New Member: Looking for Side Sleeping help

[James Stevens]

Hi: I recently had two operations to repair a broken arm and both times my oxygen sats were so low post op they kept me overnight, recommending a sleep study to verify suspected sleep apnea. In addition I had an operation 20 years ago for a broken nose and the same thing happened then, but no recommendation or any mention of sleep apnea. Long story short, I have sleep apnea and probably have had it for at least 20 years.

I am atypical as I am active both sport wise and work wise, not overweight, and do not experience any undue fatigue. I snore but not always and when I do it is often light. I do have a relatively thick, muscular neck without any extra chins. None the less, my apnea was described as being in the severe range and they recommended CPAP therapy. I've been using the equipment most every night, other than when I backpack overnight which is about two days a month in season. I've been doing OK with the gear although I now have trouble going to sleep with the mask on and have not experienced any increased energy. To the contrary I am sleeping less so I have less stamina, at least for now, but the data says the mask is getting it done so I'm sticking with it. I just changed to a Dreamwear nasal mask which is about as minimal as it gets and it seems to be more comfortable and allows reading glasses and watching TV, without obstruction, if I choose to do so. One odd, or maybe not, feature of my apnea that the sleep study revealed is that I only have sleep apnea when I sleep on my back. When I sleep on my side I have zero, 0, sleep apneas. I sleep on my back at least 2/3 of the night so it follows that I may be able to dump the CPAP therapy if I can train myself to sleep on my side all night. Therein lies the rub.

I have a wider than average set of shoulders to go with an average waistline and average hip width; and sleeping on my side eventually results in tension in my lower back, sooner or later, usually sooner. I use newish down pillows under my head, in front of my chest to rest my arm on, and between my legs. The tension is only relieved by sleeping on my back. In addition when sleeping on the bad arm side there is some shoulder tightness post sleep as my shoulder tends to fold inward. I let my arms splay out in front of me when I side sleep.

If anyone can give me any behavioral tips or engineered solutions that might help me side sleep I would greatly appreciate it. I've tried a 3" memory foam topper on my Simmons beautyrest but it did not seem to help much. I'm thinking the geometry of my shoulders versus my spine is the culprit and I am actually thinking about cutting out a channel in the topper for my shoulder and arm. I am not opposed to a new bed but it's a lot of cash for a maybe. The topper has me thinking a new bed may not make any difference. Thanks in advance for your help....JS

[Julie]

I don't have a link at the moment, but the channel has actually been done, if not quite how you envision it... a bed was made with a slot for your 'down' arm to go under a pillow... I personally have used x ? 8 yrs a memory foam mattress with a channel cut 1' long from the head of the bed downward, 3-4" deep and 3" wide because I stomach sleep and use a FF mask which had nowhere to go before my channel cut (elec. carving knife). The hose goes from me to a shelf level with the bed where the machine is (I use a short hose) and because the vent on my particular mask is high up rather than on the elbow joint, it's not blocked by foam or bedding.

[James Stevens]

I'm listening. did you have this bed cut for you or did it come this way? if you can find that link I would appreciate it...thank you OK

[chunkyfrog]

She cut it herself.
What a woman!

[palerider]

She cut it herself.
What a woman!

she's got a carving knife, and she's not afraid to use it

[Julie]

Cut it myself - not a big deal , but the other one I told you about is some commercial model with the slot going sideways (mine's up and down).

Just don't get me PO'd at someone who lives close by though..

[kteague]

Here's a link to discussion about the mattress Julie mentioned.viewtopic/t113769/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1 ... m#p1094647

Another thought - would moving your topper down on the bed and leaving a "dip" between the topper and your pillow possibly accommodate your wide shoulder and relieve stress on your spine? Or place a flat pillow under your side along the waist area for support?