Alaxo soft palate stent review

Greetings,

I want to start a thread on this 6" soft palate stent by Alaxo.
See this for reference: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mLDBKhyttDE

Please check out the questions section.
I will update the thread with the Q/A this community generates




Purchasing the device...

The Canadian franchise owner for Alaxo is 'Terry' and was quick to return the call.
As you call in, you are actually calling a 3rd party who relays your message.

I was influenced (not in any bad way) to start with the shorter version.
I got it and returned it for the same reasons someone else here posted: it would be useless for me.
Also this is out of pocket for me...

Due to shortages I waited 7 weeks before receiving the 6" version (not the hybrid one that will come out soon).
I received this yesterday and wore it last night.

Here's the charts for the days before and for last night using the device.
https://imgur.com/a/9YG6FZY




Using the device...
What follows is after the first day of usage:
Wearing the device, or inserting it I should say, is remarkably easy.
Depending on your physiology, how deep you can go will vary.
In my case, I ended up with about 2.5" sticking out.
Anything more and I gasped as it felt like it was in my throat.

For a good 30 minutes I had a strong runny nose but this subsided.
After that my nose cleared up and I was able to sleep.

Concerns...

Since I cannot insert the whole 6" inch (Jesus is looking at you right now ) in without gagging I am wondering if I am getting the full value that this offers.


Questions...

How deep do you insert yours, and was there a progression where day by day you were able to get deeper?



Recommendations for Alaxo...

Provide a proper video onboarding showing how to assemble it, insert it, clean it.
Discuss what others say when they start using it such as length of insertion over time, how different people may, or may not, insert it fully, etc.



For reference, here's some links...
Insertion process: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mLDBKhyttDE
Scientific literature: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26525882/
Where I purchased it: https://alaxocanada.com/product/soft-palate-stent/

Why I bought this out of pocket...

In a nutshell, sleep apnea is killing me so I'll try anything.


My sleep apnea background (unpacking the nutshell)...

I'm 46 and CPAP (12/17, epr 3) isn't working out.
Grandfather died at my age, father has it severe as well as myself and my 15 years old son.
I do not believe I'll make it to retirement given how its getting steadily worse over the last 4 years since I started treatment.
I recently lost my job and memory problems from apnea are partly to blame.
I have a mandibular advancement device ("the Silencer"), a tongue stimulator (zeussleep.co.uk which works for my son!!!) and none of these really help.
I have more and more days where I feel weak to the point I cannot focus and work.
My face is a shitshow and has gotten worse.
I look like Palpatine and my eyelids are drooping 20 years more than they should.
If I don't get this disease under control it will end me in the coming years.
I'm also out of 2 sleep studies as I also am investigating half a dozen possible surgeries.
I had a septoplasty and my ENT told me she endoscoped me and "the back of my nose was collapsing".
Another ENT looked down my throat and said "Wow! that's a looong palate": I was not reassured nor especially proud.

People on other forums believe I have 'palatal prolapse' from looking at my charts.
Here's the sound recording of last night. https://youtu.be/ECvyTAWda4w and a close up of the respiration: https://imgur.com/a/f0bJC4y
https://sleephq.com/public/5c4db8ea-813 ... bf1a65f366 that's last night.


https://imgur.com/jRvIA61

i'm hoping it works for you. however, as i said in another thread, at $974 i'm not touching it.

here's that other thread, so you can see how the other users experience went-

viewtopic/t183499/Im-using-AlaxoStent-w ... ilit=alaxo

good luck!

Shaare wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 07, 2023 11:59 am

How deep do you insert yours

Oddly enuff I met a guy who uses O2 tubing (cut to length) in one nostril to do this. He said when he was doing yard work he would get all congested and inserted his tubing and was all set. My sleep tech at the time was the one who told me about him before we met.

Save yourself some (Lots of) money and time too - cut your own.

I am curious. You have been on the board for 4ish years and now indicate you have not been satisfactorily treated by your machine. Why have you not requested members assistance to dial in your treatment more successfully.

There is no guarantee they can fix you, but perhaps they could.

Cpapian wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 08, 2023 3:32 pm

I am curious. You have been on the board for 4ish years and now indicate you have not been satisfactorily treated by your machine. Why have you not requested members assistance to dial in your treatment more successfully.

