. Happy days!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Doctors-Night ... B0036WTV2C

[blackrock]

Last few nights I have only been able to keep the mask on about an hour or a bit more. I am joking that CPAP cures sleep apnea by not letting you sleep. LOL. I strongly believe my sleep apea comes from nasal airways. I have blockage causing negative pressure and hence my tongue to fall back. Here is a chart from last night.

Is there a way I can turn the pressures on the Autopap machine to 0 and test to see if I am having any significant apneas?

That's been my belief for about nine years.......since I started therapy.
My suggestion to you is what I did. Do nasal cleansing before bedtime (and also during the day if/when possible) and turn your humidifier OFF.......use cool, "passover" humidification. Warm, humid air can cause the nasal passages to close up.
It made a HUGE difference in my therapy.
By the way, I LOVE this therapy. It's all about "attitude" and "acceptance".


Den

.

Does Cpap use cause or increase nasal congestion? I am allready starting nasonex today.

So basically keep water in humidifier and cool air on. I will try it for tonight . hope i dont wake up with a sinus infection tomorrow.

[Wulfman...]

Last few nights I have only been able to keep the mask on about an hour or a bit more. I am joking that CPAP cures sleep apnea by not letting you sleep. LOL. I strongly believe my sleep apea comes from nasal airways. I have blockage causing negative pressure and hence my tongue to fall back. Here is a chart from last night.

Is there a way I can turn the pressures on the Autopap machine to 0 and test to see if I am having any significant apneas?

That's been my belief for about nine years.......since I started therapy.
My suggestion to you is what I did. Do nasal cleansing before bedtime (and also during the day if/when possible) and turn your humidifier OFF.......use cool, "passover" humidification. Warm, humid air can cause the nasal passages to close up.
It made a HUGE difference in my therapy.
By the way, I LOVE this therapy. It's all about "attitude" and "acceptance".


Den

.

Does Cpap use cause or increase nasal congestion? I am allready starting nasonex today.

So basically keep water in humidifier and cool air on. I will try it for tonight . hope i dont wake up with a sinus infection tomorrow.

The heated humidity can contribute to nasal tissue swelling and close off the nasal passages. Not necessarily the CPAP itself.
Yes, water in the HH tank and no heat. Should be cool and help reduce swelling and open up the nasal passages. Kind of like being outside breathing on a cool Spring or Fall evening.
I use it year round.


Den

.

[SleepGuy]

hey blackrock, I went for a year not being able to tolerate my mask and then I started experimenting with essential oils to help calm me down. All of that led to development of a simple product line (Pur-Sleep) that is carried through various distributors with overwhelmingly positive feedback. I would be happy to send you a free product package to see if it could help you out. All I ask in return is for honest feedback, public or private (however you see fit). Just send me a pm with a shipping address and your email (all information is confidential).

Sleepguy

[49er]

I personally would not suggest you potentially torture yourself with a test of a solid pressure of 4 without giving the machine the option of going higher if needed. I speak from experience on the consequences of condemning yourself to way too low pressure. Now, hopefully one night wouldn't kill you, but over the long term, it nearly killed me. Have you already had a diagnostic study and the one in two weeks is a titration? That makes a difference. If you've already had the diagnostic portion, there may be some details in the report that can help you make decisions going forward with knowledge and wisdom. Whether you need to do whatever it takes to adjust to CPAP or look for other answers can depend on things like if your OSA is positional, how severe it is, how much it is disrupting your sleep architecture, and how it affects your oxygen levels.

About your nose - can you breathe freely through it during the day? If a repair is appropriate you could always do that and see how it affects your apnea, but I think there's a whole lot of tongues relaxing and falling backwards even when noses aren't blocked. No science for that, though. If your nose is actually obstructed and you don't want to try surgery on a "maybe", a mask that accommodates mouth breathing might be in your future.

Whether an oral appliance will work for you (or is even necessary) is anybody's guess. Too little information to even guesstimate where you fit in the predictability charts. Maybe it will turn out you are a good candidate. Question that just crossed my mind is... does using the oral device mean one can't mouth breathe? If so, does that make a person with nasal obstruction not a candidate for an oral device? Just asking, trying to understand.

EDIT: Just scrolled down and saw you had another thread with some of the info I was asking about. Disregard any duplication.

kteague,

As an FYI, Dr. Luisi, the sleep medicine dentist who posts on the other apnea board, has repeatedly stated that good nasal potency is important in order to maximize the effectiveness of a dental appliance. I have heard other medical professionals say that isn't true but personally, I would go with what Dr. Luisi has stated based on reading his various posts. And in my opinion, it is just common sense that if you have something in your mouth and your nasal breathing is restricted, it isn't going to be very effective.

To blackrock, here is a study on the effectiveness of adjustable dental appliances vs. fixed ones for getting the AHI below 5 at various AHI ranges.

https://advancedbrainmonitoring.app.box ... 7pjn8s11y4

49er