Anyone hear of this new treatment?

[DaveMunson]

No. Never let anyone cut on you with some unproven technique.

Did you see the statement "It is the physicians responsibility to determine those patients whose obstruction is tongue based"? Is your's tongue based? Are you sure? Really sure? Sure enough that you will let some one cut you and implant a shocker for your tongue? And what does the wires coming out of your neck look like during the day?

No. No. No.

[robysue]

Kelly,

I'm sorry to hear you're still dealing with the severe "taking the mask off in my sleep problems"

My two cents:

What do you mean when you say the mask is in pieces on the floor when you wake up? The FX is a pretty simple mask---just the headgear and the pillows. And it's easy to slip off without dismantling the mask. Are you doing MORE than simply taking the mask off in your sleep? Is the mask not attached to the hose in the morning? Are the pillows no longer attached to the headgear? Because detaching the mask from the hose and taking the pillows off the headgear both require some physical coordination and (a tiny bit of) effort. So I'll throw this out for an idea: Is it possible that you have an additional sleep disorder beyond the OSA? Something related to sleepwalking?

So---setting up the video recording of a night or two of your sleep is a very good idea. It might be very illuminating. And the good thing about the video is that if there is evidence that you are doing more complicated behavior than just wiggling out of mask, then you can bring the video to the sleep doc and say, "SEE? Why am I doing that in my sleep? I have no memory of this behavior at all and it happens night after night. Am I sleepwalking? Can anything be done?"

As for the clinical trial for the surgical implant: Finding out more information is not an unreasonable step in my opinion. Deciding whether to participate, however, should be done with care and with all the facts and with your eyes wide open. Ask lots of questions. The most important of which are:

• Which doctors are responsible determining that your OSA problem is due to problems with your tongue collapsing back int the airway? Your primary sleep doctor or the surgeon conducting the study?
• Exactly how do the doctors determine whether your tongue is the only problem in your OSA?

And if you decide that the risk is worth it, I'd say think about it some more---for at least 48 hours more---before making the final decision.

Because we do need people who are willing to participate in clinical trials: The only way this kind of surgical technique can be proven to work well in some subset of the OSA population is if enough folks are willing to be highly informed and knowledgeable guinea pigs.