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Sleep Apnea Folks... Have you Heard About InspireSleep.com?
- Thread starter 40Acres74
- Start date
Agree completely with all the CPAP lovers. 50 year old with dad bod. 2 years on the CPAP and I love the result. Sleep so much better according to my Apple Watch sleep app. I actually have a ResMed Mini that I travel with (a lot of work travel).
Experiment with different masks. There’s a winner out there somewhere.
Have heard that's one of the most painful surgeries you can have. Also that it doesn't last forever. This from several people.
What was your experience.
tried and tried with CPAP...no go. Dr swore my last was an APAP until I proved her wrong. Working with an ENT now and going for surgery on deviated septum first, then decide next steps. He was the one that said..."There's your problem, you have a huge tongue..."
I am an Army sleep dentist and co-authored the first DoD/VA Clinical Practice Guideline on treatment of OSA and Insomia last year.
Bottom line- try to adapt to the pap. Weight loss helps many, not all. Try an oral appliance, it is the second most common treatment and generally more successful with less potential harm than surgery.
PAP, Oral Appliances, and Surgery all work for the right patients.
Couple comments
1- keep trying to adapt to PAP if you sleep in the same bed every night, it takes most folks 30-60 days to get comfortable.
2- Only 50-60% of patients are compliant after 1 year, so you may never adapt. If you do, you will never want to sleep without it.
3- Excess fat (or muscle) around the neck makes OSA worse, but anatomy, and several other factors are primary causes. For example I have a patient that is 6’4” and 175 lbs and another that runs marathons and was a competitive D1 gymnist before joining the Army. Both have severe apnea. (Greater than 30 events an hour)
4- Ask you sleep physician for a referral to a dentist that specializes in Dental Sleep Medicine. I only treat Soldiers, and most are 20-40 years old with a good BMI, and healthy teeth. I will eventually open a private practice for only OSA, Snoring, and TMD, but can’t even moonlight now as I am in command and barely have tome for a few Soldiers.
5- I know of 3 good sleep dentists in Austin, I trained one of them. DM me if you want a virtual introduction.
6- keep working until you improve your sleep. It will help you live longer, but more importantly it will make every day better. Better sleep improves everything else -testosterone and HGH levels, cognitive function, sexual health, Blood Pressure, all cause mortality, everything.
Bottom line- try to adapt to the pap. Weight loss helps many, not all. Try an oral appliance, it is the second most common treatment and generally more successful with less potential harm than surgery.
PAP, Oral Appliances, and Surgery all work for the right patients.
Couple comments
1- keep trying to adapt to PAP if you sleep in the same bed every night, it takes most folks 30-60 days to get comfortable.
2- Only 50-60% of patients are compliant after 1 year, so you may never adapt. If you do, you will never want to sleep without it.
3- Excess fat (or muscle) around the neck makes OSA worse, but anatomy, and several other factors are primary causes. For example I have a patient that is 6’4” and 175 lbs and another that runs marathons and was a competitive D1 gymnist before joining the Army. Both have severe apnea. (Greater than 30 events an hour)
4- Ask you sleep physician for a referral to a dentist that specializes in Dental Sleep Medicine. I only treat Soldiers, and most are 20-40 years old with a good BMI, and healthy teeth. I will eventually open a private practice for only OSA, Snoring, and TMD, but can’t even moonlight now as I am in command and barely have tome for a few Soldiers.
5- I know of 3 good sleep dentists in Austin, I trained one of them. DM me if you want a virtual introduction.
6- keep working until you improve your sleep. It will help you live longer, but more importantly it will make every day better. Better sleep improves everything else -testosterone and HGH levels, cognitive function, sexual health, Blood Pressure, all cause mortality, everything.
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I have severe sleep apnea. I've lost 50 lbs since June 2020. My BMI is now within a healthy range, I mean I'm no toothpick but I'm also off my BP and T2D meds because of the weight loss. I tried to go off the machine, made it one night then right back on.
OP it took me a while to get used to the machine too. But I'll say this. Since I started using it three years ago I haven't had a single hang over on the rare occasion I over indulge on bourbon. Wake up the next morning fresh and rested. And colds/illness that used to take me 1-2 weeks to get over typically are gone in 2-3 days max.
Sleep apnea is no joke. Wear the machine until you don't have too. I'm also interested in inspiresleep.
I did the same thing. The recovery was very quick. It helped but didn’t fix the issue. I use a moth guard that brings my jaw forward. It reduced it so long as I am not on my back.
Do you have the full face mask. Just tell your doc/therapist that you need to try the nose only and see if it works. That did the trick for me. I can't even nap without it.
CPAP is still the gold standard. Everything else is inferior.
The only other thing that really works is facial reconstruction surgery.
Seriously. I've had like one headache of any nature in 2 years with the machine. It is unbelievable. I don't know how I lived with those headaches for so long.
It wasn't that bad and for me was totally worth it (my breathing improved in general). I had some good pain killers and ate cold soup and mashed potatoes for a few days. But it wasn't ANYWHERE close to the recovery from my achilles tendon repair. That was a bitch.
Not for me. I was out. they typically take you down to semi-consciousness but the doc took me all the way out. He said "Damn man, I had you barely conscious and you were smiling listening to Jimi Hendrix on the playlist and you STILL fought me." I told him "I'm EXPERIENCED". All I remember is the getting a nice warm fog as Purple haze came on, some kind of pin prick feeling and then waking up. The recovery wasn't bad at all. Totally worth it to breathe again. The difference for me was amazing.
Unfortunately not always. Went from 220 to 175 and still had it. Some it is anatomical or at least that is what the ladies say.
It is but alot times its the fat in your neck restricting you airways. So it never ever hurts to lose weight when you are overweight.
Of course not, but my point was that it is unfortunately not a panacea. Totally agree!
I was lucky my apnea was my fat neck and that got solved.
Try role playing while wearing your mask. For example, fighter pilot and air traffic controller a la Top Gun (just no wingmen, of course), or astronaut (oh, Houston, we do NOT have a problem), or even Star Wars pilot (so many options here involving Princess Lea).
Took me almost 10 years to stop throwing the mask off at night. Doctor always said "even one hour of sleep with the CPAP is better than none. I finally can wear it all night, (6 years now) and I always feel better when I do.
"stay on target..."
"Porkins pull up!"
"stay on target..."
"eject!!!"
OR
"Is it a hit!!!
"Negative, negative. It didn't go in. It just impacted on the surface."
Had surgery to repair a broken wrist back in August. Anesthesiologist was concerned that my blood oxygen levels were low coming out of the anesthesia. Suggested that I should go get tested for sleep apnea. I did and have been on an APAP since December. I am 100% convinced that the treatment works. Would encourage anyone with apnea symptoms to get tested and treated!
Thanks. I have sleep apnea and cannot use a CPAP machine so I have a mouth appliance that works fairly well. I will definitely talk to my PCP about this.
Its not always about being overweight though. I'm not overweight but have severe apnea. Mine is related to how my tongue falls back into my throat at night. There are actually several different causes being overweight is one of them and probably the most common i would guess.
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I've heard this radio commercial about Inspire several times. I currently have been using a dental device for 2 years after using a APAP for serveral years. It sounds like the Inspire does about the same as the dential device (shift the tounge forward so as to not block the airways) with an implented electrical device.
Does anyone have any experience with the Inspire?
Does anyone have any experience with the Inspire?
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