surgery an option?

[KFhunter]

just wondering, had a bad night last night. nose plugged up couldn't breathe ditched the mask. I don't have any other masks yet because I'm just getting started. Guess I'll get a full face for those days when the nose won't work.

anyways, just wondering if surgery could cure sleep apnea? co-worked had his nose bored out and says it solved his problem. I know my nose needs it because I have a really high palate according to my dentist, asked me if I have trouble breathing thru my nose....ya, I do especially when jogging and such

also my jaw slacks back when I fall asleep and closes off my air



I'd rather fix it then be hooked to a hose the rest of my life

[BeanMeScot]

From what I read online, surgery works only about 30% of the time. My impression is those 30% compromise people with mild issues. So if you have severe apnea, you might become moderate but you would still need the hose. If you have mild issues, you might be cured.

I hope your friend had a sleep study to determine if it worked and didn't just decide for himself that if he isn't snoring (or something similar) that he is cured.

[SharkBait]

just wondering, had a bad night last night. nose plugged up couldn't breathe ditched the mask. I don't have any other masks yet because I'm just getting started. Guess I'll get a full face for those days when the nose won't work.

anyways, just wondering if surgery could cure sleep apnea? co-worked had his nose bored out and says it solved his problem. I know my nose needs it because I have a really high palate according to my dentist, asked me if I have trouble breathing thru my nose....ya, I do especially when jogging and such

also my jaw slacks back when I fall asleep and closes off my air



I'd rather fix it then be hooked to a hose the rest of my life

I certainly understand your sentiments.

Your doctor can give you a better idea of whether surgery will be effective for you or not based on what he sees. Either way it is a crap shoot. But yes, there have been people who have had surgery and been "cured". Sometimes it's temporary. Some times it doesn't help at all.

Sounds like you need to try a full face mask so you can breathe through your mouth.

Good luck. CPAP IS doable, you just gotta do it.

[library teacher]

I maybe should start another chain here, but to follow up I would like to know what are the different types of surgeries? I know tonsilectomy is one thing that the doctors do. What are the other types of surgeries that help with sleep apnea?

The nurse practitioner that I saw as a follow up to sleep study said that I was a candidate for a tonsilectomy. (She didn't volunteer this info, I asked.) I didn't ask her about any other surgeries. She also said that it was a 50-50 chance that surgery would work. Since my apnea is mild it might work for me.

[SaltLakeJan]

Hey KFHunter:
Yesterday you wrote: Sleep apnea was going to kill me if I ignored it.[/quote]

Today you feel discouraged because you couldn't breathe through your nose, and can be very hard to begin Cpap therapy.
(As it was for your brother) I understand how you feel. When I was first diagnosed with Apnea, I couldn't find a mask that didn't leak into my eyes. (Mask technology has made great strides in 8 years)

You said:

nyways, just wondering if surgery could cure sleep apnea? co-worked had his nose bored out and says it solved his problem. I know my nose needs it because I have a really high palate according to my dentist, asked me if I have trouble breathing thru my nose....ya, I do especially when jogging and such

Are you considering two kinds of surgery, for your nose , and palate surgery? I have a history of nose surgery, five of them, to help me breathe. My experience is that I paid my ENT a ton of money and I can't breathe any better than I did when I began. I also had the UPPP surgery. It lessened the severity of my apnea, but I still have sleep apnea, and I have to have treatment or it will affect my heart/whole body. Also removal ofthe palate caused unexpected problems. If I eat in a hurry, I gulp my food. Without a palate to block the nasal passages, stringy portions of food like vegtables migrate up into my nose, and bug the life out of me, until I can get them out.

You may have success with what ever type of surgery you have, but find out exactly what surgery is planned. It is hard to find out from a doctor, what their success rate is. I tried, and he told me that I would never have Apnea again -- He lied, within 2 weeks, I had the first signs, which I stupidly ignored.

