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Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

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Re: Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

#72
post #2

The number of people that are using a CPAP is honestly mind boggling to me. The number that have gotten one, and then refuse to wear it is even crazier. I remember when I first got one, I assumed it was some niche thing that was going to be unheard of from everyone I talked to. Turns out, not so much. I don't think it has been a miracle device, by any measure. But I'm curious what makes it so hard to stick to for so…

I'm muy experience with a Reamed one, on one hand, the noise. It took a lot of time for me to get used to it and fall asleep. I did some adjustments to the machine using the hidden medical menu to improve it (basically, disabled "Expiratory pressure relief (EPR)™" which "maintains regular airflow pressure while you inhale and reduces pressure to make it easier when exhaling")

On the other hand, the masks. I started with moderate success with a nasal pillows one and at some point I started opening my mouth having the worst dry mouth experiences in life.

Then I switch to a full face mask that covered my nose and it itched so hard at night that I woke up just to scratch.

Then I switched to another full face one that left my nose out, but couldn't get it to not leak (I have a lot of facial hair).

Then I got back to the nasal pillows one but I'm taping my mouth close. I've finally had moderate success with this.

I took me like 3 years to get here.

Re: Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

#73
post #2

The number of people that are using a CPAP is honestly mind boggling to me. The number that have gotten one, and then refuse to wear it is even crazier. I remember when I first got one, I assumed it was some niche thing that was going to be unheard of from everyone I talked to. Turns out, not so much. I don't think it has been a miracle device, by any measure. But I'm curious what makes it so hard to stick to for so…

For me, I have an unrelated sleep disorder that makes sleep extremely important, and sensory issues that made sleeping with CPAP difficult to impossible. I tried lots of kinds of masks at my expense, but got no material support from the providers involved. After many months of trying I found that I have far better sleep without it, and got sick less frequently as well. I cleaned it fastidious and fiddled with it regularly but couldn’t find a sustainable way forward with it.

The mechanical sound of breathing, the mask getting stuck in my long hair, the intentions posture and breathing form… and dear mercy the pooling moisture on my face.

I shaved a sick beard for it. I stopped sleeping with my partner. It was a saga that I had tried a decade earlier with the same outcome.

Ultimately it turned out that simply staying hydrated and adding a little incline to my mattress is all it took. My O2 concentration has held steady and the snoring has stopped. I’ve taken my alcohol consumption down to near zero, and I have to imagine that helped as well. My weight and body fat have been pretty stable throughout.

I’ve kept my gear in case I have an occasion to try it again. Also they wouldn’t take it back and have got legislation passed to ban CPAP resale. Maybe one day I’ll get around to hacking on an IoT smell-o-vision project and have a decent use for the thing.

Re: Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

#74
I started using a CPAP with a nose facemask almost two years ago. My doctor ended up also prescribing a low dose of Ambien because wearing the mask triggered a claustrophobia reaction in me. It was enough to get me to sleep with the mask on most nights, but I almost always pulled the mask off after 3-4 hours (or less) without even waking up. I haven't worn the CPAP for about six months because I have allergies that keep me just congested enough that I can't breathe through my nose with the mask on anymore. The thought of a full face mask terrifies me.

After all that, my sleep seems fine (it never seemed bad at all to me) and I have some amount of dependence on Ambien which I have no idea how to kick.

Re: Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

#75

I had both obstructive and central apnea and have been totally fine with the CPAP from day 1. Sounds like I’m an outlier. As for the other options, they may not have worked for me.

Worked fine for me, too. I was in bad shape with sleep and it was very much impacting my health. The CPAP was literally a life saver to me. That was in 1/2021 and been using it ever since. I even took it on vacation recently.

Re: Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

#76
post #38

I think the solution is a stent inserted into the airway to prevent it collapsing during sleep. This would permanently treat the condition with no side-effects and no daily upkeep. Unfortunately I have no way of implementing this so I’ll never know for sure.

