CPAP is a patch, not a cure...

[HoseCrusher]

I found this neurologists perspective and experience with sleep disorders very interesting. If this is a cure, this gives some insight as to what it would look like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj8FTWCb010

[ChicagoGranny]

I found this neurologists perspective and experience with sleep disorders very interesting. If this is a cure, this gives some insight as to what it would look like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj8FTWCb010

HC, if that video is like a lot of other things you are attracted to, it's quackery.

[Goofproof]

On that idea, so is Insulin to a diabetic, and a a heart valve to a heart repair. The point is to keep going forward, nothing is forever. Many things have no permanent solution, we use what is needed to get by. Jim

[palerider]

I found this neurologists perspective and experience with sleep disorders very interesting. If this is a cure, this gives some insight as to what it would look like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj8FTWCb010

HC, if that video is like a lot of other things you are attracted to, it's quackery.

Well, that video started out with poor credibility:

Within the last ten years. men came out of their bypass surgeries, the nurse called the pulmonologist, and the cpap mask was born".

Uh... .riiiight.

Sleep apnea is like poor eyesight, it's a *condition*, and there is a .... patch for it, just like eyeglasses are a "patch", I'm going to continue using my 'patches', both eyeglasses and cpap.

[Uff Da]

Interesting video. It doesn't really apply much to those who need CPAP machines for sleep apnea, but it does focus on some other solutions for various different sleep problems, as well as some problems we don't normally think of a sleep related problems but for which there might be a sleep component. Interesting thought. She might be onto something on some of them.

[ChicagoGranny]

She might be onto something on some of them.

Quite a vote of confidence.

[chunkyfrog]

Just let me read an article.
Damn video--yakity yak-- give me a chance to skim past the crap and get to the point.
I'm in a public place--just had to shut it DOWN!

[rickyjoe48]

this is the second video I have seen by this particular physician. With this video being The follow up. Reading this thread and the responses plus going back and reading other responses I have made the following observations:

One. Most of the contributors on this website are absolutely dedicated to helping users of CPAP Have better nights.

Two. They are fierce defenders of CPAP against all comers. to the point where they often disparage any other treatment modality that may be offered.

I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea for a year now and recently was diagnosed with treatment emergent central sleep apnea (I. E. Complex sleep apnea). I have failed on oral appliance (Who would’ve thought that centrals could show up while using an oral appliance), CPAP and bilevel and will be titrated on an ASV machine next week. I have looked at everything concerning sleep apnea that I can find and its treatment. It is my opinion, or better yet my considered opinion, that the doctor is right in her statement that CPAP is a patch and not a cure.

You must wear your CPAP mask all night every night, come sinus problems, dry mouth, strap marks, dry/pink eyes, bloating/ distension pain, skin ulcers, sleepless nights, hell or Highwater ( otherwise known as rain out). I find some who wear it comfortably waking fresh and ready to go. They seem to be in the minority. there is an endless round of leaking masks, washing the mask, washing the hose, replacing the filters, replacing the mask, replacing the hose, throwing the mask, trying another mask, trying another mask, (all at $60 a pop) Sleeping propped up so you get bedsores on your hips, and constantly fiddling with Settings , to such an extent that CPAP becomes a dominant feature in your life. Not to mention the four sleep studies at about $2000 apiece. And on top of all that, depending on who is counting, the failure rate on CPAP can be anywhere from 65% to 80%.

And while all this is going on you’re still symptomatic, have high blood pressure, and the risk of heart failure is ever present; and so we persist. and we also hear that CPAP use over long-term studies is showing little or no impact on mortality rates.!!!!

So yes, Elizabeth, CPAP is a patch, only treating symptoms and not the cause of a very serious medical condition called sleep apnea or more generically sleep disordered breathing all the while foisting a cornucopia of impish discomforts on your nights.

But, whatcha gonna do?

[Highlander]

She is recommending vitamin D and B complex supplements essentially.

[Goofproof]

She is recommending vitamin D and B complex supplements essentially.