As for my nose - just call me stuffy. I can use Cpap by using daily nasal irrigation/washes. You can find information on them on the internet (I won't elaborate because of the length of this post.) Keep posting, you will find help and encouragement here. We understand how hard it is, and want you to succeed and BE WELL. Jan

[SharkBait]

I maybe should start another chain here, but to follow up I would like to know what are the different types of surgeries? I know tonsilectomy is one thing that the doctors do. What are the other types of surgeries that help with sleep apnea?

The nurse practitioner that I saw as a follow up to sleep study said that I was a candidate for a tonsilectomy. (She didn't volunteer this info, I asked.) I didn't ask her about any other surgeries. She also said that it was a 50-50 chance that surgery would work. Since my apnea is mild it might work for me.

My doctor told me that if I could not tolerate CPAP that he would send me to a specialist to look at having some of my soft palate removed with laser surgery. Failing that, he had heard of some successes with the dental devices.

I made up my mind I would be successful with CPAP therapy. I might be a little more tenacious than some others, but it's not like I'm one of those guys that can walk on hot coals or anything. I was just determined that I would do it I think it's safe to say that I have.

[Wulfman]

just wondering, had a bad night last night. nose plugged up couldn't breathe ditched the mask. I don't have any other masks yet because I'm just getting started. Guess I'll get a full face for those days when the nose won't work.

anyways, just wondering if surgery could cure sleep apnea? co-worked had his nose bored out and says it solved his problem. I know my nose needs it because I have a really high palate according to my dentist, asked me if I have trouble breathing thru my nose....ya, I do especially when jogging and such

also my jaw slacks back when I fall asleep and closes off my air



I'd rather fix it then be hooked to a hose the rest of my life

If your thoughts are about turbinate reduction or septoplasty, there might be some success to getting more air flow. (but you'll still probably have to use CPAP)
On the other hand, UPPP surgery will probably make the situation worse because it'll make a bigger hole in the back of your throat for your tongue to fall back into.

I've "considered" going to an ENT about turbinate and septoplasty procedures, but that's about as far as it's gone. I seriously doubt that I will, as long as I can still make the nasal cleansing work. Usually, as long as I keep the mask on, I can still breathe well.......it's when I take it off that the nasal passages start closing up again.

Den

[LoQ]

The trouble with trying to evaluate surgery to fix OSA is that some patients have initial improvement, but then after a year or two they are worse off than they were before surgery. If you add up those and the ones who never saw any improvement at all, and those who had permanent improvement but not enough to get off of PAP therapy, the percentage left is pretty darn small.

If your goal is to get off of PAP therapy forever, think very carefully before you get surgery, especially soft palate, uvula, tonsils, etc. The odds are way less than 50%, and there are significant risks as well as possibly significant pain involved.

[KFhunter]

My pressure is pretty low compaired to some I've been seeing on here, I'm currently set at 8.4
When my nose is stuffy I get the suffocating feeling, so didn't wear the mask part of the night.
could I turn up the pressure for nights when I'm stuffy? I think once the hose snuggie comes in (2nd day air) I can crank up the h20 and that'll help a ton.

Is there a menthol type product I can dump in the humidifier? I had VICKS menthol rub in my nose, limited help there.

With my lower pressure and cold hose I can only go to a level of 2 on the H4i or I get serious rainout issues.


I ain't slept proper in a week, so was feeling a little self pity..then work called me in early again this morning so was pizzd I only get another night with ~4 hours sleep.

[Wulfman]

My pressure is pretty low compaired to some I've been seeing on here, I'm currently set at 8.4
When my nose is stuffy I get the suffocating feeling, so didn't wear the mask part of the night.
could I turn up the pressure for nights when I'm stuffy? I think once the hose snuggie comes in (2nd day air) I can crank up the h20 and that'll help a ton.

Is there a menthol type product I can dump in the humidifier? I had VICKS menthol rub in my nose, limited help there.

With my lower pressure and cold hose I can only go to a level of 2 on the H4i or I get serious rainout issues.


