ENT appointment

I decided to follow up with an ear, nose and throat doctor. I have had sinus issues for years, but would also like to see what he says about my OSA. Has anyone here had any luck with sinus treatment making an improvement to your sleep apnea?

dreamingofdreaming wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 12, 2018 12:11 pm

I decided to follow up with an ear, nose and throat doctor. I have had sinus issues for years, but would also like to see what he says about my OSA. Has anyone here had any luck with sinus treatment making an improvement to your sleep apnea?

What kind of "sinus issues" do you suffer from?

I have chronic sinusitis and get several infections throughout the year. I seem to always have a sinus headache and pressure.

dreamingofdreaming wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 12, 2018 1:54 pm

I have chronic sinusitis and get several infections throughout the year. I seem to always have a sinus headache and pressure.

By all means, you are doing the right thing by having a consultation with an ENT. Some of the new treatments and procedures yield wonderful results.

Best of luck!

Before starting cpap therapy, I got yearly sinus infections. I have not had one in 8 years. No runny nose, no sinus problems, no snoring; life is good. Time to buy a lottery ticket.

When I had chronic sinusitis, ended up getting allergy testing and went through allergy for three years, and it helped a lot with the sinusitis.

My doc asked about my CPAP pressure. Can too high of pressure cause sinus problems? I am positive that's not the case with me since I have been dealing with my sinus issue for years and have only recently been using CPAP. Scheduled for a CT scan in a couple of weeks.

Cpap may have cured my sinus problems.
Maybe not--but I'll take it anyway.

dreamingofdreaming wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:38 pm

Can too high of pressure cause sinus problems?

Not the low pressures a CPAP delivers.

dreamingofdreaming wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:38 pm

I am positive that's not the case with me since I have been dealing with my sinus issue for years and have only recently been using CPAP.

Well, there you go. You know more than the doc at this point. Let's see if he gets up to speed when he reads your scan.

ENT said I have a severely deviated septum and enlarged turbinates. He was to do a turbinate reduction using radio frequency and fix the deviated septum. He thinks this will reduce my AHI, maybe to not needing a CPAP anymore, maybe.

I had a deviated septum corrected and turbinate reduction around 20 years ago. I also had UPPP surgery done at the same time. Fixing the deviated septum and doing the turbinate reduction made it much easier to breathe through my nose. Prior to the surgery, I could never breathe through both sides of my nose at the same time. The combined surgeries alleviated my sleep apnea symptoms (snoring, stop breathing, daytime sleepiness, etc.) for several years. About six months before I retired in 2013 I noticed the daytime sleepiness had returned. I did not start snoring again, but I did stop breathing when sleeping. I have been using a bilevel machine for over three years. The surgery may help lower your AHI, but the only way to know for sure is to have a new sleep study done after you fully recover from the surgery.

dreamingofdreaming wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:12 pm

ENT said I have a severely deviated septum and enlarged turbinates. He was to do a turbinate reduction using radio frequency and fix the deviated septum. He thinks this will reduce my AHI, maybe to not needing a CPAP anymore, maybe.

This is a very good thing to have done. Even if you still need CPAP, it will be easier to use, and you will breathe easier all day and night.

Thanks for the info. I am nervous about not being able to use my nasal cushion mask for a few days, while I have the packing in. I hope that I can still use the full face version that I have. I only wonder about this, because it has the same nasal piece that is on my nasal cushion. I have talked to a few people that have had this, who told me I'd be sleeping in a recliner for a few nights. I'd appreciate hearing any stories that you all might have.

I had a badly deviated septum, and all those other parts up in there had to be worked on. Doc said afterwards I had the "Septum from Hell"!

Had this done about 3 years ago. Needed it done 35 years ago.

DO NOT wait to have it done. Plain as that. Don't worry about the %*&^ mask or even CPAP for a night or two if that is what it takes. It will be worth it. I did sleep in a recliner the first night. My choice as I was afraid of it bleeding. Wasn't a problem. I do believe I would have had no problems with a full face mask had I been using cpap then. The first night is the toughest, wearing off of the anesthesia can make me a bit nauseous and you might not have extra strength. But honestly it didn't hurt all that much. Even pulling out the packing. Worlds biggest bugger! But Man, what a feeling to breathe through your nose for the first time in decades!

Surgery is next week. Doctor told me that I will need to be titrated again to see if I still need CPAP after surgery and to find outwhat my new pressure will need to be. How low should my minimum be doing that? 7?