191–200 of 226 posts
I don't have sleep apnea but during allergy season my nose does like to get stuffed at night causing my mouth the get really dry which causes me to wake up a few times. I've been using nasal strips for the last few weeks and those events have stopped. I swear I also feel better during the day.
Sounds like you're breathing through your mouth.
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I never had a problem with adopting CPAP. It's been transformative for me, sleep quality is literally 10 times better than without, I wake up feeling awful if I have a nap without it. Why would someone keep a mask on for 4 hours, then take it off? does not make sense to me.
I know someone who snored like crazy, would quit breathing at night and was diagnosed with sleep apnea. She got a CPAP and tried to use it for a year. Snoring was worse although it helped her not stop breathing. But it gave her some form of pneumonia or some such and she began coughing all night! Then it spread to daytime. Then everyone around her started getting the cough. I had to take antibiotics to shake off the…
100% not a scam. Was life changing for me, and the two other coworkers I know who are on it.
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You're not wrong, in that this is proper tongue posture. But that's not going to cure sleep apnea. Millions of people have sleep apnea, many of them suffer significant adverse effects from it. Silly little aphorisms like this really aren't helpful to these people.
Absolutely — here’s a more clinical, superiority-tinged version that would feel right at home in a top-level HN comment:
"Proper tongue posture and nasal breathing are foundational to orofacial development and airway function, yet somehow remain niche concepts outside orthodontic and sleep medicine circles. But sure, let’s keep pretending CPAP is the only tool we have."
Positions the commenter as more informed than the average reader.
Uses formal, clinical language ("orofacial development", "airway function").
Includes a subtle jab at mainstream treatment approaches.
Maintains plausible deniability against being overtly rude — classic HN.
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I never had a problem with adopting CPAP. It's been transformative for me, sleep quality is literally 10 times better than without, I wake up feeling awful if I have a nap without it. Why would someone keep a mask on for 4 hours, then take it off? does not make sense to me.
I know someone who snored like crazy, would quit breathing at night and was diagnosed with sleep apnea. She got a CPAP and tried to use it for a year. Snoring was worse although it helped her not stop breathing. But it gave her some form of pneumonia or some such and she began coughing all night! Then it spread to daytime. Then everyone around her started getting the cough. I had to take antibiotics to shake off the…
That said, I find the pneumonia story a little tough to swallow. Correlation is not always causation. CPAP machines don't spontaneously spawn new diseases. Does she use the humidifier? What water does she use? Does she change it every day?
Sleep apnea is a structural issue, either soft or bone. CPAP helps, but it doesn't address the root cause. Fixing it is a matter of airway geometry, with many obstructions along the way. Bodybuilders or wrestlers, otherwise in good health, can suffer from OSA because of too much muscle in their neck. You may not know it, but your tongue may be tied. It is one of many possibilities causing OSA. I made this: Do I have…
It's not as simple as you make it seem. There are some things that are "easy" to fix, like a deviated septum, but surgical treatments are often very complex, very expensive, come with a lot of risks of complications, and in some cases only last for a limited amount of time.
> Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment
Apart from the practical issues (who wants to spend half an hour playing the didgeridoo every day?), it's not a solution. The majority of participants in the trial still had an AHI of 11. Their sleep is still shit, their long term health is still impacted.
> Myofunctional Therapy to Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Same thing. A reduction in AHI of 50% is impressive at face value, but it's not a solution.
It would be great if everyone on CPAP would be offered a comprehensive programme to strengthen their airway. If this could lead to reduced pressures for instance, that would be great. But neither study looked into that, which is a shame.
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Not that I could find, and the doctors seemed pretty happy with it (and it was one who suggested I try it). I'm taking Fluticasone Propionate.
I took my first spritz today of F.P. Last week I asked my PCP about a middle-ear blockage, and he said the F.P. should do the trick, and perhaps also relieve the dry, itchy eyes I've been suffering. I suspect that I have been dealing with OSA for several years now, so... the nighttime dosing seems like a good idea. We'll see how it goes!
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> 40% of patients don't tolerate it Tough to know how much of this is patients not being able to tolerate vs doctors giving people barely calibrated machines and next to no support or training. It’s very common to be given your cpap at the default pressure range (4-20). When I told my doctor I still wasn’t sleeping, she offered to refer me to a shrink.
I was in the hospital for a month and was specifically prescribed BiPAP while I was there. I was completely unable to tolerate it and the technicians sent up to adjust it for me did not know how to access the clinician settings -- they just fiddled with the patient-facing controls, which are very limited. These were people who I am sure have lots of experience working on respirators and oxygen, but at least three dif…
I swear CPAP wouldn't get such a bad rep if the media would stop using pictures of men with obscenely large full face masks. The most commonly used CPAP mask is probably the minimalist Resmed P10 [1]. It looks a lot less intimidating than a bulky full face mask. And in most cases, full face masks aren't needed (no sources to cite, but titrating to the correct pressure allows most people to breathe through their noses…
The problem with CPAP is that 40% of patients don't tolerate it even for the 4h/night defined as treatment compliance, while most of the rest use it less than the full duration of the night, with studies demonstrating that treatment compliance depends on efficacy. And this is for traditional OSA in men - people with Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome(mostly identical mechanism as OSA, less oxygen desaturation, more aro…
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I do, a ResMed AirSense 11 with a ResMed Mirage FX. Wonderful sleep, wonderful comfort, and no need for the water supplement.
Yes, I don't think a lot of people realize that it's possible to run the AirSense 11 (I don't know about other models/brands) without distilled water. Resmed even sells "ResMed AirSense & AirCurve 11 Side Cover", which takes the place of the water tank.
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The problem with CPAP is that 40% of patients don't tolerate it even for the 4h/night defined as treatment compliance, while most of the rest use it less than the full duration of the night, with studies demonstrating that treatment compliance depends on efficacy. And this is for traditional OSA in men - people with Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome(mostly identical mechanism as OSA, less oxygen desaturation, more aro…
I never had a problem with adopting CPAP. It's been transformative for me, sleep quality is literally 10 times better than without, I wake up feeling awful if I have a nap without it. Why would someone keep a mask on for 4 hours, then take it off? does not make sense to me.
I started CPAP about a decade ago and in the beginning I would take the mask off in the middle of the night, while sleeping-- completely unaware of what I was doing.
My doctor said this is common with many patients.
Frustrated, I started taping the mask to my face with medical tape.
I only stopped taping up my face when I was able to make it through the night without waking up to my sleeping self trying to rip the mask off.