I ain't slept proper in a week, so was feeling a little self pity..then work called me in early again this morning so was pizzd I only get another night with ~4 hours sleep.

"Pressure" has absolutely nothing to do with the severity of OSA. It's the amount that it takes to keep your airway open.
I found out right off the bat that I could not handle heated humidity. After about one or two nights of it, I shut my humidifier off and haven't looked back. Nasal cleansing plus COLD distilled water in my humidifier helps shrink the tissue in my nasal passages and keeps me breathing well during the night. On some nights when I still have some congestion (like last night), I might apply a minute amount of Mentholatum in my nostrils and that seems to help.

Do NOT put anything in the humidifier tank.

Den

[Paul56]

I maybe should start another chain here, but to follow up I would like to know what are the different types of surgeries? I know tonsilectomy is one thing that the doctors do. What are the other types of surgeries that help with sleep apnea?

The nurse practitioner that I saw as a follow up to sleep study said that I was a candidate for a tonsilectomy. (She didn't volunteer this info, I asked.) I didn't ask her about any other surgeries. She also said that it was a 50-50 chance that surgery would work. Since my apnea is mild it might work for me.

I had tonsillectomy when I was a kid. Back then I would spend most of the winter with a cold of some sort so even though my tonsils were healthy the Doc recommended they be removed.

Fast forward *many* years later and I was still diagnosed with a moderate to severe case of apnea.

[SharkBait]

My pressure is pretty low compaired to some I've been seeing on here, I'm currently set at 8.4
When my nose is stuffy I get the suffocating feeling, so didn't wear the mask part of the night.
could I turn up the pressure for nights when I'm stuffy? I think once the hose snuggie comes in (2nd day air) I can crank up the h20 and that'll help a ton.

Is there a menthol type product I can dump in the humidifier? I had VICKS menthol rub in my nose, limited help there.

With my lower pressure and cold hose I can only go to a level of 2 on the H4i or I get serious rainout issues.


I ain't slept proper in a week, so was feeling a little self pity..then work called me in early again this morning so was pizzd I only get another night with ~4 hours sleep.

I think you'd do better with a full face mask. I love my Swift LT, but I'm giving some others a try because the thought of taping my mouth every night for the rest of my life... well, I just think I'd rather try and see if I can find a FFM that suits me. Mirage Liberty has the same nasal pillow design as the Swift LT...

We've all had our pity parties. It's especially easy to do when we're tired. Sounds like you're not gonna let 'em keep you down.

Also, I spread some Vicks menthol rub on a little piece of cloth and sat it back at the air intake and it seemed to help a little. About as much as Vicks does for me anyway...

[SharkBait]

Do NOT put anything in the humidifier tank.

Den

'Cept maybe a little water...

[roster]

just wondering, had a bad night last night. nose plugged up couldn't breathe ditched the mask.

............

See a good ENT/allergist. Having a stopped up nose is an impediment to an easy CPAP treatment. There are plenty of treatments from neti pot saline rinses to OTC antihistamines and decongestants to prescriptions medications to allergy injections to surgery. A good ENT/allergist can tailor an effective treatment to your particular problems.

............

also my jaw slacks back when I fall asleep and closes off my air
.......

You may need a FF mask at all times. Don't be afraid of them. My Hybrid mask is more comfortable and more leak proof that the nasal masks and pillows I tried initially.

[nate fry]

I had the works pretty much. I had my septum fixed (straightened) turbinated shrank ( resection and radio frequency reduction) tonsils out, uvula reduction, tongue advancement ( if you choke or airway closes) that worked great. It is the different surgeries working together that determine the success. I am so glad i did it but you need a good surgon. I still use my mask but could sleep with out it. My pressure is much lower but I breath like a human and am off nose spray, it is worth looking into and a lot of people are skeptical But in this day and age with a good on you can live a better life. Feel free to ask me what every you want. The surgeries weren't that bad but will admit, the tonsil removal hurt, but hey I lost 22 pounds.