Experimenting with Provent on my wife!

[Matty332]

G'day!

I ordered a sample pack of provent just to have a look at them for interest and it arrived today. I am not going to try them on myself because I don't need to be a doctor to know they will not work at all on me because my Sleep apnea was too severe at 110 AHI and my CPAP brings it down to <1 AHI. My machine is set at pressure 20! I will never stop CPAP until I lose weight.

BBUUTT, my wife clearly has OSA from being overweight. I listen to her snore and suck the paint off the walls when she falls asleep before me. She stops breathing a few times every ten minutes when sleeping on her back but less so when on her side. She absolutely REFUSES to go and see a doctor about it because she is stubborn - maybe because she is Italian and is tough as nails! I cannot get her to go to get a sleep study and after 8 hours work every day she has absolutely nothing left, she collapses on the couch/bed/chair at 6:00pm every day and is too tired too cook. I clean the house and get takeaway because I cannot cook. She no doubt suffers from mild sleep apnea. So I got this sample pack and from my research it MIGHT treat VERY MILD sleep apnea which I believe my wife has. So I questioned her about being tired some mornings after 8 hours sleep and she agreed yes she does get tired at times. I recorded her snoring with a digital note taker and she could not believe it was her. She is still not going to see a doctor at all about it BUT she has agreed to try the EPAP strips for a week. Apparently you need a doctors prescription for it but I just bought it online from a local CPAP supplier and they did not need a prescription so bu**er it! The instructions are VERY clear and thorough and even gives contraindications which she has passed.

So I am experimenting on my wife tonight and I am going to whack my oximeter on her and use my note taker to tape her all night. Some might criticize and flame me because I am not a doctor and cannot diagnose OSA, or prescribe anything. How about this then, my wife snores chronically and the EPAP strips is also marketed to stop snoring. So I am officially using it for her snoring! One does not need to be a doctor to attempt to treat snoring!

Is anyone interested in the result? I shall post them if people are. If I had it my way however she would be down at the doctors for a sleep study and I have no doubt they would give her a CpAP on low pressure. Nothing is every going to replace CPAP in the near future but there are now other tools that may help for minor OSA.

[debtheveg]

Hi Matty,

Yes, of course interested to see how it goes with your wife. Keep us posted ...

[SleepyToo2]

G'day Matty! You are not a doctor, but you are a loving spouse who wants to have a partner who is healthy for as long as you both shall live! The chances of reducing the time are greatly increased if she does have sleep apnea. No, you cannot diagnose sleep apnea, but you can point out what others have experienced through having the condition. There are also reports on this forum of what has happened to members/relatives of members who did not listen when someone said they needed to get their snoring seen to.

Just one minor point - the only way anyone can know what pressure is needed is through some kind of sleep study. The pressure is no measure of how severe the apnea is. You can have 120 apneas/hour and need a pressure of 6-8, or have 20 an hour and need a pressure of 18-20 - or vice versa and all stations in between! Also, losing weight is not a guaranteed way of getting rid of apnea - may reduce the severity, but not stop it.

Good luck with convincing your wife, and do let us know how you (and she) get on in your journey of discovery.

[Lizistired]

Have you not been able to get here to wear your oximeter without the Provent? I would do that first to get a baseline and show her the results first. I have not tried Provent yet but knowing her baseline might give her the motivation to use it.

[Matty332]

I forgot to follow up on this!

The provent didn't go well on her. She did not even want to try them and I could not convince her!! So much for that.

[user from Singapore]

Good luck... in the meantime you can buy her a T-Shirt

[lyricalninja]

What was the website where you bought the Provent without a prescription. I know I have sleep apnea but I have not been diagnosed. My insurance is horrible and I don't want to have to pay alot of money for them to tell me something I already know. Please help. I really want to try Provent to see if it works, but I can't find a way to buy it anywhere without a prescription.