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Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

temertymedicine.utoronto.ca

51–60 of 161 posts

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#51
post #48

I went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we…

Yup totally, how you breathe during the day is a habit that basically persists at night So breathing better during the day can be trained, even at an old age, and it improves sleep Not everyone breathes suboptimally of course, but I think more do than realize it. There’s a reason that breath work is in the traditions of many different cultures, and why it survived But things like this aren’t necessarily profitable or…

Oh you don't say? I'm genuinely curious to know what you reduced your AHI to with these exercises. Or are you just making things up?

Yeah we'll go with fabrications based solely on this sentence "But things like this aren’t necessarily profitable or worth a doctor’s time, so you have to do them yourself, or see therapists, etc"

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#52
post #6
post #2

People should be more aware of the symptoms of sleep apneas - the lack of energy during the day, feeling tired, waking up throughout the night, waking up tired/exhausted, etc. People with untreated sleep apnea have multiple folds higher chances to be depressed, unemployed, and have trouble with basic life functions, in addition to the long term health consequences of depriving your brain from Oxygen. I've suggested 4…

> People should be more aware of the symptoms of sleep apneas I'm always a bit puzzled that this needs to be pointed out? I don't have sleep apnea per se, at least not chronically, but I've definitely had bouts of it due to allergy, sickness, stuff like that. The symptoms are the same because the mechanism is the same: I didn't get enough oxygen in the night. It's always glaringly obvious to me the next day. I feel w…

[deleted]

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#53
post #25

I have severe obstructive sleep apnea -- am 6ft and 210. I wear a CPAP and now swear by it. A couple things to help those who try: 1) Make sure you have a CPAP machine with a water tank so the forced air is moist. For me, if the water runs out, that's when I wake up bc my nose dries. 2) Get a spray saline solution for your nose -- not Afrin or drugs (habit inducing) -- just simple and cheap Arm & Hammer Simply Saline…

Have you tried losing weight and if so, did that help?

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#54
post #6
post #2

People should be more aware of the symptoms of sleep apneas - the lack of energy during the day, feeling tired, waking up throughout the night, waking up tired/exhausted, etc. People with untreated sleep apnea have multiple folds higher chances to be depressed, unemployed, and have trouble with basic life functions, in addition to the long term health consequences of depriving your brain from Oxygen. I've suggested 4…

> People should be more aware of the symptoms of sleep apneas I'm always a bit puzzled that this needs to be pointed out? I don't have sleep apnea per se, at least not chronically, but I've definitely had bouts of it due to allergy, sickness, stuff like that. The symptoms are the same because the mechanism is the same: I didn't get enough oxygen in the night. It's always glaringly obvious to me the next day. I feel w…

yes, it needs to be pointed out. if you have it for a long time you might not realize it's a fluke (like me)

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#55
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously I don’t know you or your specific situation, but I lost 120 pounds taking Zepbound and my apnea is gone. I make sure to take fluticasone in each nostril before I sleep, but getting to a healthy weight eliminated my apnea. If you aren’t overweight, this might not help, but hopefully it’ll help someone!

I’m 130 kg and know it’s way too much. Hard to gather the energy for loosing weight. Can you take fluticasone permanently? Sometimes it’s like I just lie down and my nasal congestion gets worse instantly

> Can you take fluticasone permanently?

This is a surprisingly controversial question.

I've known more than one person who claims something to the effect of becoming addicted to Flonase. Like now they have to take it only to feel like how they felt before they started taking it.

Rebound inflammation when stopping use is a real effect with long-term use of corticosteroids and can, at least briefly, be worse than the initial symptoms were.

As someone with multiple mild inflammatory disorders I've always been afraid to use steroids consistently lest I have nothing effective when things are worst.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#56
post #2

People should be more aware of the symptoms of sleep apneas - the lack of energy during the day, feeling tired, waking up throughout the night, waking up tired/exhausted, etc. People with untreated sleep apnea have multiple folds higher chances to be depressed, unemployed, and have trouble with basic life functions, in addition to the long term health consequences of depriving your brain from Oxygen. I've suggested 4…

I've tried a CPAP machine for 6 weeks and felt no different and gave up. I think I was a 6 on the scale. I wish it had worked though! Currently I've just given up and embracing feeling relatively tired all the time. I've tried side sleeping devices (woody knows backpack) mandibular advancement splints etc. So hard to tell (I find anyway) to get to a definitive answer

exactly the same for me (but I gave after 5 weeks, because I didnt felt any different and hated everything about sleeping with the cpap)

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#57

I went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we…

> what I believe in many cases is a structural issue Many cases it is not. I'm not trying to be a contrarian but I don't want to plant hope in some people who suffer from sleep apnea thinking it's something they can just do breathing exercises for. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/central-sleep...

fwiw I really believe it is, my sleep problems come and go based on entirely physical variables--how flexible I feel, how much time I spent "shrimping", how tight my back and neck are.

Personally I would not be surprised at all if in 50-100 years we look back on this era as one where we massively overprescribed CPAP machines to treat an entirely-fixable condition in most people (alongside all the other medical interventions that will turn out to be bandaid fixes for actually fixable problems). I'm aware this is a bit of an outlandish take. But you can tell how many people's breathing and posture is bad just by existing in the world for ten minutes and looking at them. I think it's really an epidemic.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#58
post #2

People should be more aware of the symptoms of sleep apneas - the lack of energy during the day, feeling tired, waking up throughout the night, waking up tired/exhausted, etc. People with untreated sleep apnea have multiple folds higher chances to be depressed, unemployed, and have trouble with basic life functions, in addition to the long term health consequences of depriving your brain from Oxygen. I've suggested 4…

Having been down this path, it’s evident to me that the US has built up a sizable medical equipment industry around CPAP machines and their supplies. The sleep doctors who prescribe them don’t have many alternatives, so it’s the normal treatment they hand out. So it’s not a surprise that a casual mention of sleep quality ended with a CPAP machine rented by the month. It’s kind of what happened to me.

Better to outright buy the machine online, then open it up and disable the modem.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#59
post #2

People should be more aware of the symptoms of sleep apneas - the lack of energy during the day, feeling tired, waking up throughout the night, waking up tired/exhausted, etc. People with untreated sleep apnea have multiple folds higher chances to be depressed, unemployed, and have trouble with basic life functions, in addition to the long term health consequences of depriving your brain from Oxygen. I've suggested 4…

Any brand of test kit you recommend?

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#60
post #49

I went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we…

What a ridiculous post. Please leave the Reddit pseudoscience at the door. There are researchers actively working and studying people with sleep apnea. They're not suffering from "forward head posture" or "breathing wrong". I have severe sleep apnea and no amount of "breathing exercises" are going to cause my soft palate to uncollapse itself while I'm trying to get REM sleep.

Do you run regularly?

Overweight by chance?

I've put on a bit of weight sunce having kids and my breathing at night is much worse than before.

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