SaltLakeJan wrote:Hi B.B.
You signature line nailed your situation - "simple OSA would have been too easy." I've been working on my sleep issues. Somewhere in one of your posts, you said "Does it have to be so hard?" I don't find it any easier than it was a month ago. I'm pretty much sticking to the basics. Get to bed by 10:30, do some exercise most days. And I no longer watch Goodmorning Joe at 4 A.M. And if I awaken during the night, I do not turn on T.V. . DH is appreciative of that. He had said, I will be sleeping peacefully, suddendly I have the weirdest dreams. I awaken and you are watching a political T.V. station, no wonder I have bad dreams.
Aww, poor hubby. It's a good thing that you're not turning on the tv in the middle of the night anymore. The last thing you want to do is stimulate your brain when you really want to be sleeping.
I have made a few compromises, I haven't totally eliminated caffeine, and I allow myself a half-hour of T.V. after I get in bed.
Change is hard, especially at this point in life. We didn't develop these habits yesterday, so don't be too hard on yourself. Small steps are okay. As long as you're moving in the right direction, it's all good.
I thought it would get easier - perhaps after the first year, it will.
It might not take that long, but if it does, so be it. As I said, as long as we're moving towards the goal, we're doing fine.
How are you doing - I have been following your thread, and I read 13.1 and your cryptic remark after it. What chin straps have you used, and what are you going to get? I bought a new one, unfortunately I used it the first time the night of my sleep study. I imagine it kept my mouth shut - not many leaks - The Tech said it came off near the end of the study and I had a few leaks then - but my face felt like it had been squeezed in a vice and couldn't relax for a couple of days. It seemed far easier to tape.
Jan
I'm doing okay, thanks. Still working on more regular exercise. I've just received one of the Yoga DVDs I ordered, and I'm planning on checking that out tomorrow. But the eating plan is going very well. I'm enjoying cooking again, and making myself good meals not only satisfies my taste buds, it's also rewarding.
I'm expecting Encore software to arrive soon so that I can really see what's happening during sleep. Having the info from the machine is better than not having anything, but the leak rate and AHI are just numbers at the moment, and I have no means to analyze them and make improvements based on what the software can tell me. I'm trying to be patient, but it's definitely not my strong suit!
Re: chinstraps - the first one I was given by the DME was ridiculous. I think it was called the Sullivan, and it was just a little chin-cup with one Velcro strap. When the DME handed it to me, I looked at it in the package and knew immediately that it would be useless. It wasn't anywhere near as substantial as the one I'd worn during my sleep study in November. I asked for something else and was told that this was all they had. It was totally unstable and moved all over my head that night. Needless to say, I was on the phone to them the very next day.
Next was the 4" wide white chinstrap from Respironics. This one was terribly uncomfortable, as it pinned both of my ears against my head. I didn't like that at all, nor did I like having my hearing muffled. I ended up turning it over on itself, lengthwise, and sewing it so that it was almost half the original width and would leave my ears free. I still didn't like it, though. As you described, I felt like my head was in a vice, and I woke up with tenderness on both sides of my jaw.
The next one I tried was the Topaz, which was a little better. It was certainly more comfortable to wear, but the material leaves much to be desired. It's neoprene, and it retains odors. It also started falling apart on me after just a couple of months; the stitching at the chin seam started to let go, and the material in other stress areas was splitting. I'd sewn it back together three or four times, and then I called the DME in frustration. They replaced it with another Topaz, which has held up better, and I've continued to use it.
I don't know which chinstrap the tech tried on me during my most recent sleep study. She woke me because my Topaz wasn't keeping my mouth closed, and she put this other one on me in the middle of the night. But either it wasn't the right size, wasn't tight enough, or wasn't strong enough, because it wasn't helping. She put my Topaz back on me before long.
The one I've just ordered is the Respironics Premium, and I hope it does a better job for me than all of these others have. (I'm familiar with the concept of trial-and-error, but this is ridiculous!)
Taping would be preferable to a chinstrap (the less "gear" on my head, the better), as long as the tape wasn't OVER my mouth. I like the look of the Chin-Up Strips, but I don't think my skin can handle taping every night. If this new chinstrap doesn't work well, I will consider taping on a regular basis and see how it goes. The only other option for me would be a FFM, which isn't appealing. But I do have the Liberty (mouth mask w/nasal pillows) and, if that turns out to be my best bet to stop the mouth leaks, I'll work harder with it to stop the leaks I've experienced with it in the past. I love my Swift LT because it doesn't feel like I'm wearing anything, so making it work well - whether in conjunction with a good chinstrap or taping - is my goal.
Bottom line, I'll do what I have to do to make my therapy as effective as possible.
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