New kid on the block!!

[Spanky]

Thanks to all that participate on this fantastic site! I have learned more in two days than the "Specialists" have given me in over two years. I have had three over night sleep studies, and was not able to sleep during any of them. My pressure has gone from 13 to 9 to 10, and now at 18. I have tried numerous masks, and have not had any real success with any of them. I don't have any trouble falling asleep, even with two chin straps and either a nasal or full mask. If I retire at 10, I will probably awaken at 3, and then toss and turn for the next 3 hours. I am also an outboard motor enthusiast in that my jaws fill with exhaled air, and it escapes through my lips, sounding like a 15 HP Johnson outboard! Peter, from this forum, suggested that I try sleeping on a 45 degree angle to keep my tongue from moving to the back of my throat. My local ENT Doctor intorduced me to three operations that might be an option. One was to remove part of the tissue in the back of the roof of my mouth. Another was to cut under my front four lower teeth and move my tongue forward. The final, and most drastic, was to break both of my jaws, move them forward, ( I have a recessed lower jaw) and wire my mouth shut for six weeks. My wife liked the last one!!! LOL Peter's advice is much more appealing! If there is anyone out there with a similiar problem, I would appreciate hearing from you. Spanky

[rested gal]

My local ENT Doctor intorduced me to three operations that might be an option.

heheh, I'll bet he did.

Allow us to introduce you to autopap with software to monitor your own treatment.

[Spanky]

Rested Gal - - - Tell me more!!

[Peter]

Hey, Rested Gal,

I'm gonna second Spanky's request. I gotta hear about this!!!

Peter

[hose nose 2]

I would not try any surgery. I have been on c-pap for about 5 weeks now, and they told me about the different surgeries too. I told them, there would be no surgery. I just read in the newspaper that it does not work as effective as they may claim. Try auto-pap. I have that and also a humidifer. Try everything possible before any surgeries. My rn at at the sleep clinic said for at least 2 weeks you will be miserable. Just think about it, how could you swallow and eat with how delicate the surgery is? YOur mouth is so sensitive and what if they goofed in surgery. No doctor would remove my tongue just for a breathing problem.

[Spanky1]

Hose Nose 2 -- I really like that username!! Thanks for the advice. I really didn't relish the idea of surgery, and was looking for confirmation to my uneasy feelings about indulging, and you provided what I was looking for. I had a really bad sleep night last night. I have to wear a full mask, and I kept waking up with it leaking. Peter, another "hose nose" suggested using an ace bandage wrapped around my head and the mask to help with the seal. Sounds reasonable to me, and I will try it tonight. Thanks again for the advice.

[rested gal]

Three of the major manufacturers of autopaps are:

Puritan Bennett - Goodknight 420E auto

Respironics - REMstar auto (two models, one also has C-Flex)

ResMed - Spirit auto

Why get an autopap if a sleep study says "x" single pressure from a basic cpap machine will take care of things for you?

1. If a person is titrated at a pressure of 12, but only needs that particular full pressure occasionally during the night, an autopap (with its varying pressures depending on what the person's breathing is doing) might let him sleep at more comfortable lower pressures quite a bit.

2. If a person is titrated at a pressure of 12, but a few months or a year down the road, his pressure needs change (perhaps needing a more/less pressure to handle his events) an autopap could be automatically "titrating" him each night, and delivering what he needs, as he needs it.

3. If a person is titrated at a pressure of 12 at the sleep clinic, but that one-night snapshot is a bit "off" - the autopap may be find a more suitable pressure for him, night after night, at home in his own bed, under his normal sleeping conditions.

4. If a person wants to take an active role in his/her own treatment, or simply is interested in seeing as much detail as possible about what happens during the night, purchasing software for an autopap is a must.

"What pressures did my machine have to use for me last night?"
"Were there leaks?"
"Did any events sneak through? What were they? Apneas? Hypopneas? Limited air flows? Snores?"
"What was going on while I slept?"

I want to know those kinds of things about my own nightly treatment. That's why I use an autopap and the software to see for myself.

A good autopap, a comfortable mask (or at least as comfortable as any of those things can be! Breeze and Activa for me. ) a heated humidifier, and.....the software. Good treatment for most people.

As for surgery - unless it were something like correcting a problem inside the nose or sinuses, I wouldn't have it done. I certainly wouldn't consider UPPP, or tongue advancement, or mandibular advancement myself. I'd stick with a treatment that can be started or stopped at any time...cPAP treatment (cpap, bipap or autopap.) I'd wait for a LOT more advancements in medicine before I'd think about surgical intervention for a disorder than cpap can treat so effectively for most people. Especially when one might end up needing to be on cpap anyway AND have a harder time making cpap work, if surgery failed to do the job.

I'm not a doctor. But I'm a very well-treated autopap user.

Click here for a link to another topic you might find interesting:
Tue Dec 07, 2004 subject: need some advice, testimonies on Cpap usage, help

[Peter]

Major Kudos, Rested gal,

Thank you for contributing one of the greatest posts I've seen since I've been a member. (Barely a week.) We need more people like you to help those of us who have accepted the 'status quo' without much relief since our diagnosis. I've been battling a 'less than effective' program for almost four years now, and with your help, as well as all the others, I'm about to get my first good night's sleep in almost four years.

Peter

(Greatfull to All)