Trying to eliminate snoring

I've been using a Respironics SE CPAP for about a year now using a full face mask, since I'm a mouth breather, with humidifier. My wife says snoring was reduced some but it's still a problem.

I found a great way to monitor my snoring by using a small Sony voice activated sound recorder. I just hit record before bed and leave it on all night. In the morning, the total recording time gives a rough estimate of the amount of snoring. It started out about 1.5 hours, but I got it down to 30 minutes or so by shaving off my thin beard and making other minor adjustments.

After doing some research, I decided to increase the pressure from 11 to 12 and that reduced my snore time further to about 15 min. This is a huge improvement, but I would like to see if I can eliminate snoring completely. I know some are going to say I should do another sleep study, but even with insurance that was an expensive ordeal, so I'd rather not do that again. How risky is it to up the pressure to say 13 in .5 increments to try to further reduce the snoring?

(I'd love to try one of the automatic titrating CPAPs but I don't think insurance would pay for another machine at this point)

dacarter wrote:I've been using a Respironics SE CPAP for about a year now using a full face mask, since I'm a mouth breather, with humidifier. My wife says snoring was reduced some but it's still a problem.

I found a great way to monitor my snoring by using a small Sony voice activated sound recorder. I just hit record before bed and leave it on all night. In the morning, the total recording time gives a rough estimate of the amount of snoring. It started out about 1.5 hours, but I got it down to 30 minutes or so by shaving off my thin beard and making other minor adjustments.

After doing some research, I decided to increase the pressure from 11 to 12 and that reduced my snore time further to about 15 min. This is a huge improvement, but I would like to see if I can eliminate snoring completely. I know some are going to say I should do another sleep study, but even with insurance that was an expensive ordeal, so I'd rather not do that again. How risky is it to up the pressure to say 13 in .5 increments to try to further reduce the snoring?

(I'd love to try one of the automatic titrating CPAPs but I don't think insurance would pay for another machine at this point)

The first question is whether you're doing nasal cleansing before bedtime. From my experience, most of the "snoring" sound is from nasal congestion or narrow nasal passages. Getting the nasal passages clear is one tool in reducing the snoring noise. "Snoring" can either be nasal or oral (mouth). If you can't breathe through your nose, you need to breathe through your mouth. If you're mouth-breathing, there's a higher probability of your tongue falling back and blocking your throat. So, nasal breathing is preferable.
Along with that, it's NOT going to be "risky" bumping your pressure up a bit.

You might check with http://www.secondwindcpap.com for a lightly-used data-capable machine. It'll take alot of the guesswork out of what you're trying to do.


Den

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I have a deviated septum and can only breath through one nostril. I started with a nasal only mask, then added a chin strap when I realized my mouth was open and I was swallowing tons of air and waking up bloated. This worked for a while, but I had to pump a lot of Afrin before bed to open up my one working nostril, so I changed to a full face mask which is easier overall. The chin strap was a pain. I'm not doing any nasal cleansing before bed.

dacarter wrote:I have a deviated septum and can only breath through one nostril. I started with a nasal only mask, then added a chin strap when I realized my mouth was open and I was swallowing tons of air and waking up bloated. This worked for a while, but I had to pump a lot of Afrin before bed to open up my one working nostril, so I changed to a full face mask which is easier overall. The chin strap was a pain. I'm not doing any nasal cleansing before bed.

You do know that Afrin has a horrible rebound effect and is terribly addictive......don't you?

Try doing some nasal cleansing of some type before bedtime.


Den

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Wow! You found an innovative workaround for a lack of data.

You may not be able to completely eliminate snoring. I still snore a little even with an AHI of 0.2. I snored like a chainsaw before I started CPAP.

It sounds like you have a good plan. Good luck!

Wulfman,

As I described in my original post, Afrin was part of my original attempt to make the nasal mask work for me. I quickly moved to the full mask because I didn't want to be using Afrin every night. That said, I've used Afrin as needed (not more than once a month) for decades and have never found any addiction or other downside, so I would disagree with your statements about it.

dacarter wrote:Wulfman,

As I described in my original post, Afrin was part of my original attempt to make the nasal mask work for me. I quickly moved to the full mask because I didn't want to be using Afrin every night. That said, I've used Afrin as needed (not more than once a month) for decades and have never found any addiction or other downside, so I would disagree with your statements about it.

You don't have to take MY word........read what's been said about it from a forum search on "Afrin".

search.php?keywords=Afrin

You initially made it sound like you used alot of it......"...I had to pump a lot of Afrin before bed to open up my one working nostril...."
I've personally never used it and I was just curious if you were aware of the problems of using it too much.


Den

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I wonder if fixing the deviated septum would help.
Breathing through only one nostril can NOT be fun!

dacarter wrote:I have a deviated septum and can only breath through one nostril. I started with a nasal only mask, then added a chin strap when I realized my mouth was open and I was swallowing tons of air and waking up bloated. This worked for a while, but I had to pump a lot of Afrin before bed to open up my one working nostril, so I changed to a full face mask which is easier overall. The chin strap was a pain. I'm not doing any nasal cleansing before bed.

First I'd drop the nasal decongestants if you can. You may have to taper off them... talk to a ENT specialist if things get rough.

Second I've got a deviated septum and have had good luck with the SnorePins nasal dilators. I've used them for several years. Naturally, you have to clean them with soap and water after every use. I also have to secure the U shaped part with a 2" x .25" strip of Nexcare paper tape (which I cut it with scissors) but that's easy to do. The 1/4" tape runs from my nares over the top of the U bend. Sliding out is always a problem with these devices and the tape prevents that. Snorepins seem to run on the large side so I had to use an Xacto knife to cut off the one last segment that goes into my nose... do it carefully and don't leave any rough edges.

http://www.amazon.com/Snorepin-Solution ... al+dilator

If anybody needs more info about fitting them or how to get used to them etc, just PM me. Also: they claim to stop apnea and snoring, but ignore that claim... they don't. They just open up your nostrils - that's all - however that's enough for me and well worth the money.

I've now tried 12.5 and 13 pressures, but it didn't make much difference in the total snoring time.

I use a nose pillow now, my pressures are 9 - 13 and when I have a snore event the pressure hits about 10.5 - 11 until the event is cleared and it drops back to 9.

I had 5 snore events last night, 10.40 average pressure, 11.8 max pressure. Each snore event lasted less then a minute or two. One Apnea.

I am a mouth breather with deviated septum and other nose issues, but I use a nasal pillow. I use a chin strap and thanks to my low(ish) pressures do not have a need to tape my mouth shut (my wife would like that I think).

I am not sure you can "cure" all the snoring, but the machine should kick in, up the pressure, and clear it out, which is what appears to me, is happening while I sleep.

Even with a FFM I was not seeing any snore events lasting longer then a minute or two.

Maybe you need to up your low pressure side? That was my technicians suggestion when I was at 6 - 12.

R

R,
The OP has a straight CPAP machine with only one pressure not an APAP. So he has only one pressure and not a minimum and maximum. In his original post he stated he would love to have an APAP.