There is no guarantee they can fix you, but perhaps they could.

he has. click on the number of his posts to see prior stuff.

So glad cpap works for me.
I don't think I could do this.

You are being unfair to the OP.

Here's what is was told by Rubicon, on his most recent thread, a week ago.

Rubicon wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 29, 2023 2:57 am

Shaare wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 28, 2023 5:07 pm

An ENT told me 'wow that's a long palate'....

Anyone can share surgical options I can research or any advice at all?

What did your ENT guy suggest? That's what you pay them for.
You got palatal prolapse. See what happens with the Alaxo stents.

My emphasis.

I suggest all of you watch some of the Alaxo Stent videos about its application.

And as to SleepGeek's suggestion of using an oxygen tube instead: I absolutely wouldn't!
The stent is made of metal mesh, which means it has lots of spaces to let liquid runt out when necessary.
It won't stick to the inside of your (or anyone's) nose if whatever gunk in your nose dries up
And the mesh like metal makes disinfection much easier and safer!
Pay attention to the way of pulling it out. No way of doing that with an oxygen tube.

Are you aware that some brain surgeries are done through your nasal cavities because that the closes route to some parts of your brain?
Are you aware that some sinus infections can go wrong and endanger life because they are near your brain?

I would follow the instructions carefully, and would not try any cheaper alternative.

Good luck, Shaare. Please keep us posted.

Hello everyone

An update...
It's been three days now that I've had this device.
The first night showed different charts than the usual but perhaps not that much on the sleep side.
The second morning my nose bled slightly so I didn't use it last night.
I did however try to get use to it in my other nostril, simply by inserting the contained stent (still within its wrapping tube) into the soft palate area.
What I found was that this is the gag reflex area to some degree and that though I could sustain it there, when I tried to unsheath the stent in the soft palate area it immediately hurt or became very unpleasant.
I had to scramble to resheath it and get out of there.

I think that since my back in hunched a little this may exacerbate the pressure in the soft palate area.
I'm waiting on my sleep doctor to call me back on my 2nd titrated sleep study so I can talk to him about this.

I'm still going to try to get use to it of course.

I'm less worried about my respirate rate since I realized this morning that I breathe a normal breath in four to five shorter breath before expelling it all.
I'm hoping that is less worrying for my health.

My chart for yesterday is here: https://sleephq.com/public/ec294237-5a6 ... 48646f39b2
This was without the device.

Since the tongue stimulator doesn't do anything for me I think that my problem is really located within the soft palate area.
How I hope Apnimed could be FDA approved soon!

Anyone has experience to share with this device?

The instructions for getting used to the device are very different from how you've been doing it.

And as to SleepGeek's suggestion of using an oxygen tube instead:

Sorry didn't mean to come across that way. I've never done it. Just sharing my experience.

I met the guy at a meeting, he had some in his shirt pocket cut to size.

ozij wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 09, 2023 5:30 pm

The instructions for getting used to the device are very different from how you've been doing it.

Hi! I didn't have instructions on how to get used to it.
May I ask you, please, to share what you know?

Thank you kindly,

Antoine

SleepGeek wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 09, 2023 5:39 pm

And as to SleepGeek's suggestion of using an oxygen tube instead:

Sorry didn't mean to come across that way. I've never done it. Just sharing my experience.

I met the guy at a meeting, he had some in his shirt pocket cut to size.

Could you guesstimate the diameter of the tubes?

Shaare wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 10, 2023 2:07 pm

Could you guesstimate the diameter of the tubes?

Sorry, no, this was back in the 2000's.
What I do remember he said he bought them at a local healthcare place that sells durable equipment.

I think it was the nasal airway tubing that you don't need a script for?

SleepGeek wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 09, 2023 5:39 pm

And as to SleepGeek's suggestion of using an oxygen tube instead:

Sorry didn't mean to come across that way. I've never done it. Just sharing my experience.

I met the guy at a meeting, he had some in his shirt pocket cut to size.

I think Nastent recycled to this here: https://back2sleep.eu/products/nasal-st ... 1140827319

To be clear this is what he was using cut down to length.
https://medicalrite.com/products/adult_ ... 0102161877