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Ask HN: Can you share your experience with sleep apnea?

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Re: Ask HN: Can you share your experience with sleep apnea?

#21

Post by poulsbohemian »

My partner got tired of my snoring and I eventually ended up with a cpap. It hasn't been the easiest thing to use, but nights where I manage to keep it on, I definitely notice that I am better rested.

I'm not a doctor, and many of us here on HN aren't. As you'll notice by all the commentary, there's a lot of factors involved in good sleep and even in the reasons why people end up with cpap machines. Probably the smartest thing any of us can say is - look into your own lifestyle and factors, then find the professionals that you think can work with you toward a better outcome.

One thing I'll note - eating late and drinking mess up sleep. When my partner has had a few beers, she might fall asleep quickly, but then she doesn't sleep restfully as those sugars start burning. The acid reflux thing several people mention is definitely a problem. I actually find my cpap's biggest help has been pushing filtered air all night - helps my allergies big time! So, hope you are able to look into whether you have an "environmental" issue, a physical issue, or whatever combination might be affecting your sleep.

Re: Ask HN: Can you share your experience with sleep apnea?

#22

Post by throwawayosa »

cmpxchg8b wrote: post #20

Can you elaborate which kind of apnea? Obstructive Sleep Apnea or Central Sleep Apnea? They have very different causes and mitigations.

My diagnosis was mild obstructive sleep apnea. My doctor also mentioned that it’s complicated by upper airway resistance syndrome.

Re: Ask HN: Can you share your experience with sleep apnea?

#24

Post by stuffuru »

I was tired all the time. My sleep got really bad in my late 20s and I ended up getting a sleep study (AHI ~10, no RDI scored) based on recommendations from the HN crowd. My then symptoms were excessive daytime sleepiness and erectile dysfunction. My second sleep physician got me on CPAP (first one wouldn't do anything so I fired him) which helped with the cardiovascular aspect of sleep apnea but didn't do much for sleepiness. A dentist-prescribed MAD helped me a lot which convinced me that jaw surgery is the way to go (had multiple people telling me about needing jaw surgery, including the late Dr Christian Guilleminault who coined the term obstructive sleep apnea). I went to a Stanford sleep surgeon for maxillary expansion and jaw surgery, who turned out to be a butcher, so now I'm getting these procedures redone with another surgeon and trying a BiPAP.

Re: Ask HN: Can you share your experience with sleep apnea?

#25

Post by throwawayosa »

ncmncm wrote: post #19

Yes. My doctor suggested a choice between a CPAP machine to maintain a positive pressure of oxygen through a mask attached to a machine, and a plastic mouthpiece that would keep my lower jaw projecting forward. That cost $2000, and insurance refused to pay for it. That worked well enough, but what worked better was exercising and losing weight. Exercising was not what achieved the weight loss, although it had myriad…

I wish it would be as easy as losing weight. I’m not overweight. My BMI is 23.5. Still, I tried dropping 10 pounds but it made no difference to my symptoms.

Re: Ask HN: Can you share your experience with sleep apnea?

#26

Post by throwawayosa »

throwawayokzzz wrote: post #17

I am thin and not the typical profile for sleep apnea. I started waking up in the middle of the night with severe hand pain, needing to urinate (nocturia) and had a headache in the morning despite getting 8 plus hours. Doctor sent me to the sleep lab. Unrelated, I thought to myself, but submitted. The lab said the hand pain was a red herring, thought it was neck related, and gave me a home test. Results came back, mi…

Do you mind sharing what mouth appliance you are using?

Re: Ask HN: Can you share your experience with sleep apnea?

#28

Post by armatav »

Absolute slow death - underweight, 50 AHI, CPAP pressure any higher resulted in aerophagia, any lower resulted in the soft tissue compressing my throat.

Had the MMA done after three TPD expansions, now no longer need the CPAP, sleep a lot better and run every day.

No joke, I would rather have fought a bout of cancer than have been slept to death like that for years.

My solemn advice to anyone with a severely high AHI is to go grab Dr. Li and have him move your jaws forward, don’t bother with the CPAP, you have a structural issue that requires a structural solution.

Re: Ask HN: Can you share your experience with sleep apnea?

#29

Post by surds »

armatav wrote: post #28

Absolute slow death - underweight, 50 AHI, CPAP pressure any higher resulted in aerophagia, any lower resulted in the soft tissue compressing my throat. Had the MMA done after three TPD expansions, now no longer need the CPAP, sleep a lot better and run every day. No joke, I would rather have fought a bout of cancer than have been slept to death like that for years. My solemn advice to anyone with a severely high AHI…

I have Sleep Apnea, use CPAP daily since about 6 years now and it has been a life-changing experience.

Sucks to have been sleepy and tired for all the years I can remember.

Can you elaborate on what MMA and TDP expansions are? Where are you (or the doc you refer) located?

I am completely fine with using CPAP, but if I don’t need it at all, that would be even better.

Re: Ask HN: Can you share your experience with sleep apnea?

#30

Post by cko »

armatav wrote: post #28

Absolute slow death - underweight, 50 AHI, CPAP pressure any higher resulted in aerophagia, any lower resulted in the soft tissue compressing my throat. Had the MMA done after three TPD expansions, now no longer need the CPAP, sleep a lot better and run every day. No joke, I would rather have fought a bout of cancer than have been slept to death like that for years. My solemn advice to anyone with a severely high AHI…

I had the jaws moved forward. But the surgeon had noted beforehand that I had bad TMJs. So when I'm lying on my back, my lower jaw still tends to open, sitting on my airway.

So I mostly sleep on my side nowadays. And sometimes use mouth tape.

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