I have used both high doses, still use XPAP for my Sleep Apnea... Also Vit "C" 3,000 units daily, Vit "A" 25,000 daily (Beta Carotene), You can count them all off the cure list! Jim

Unlike some patches, my XPAP patch works for me.

[zoocrewphoto]

Two. They are fierce defenders of CPAP against all comers. to the point where they often disparage any other treatment modality that may be offered.

Most other treatments consider success to be a reduction of 50% events. Since most peopleneed to be under 2 to feel good improvement, you would need to be at a 4 to be truly successful with these other treatments. In reality, most people are still moderate or severe even with an oral device or surgery.

I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea for a year now and recently was diagnosed with treatment emergent central sleep apnea (I. E. Complex sleep apnea). I have failed on oral appliance (Who would’ve thought that centrals could show up while using an oral appliance),

Did you know that centrals are a neurological issue. Central sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which you briefly stop breathing during sleep. Moments of apnea can occur repeatedly throughout the night as you sleep. ... Your brain momentarily “forgets” to tell your muscles to breathe. Central sleep apnea isn't the same as obstructive sleep apnea.

Why would an oral device help your brain remember to breath? That requires a special machine.

[Pugsy]

Most treatments/therapies for most conditions are only good for when you use them. Call them patches and not cures if you want to but it doesn't change things.

Insulin for diabetes...doesn't cure or permanently fix the problem...it just helps people manage it. Who cares if it is called a patch or whatever.

Same thing for eye glasses...or treating heart conditions or high blood pressure...it is treatment for the condition and without the treatment the condition returns.
Sometimes there is a permanent "fix" out there....like the laser surgery on the eyes can eliminate the need for eye glasses.
Sometimes no permanent fix is available.
CPAP is a treatment/therapy...it has never been offered as a permanent fix. No one has ever said "use cpap for so and so length of time and you can ditch it later". Instead they are told use it until a better therapy is found or something changes and you don't have your airway closing up all the time when you sleep.

Using the term "patch" instead of "treatment/therapy" is just splitting useless hairs IMHO.

The good doctor in the above video...seems to be promoting vitamins and minerals as a permanent fix so people can ditch cpap and sort of using terms that tend to put cpap use in a poor light. Patch does sound much less meaningful than therapy.
People can say anything to promote their agenda. Doesn't make it the right thing though. Look hard enough and you can find all sorts of stuff on the internet to "confirm" some odd ball opinion. Doesn't make it right though.

[Goofproof]

Why would an oral device help your brain remember to breath? That requires a special machine.

Or maybe a brain that does the job correctly, in the mean time use your XPAP correctly. Jim

[rickyjoe48]

I was not suggesting that anybody quit using their CPAP in favor of vitamin supplements. obstructive apnea is a physiological problem And vitamins, unless they Somehow increase the bore of your throat don’t seem to have much promise.

I also understand very well that centrals are neurological in structure. Which does add to the mystery why did they suddenly show up while using an oral appliance? There was no sudden hyperinflation of my tidal volumes like you see with CPAP To confuse my already abused carotid bodies, it just holds the airway open.

I only had two obstructed events on a study night while wearing an oral appliance (that is for the whole night) but had 32 centrals an hour. On the initial Study night, Without the benefit of therapy, I had 9.5 obstructive events per hour and no centrals. when I am on CPAP or bilevel the centrals can grow to 60 per hour with an occasional duration of 60 seconds with an SPO2 level of 68%. this was observed during a study night. Which by the way augers well for a crappy day to follow!

I was just bemoaning the fact that the CPAP therapy delivery method is so imperfect, Which nobody seemed to argue with.and while it works well for some it is just additional misery for others. and it is just a therapy, sure insulin is also just a therapy for diabetes. But anybody who take daily injections, blood sticks, super careful diet, etc. Also knows That it is highly imperfect.

like I said, but whatcha gonna do?

[HoseCrusher]

I found this neurologists perspective and experience with sleep disorders very interesting. If this is a cure, this gives some insight as to what it would look like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj8FTWCb010

HC, if that video is like a lot of other things you are attracted to, it's quackery.

ChicagoGrannly, I am surprised that you believe improving REM sleep is quackery...

I disagree!!!