Nasopharyngeal airway tubes

Brief history:
I'm 28 years old, diagnosed with apnea at 14, used CPAP on and off since then, never feeling a great benefit. Had UPPP surgery appr 2 months ago and was able to sleep soundly without CPAP for about 1.5 weeks but worsened to the point where sleeping quality seems the same as before surgery (even with CPAP).

Having experienced good sleep for the first time in my life, I have been on a crusade to figure out how to get it again since the surgery did not seem to help in the long run.

I ended up reading about nasopharyngeal airways and even tried using one to sleep, but it was uncomfortable and even painful so I gave up. If you watch any given youtube video showing one being inserted you won't be surprised.

But I looked closer at one of the studies done:
http://journal.publications.chestnet.or ... FSource=13
I realized that even though they refer to 'nasopharyngeal airway' in the study, they specify that they in fact used pediatric endotracheal tubes of 3-4mm (much smaller than a typical 'nasopharyngeal airway' as you will find them sold). So I have purchased the endotracheal tubes and for the last 3 nights I have used them (along with CPAP).
First 2 nights I actually used tubes through both nostrils, but last night just the right one.

My main complaint with the CPAP is that I wake up very frequently feeling as if my airway has closed.
The last 3 nights I feel that has definitely improved, and I have woken up feeling more rested than usual. I am going to continue to experiment and follow up in this thread.

Hi - unless you give the NPAs a serious trial of weeks or months, feel better and then have another sleep study, you have no real way of knowing if you still need Cpap or not... feeling ok is not enough. I know others who've tried them too, and were not happy. However, if you have trouble with Cpap, tell us about it in detail, about the make, model #, etc. of the machine and the same for the mask you're using, as well as whether or not you use meds, how many hrs of sleep you get, the pressure settings of the machine (as they were), and whether you used the ramp feature. And we'll try to help.