Such stents exist, like the Nastent [1]. They're expensive, more or less single use, and shoving a tube down your nose sounds very unpleasant. CPAP seems a lot more attractive to me. Unless you mean a permanent stent, in which case I doubt it'll happen. You need the airway to be flexible (including for speech) in various places. It's hard to pinpoint which bits of airway are responsibe for an individual's apnea. And…

Facebook recently started to show me this nasal stent product https://alaxousa.com/how-it-works/ Basically they sell expandable metal mesh tubes that are inserted though the nose and go down to throat when installed. And they are rather expensive - $395 and according to FAQ last up to 18 months.

I’ll ask my ENT about these stents when I’ll visit them next time.

Re: Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

#77
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, I'm very sorry that you've hard a horrible experience with this. My sleep analysis itself was 2 days worth of data that the doctor reviewed. I came in .... the next day? Later on in the day of turning in my at-home test? I forget. Anyway. My CPAP machine came in about a week later; and I had a full hour or so visit with the doctor as he described each individual step, and we tested out a TON of different ma…

My experience was also very similar to the GP’s, and I’ve gone through it twice, at two different sleep clinics. I definitely don’t have routine follow-ups and the one (singular) follow-up I had was useless. I’ve had to essentially figure it all out on my own. I still find wearing the mask miserable but I don’t have much of a choice because OSA was slowly killing me. You were lucky to have such attentive care! I wish…

I love wearing my CPAP. Not because it's comfortable; it's certainly not. My mask pillows are slowly stretching my nasal orifices, so it's ruining my face aesthetically

I love it because if I even nap 20 minutes without my CPAP, I wake up as if a freightliner had hit me. My apnea is that bad. I have never skipped a single night since being diagnosed 4 years ago.

One night I went to a friend's house and couldn't drive back because I had a couple of beers. I didn't have my CPAP, so I preferred to stay awake the whole night instead of sleeping.

I would probably be dead if CPAP didn't exist.

Re: Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

#78
post #2

The number of people that are using a CPAP is honestly mind boggling to me. The number that have gotten one, and then refuse to wear it is even crazier. I remember when I first got one, I assumed it was some niche thing that was going to be unheard of from everyone I talked to. Turns out, not so much. I don't think it has been a miracle device, by any measure. But I'm curious what makes it so hard to stick to for so…

For me, I have an unrelated sleep disorder that makes sleep extremely important, and sensory issues that made sleeping with CPAP difficult to impossible. I tried lots of kinds of masks at my expense, but got no material support from the providers involved. After many months of trying I found that I have far better sleep without it, and got sick less frequently as well. I cleaned it fastidious and fiddled with it regu…

How are you measuring O2 levels?

I’ve also been experimenting with a slightly elevated mattress recently, it seems to help quite a lot for my OSA.

Re: Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

#79

I started using a CPAP with a nose facemask almost two years ago. My doctor ended up also prescribing a low dose of Ambien because wearing the mask triggered a claustrophobia reaction in me. It was enough to get me to sleep with the mask on most nights, but I almost always pulled the mask off after 3-4 hours (or less) without even waking up. I haven't worn the CPAP for about six months because I have allergies that k…

It's not about fixing poor sleep. Chronic sleep apnea causes other downstream effects like pulmonary hypertension and right-sided heart failure, which are the main things we're trying to avoid by using CPAP machines.

Re: Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea

#80

I started using a CPAP with a nose facemask almost two years ago. My doctor ended up also prescribing a low dose of Ambien because wearing the mask triggered a claustrophobia reaction in me. It was enough to get me to sleep with the mask on most nights, but I almost always pulled the mask off after 3-4 hours (or less) without even waking up. I haven't worn the CPAP for about six months because I have allergies that k…

> It was enough to get me to sleep with the mask on most nights, but I almost always pulled the mask off after 3-4 hours (or less) without even waking up.

That's pretty common, but you get used to wearing the mask longer and longer, it may take multiple weeks. Me and a lot of users on /r/CPAP will give you similar feedback.

As for allergy congestion, have you tried Claritin, Flonase, others? May need to check with the doctor.

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