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CPAP with/after Surgery
#21
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
Faints slightly just at the description ..... and I imagine they don't give you total anesthesia either, do they?

I want to be totally out, if they are going to do that!! I had a broken nose reset in 1979, and the noise/feel of the bone being moved back into place was a recurring nightmare for the next ten years. I suppose laughing gas might be enough, if they could do that.

I guess I need to ponder this for a while yet, given how bad my blood issues seem to be.
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#22
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
I was out cold. They did not give me an option. But I have had enough surgeries where I was awake. Shudder.
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#23
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
Don't worry you wont be aware of the surgery. You will be out cold. You will still be able to breathe through your nose albeit with a bit of difficulty. The best part is about 1 week out when they remove the splints. Then you will be very pleased.

Rich
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#24
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
Ive had two nasal surgeries to remove sinus polyps. The last one a bone was pushed into my nasal passage and had to be removed also.
Bled like a stuck pig the second time. Hospital for three days.
May I suggest anyone having nasal surgery with cpap simply ask for a Fitlife total face.
No contact with the nose at all.
Works like a dream for oral or nasal surgeries.
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#25
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
Over a year ago, I had a septoplasty, turbinate reduction, and the nasal valve repair with the cartilage spreader graft.

Unfortunately, my story hasn't been as positive as most of the ones you read about who have this surgery. I feel consistently very stuffy and dry although I can still breath through my nose. According to another ENT I saw this year for another reason, he said the nasal valve has mild to moderate collapse. So the surgeon who said it doesn't usually work may have a point.

He also said the turbinates are moderately inflamed which may be due to the allergies I was recently diagnosed with. Greatly considering allergy shots as so far, the various sprays (nasal steroids, antihistamines) haven't been helpful for various reasons. And nasal rinsing always makes things worse.

Anyway, I didn't want to discourage folks who are considering this surgery since most of the ones are very positive. Just make sure you do adequate research and ask alot of questions.

49er
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#26
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
49er, thanks for sharing that. I was really wondering about the spreader graft thing, and your experience certainly does suggest the procedure's efficacy is not exactly a certain thing. Still interested in it though, but clearly there's reason for pause.

Deb, for the turbinate reduction thing not necessarily being permanent, supposedly the tissue can grow back, though it usually doesn't. Depends on the person, I guess. But the procedure is also apparently less effective if the enlargement is due to allergies, so perhaps that's what happened with you, 49er. It's supposed to help at first but then the symptoms have a chance a recurring.

So I guess I need to find out next time I see the doctor if there's a possibility that it's allergies that are causing my turbinates to be enlarged, and if so, then probably something else needs to be done. So, I hope it's not allergies!

Chill, thanks for your comments. Sounds like maybe we've got a slightly similar situation then. I just want to avoid those nasal strips too (really irritate the skin) and hopefully breathe a little better without having to always rely on sprays. Good luck with the healing. And RichB, your experience is exactly the result I'm hoping for!
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#27
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
Hmm. Maybe turbinate reduction WOULD be worthwhile, then. My persistent nasal restriction is called "non-allergic rhinitis", and I register as not allergic to anything, on the prick your back tests. I used to be mildly allergic to mold, but I had shots for a number of years and now am no longer allergic to that. Apparently. But my nose is still, I would say, 75% less affective than it used to be. I've been doing steroid sprays for 25 to 30 years. It doesn't feel like the steroids do much good any more, but I haven't quit them, so I don't know what stopping would do!

This discussion is helpful. My allergy doctor talks about allergies -- then says the ENT should discuss turbinates. The sleep doctor talks only about CPAP machines. The blood clot doctor discusses thinning my blood, which then makes surgeries difficult. It's nice to hear about the WHOLE PERSON, here!
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#28
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
Hi Deb,

I really don't know what to suggest, other than grilling your doctors about the interactions with other medical areas. I have only had my splints out for two nights which is very early in the healing process. On those two nights I have had some of the lowest AHI numbers since I started treatment two months ago. My 90% pressure last night was my minimum APAP pressure and I slept a record four straight hours. But two months and two nights in a row is not a lot to go by. If this remains somewhat consistent I will be ecstatic!

However, your clotting problem is a great concern. If it was just an extra week in the hospital with boredom and and bad food, that would be one thing. But clots can be fatal. I'd rather breathe poorly than not breathe at all. Your doctors are the key here, not this board.

I have not had any allergy tests in a long time but will guess that I also have "non-allergic rhinitis" as it is constant, persistent, and AFAIK not influenced by seasonal or environmental factors. I have not been using the steroid sprays nearly as long as you, but I have some concern over their long term use and also the results of stopping their use. I'd much rather use CPAP long term than chemicals that alter how my body works.

I lucked out with my ENT, her husband is on CPAP so she is reasonably knowledgeable about our problems. Even so, I do wish we had a system with a team of collaborating medical professionals rather than the isolated island system that seems to have developed.

Chuck
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#29
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
"isolated island system"

That is a good way to put it. Getting the doctors to be team players has not worked for me yet. I have been told to go left by one the go right by another.

Reading and asking questions, not just jumping off the cliff when told to do so has been my path. Requesting testing for facts and not guessing has given me less trust in doctors. Being told that I needed a drug to help then finding out after the blood work from the lab says not to take the same drug makes me do more of my own homework.

I now ask for the reports from the labs and the x-rays/ultrasound and ct for my own review. I look at what the reports say and compair them to what I can see and what I feel. The next time I go to the doctor a ask more questions.

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#30
RE: CPAP with/after Surgery
(05-20-2016, 07:02 AM)kowlooner Wrote: 49er, thanks for sharing that. I was really wondering about the spreader graft thing, and your experience certainly does suggest the procedure's efficacy is not exactly a certain thing. Still interested in it though, but clearly there's reason for pause.

Deb, for the turbinate reduction thing not necessarily being permanent, supposedly the tissue can grow back, though it usually doesn't. Depends on the person, I guess. But the procedure is also apparently less effective if the enlargement is due to allergies, so perhaps that's what happened with you, 49er. It's supposed to help at first but then the symptoms have a chance a recurring.

So I guess I need to find out next time I see the doctor if there's a possibility that it's allergies that are causing my turbinates to be enlarged, and if so, then probably something else needs to be done. So, I hope it's not allergies!

Chill, thanks for your comments. Sounds like maybe we've got a slightly similar situation then. I just want to avoid those nasal strips too (really irritate the skin) and hopefully breathe a little better without having to always rely on sprays. Good luck with the healing. And RichB, your experience is exactly the result I'm hoping for!

You're welcome kowlooner. I should have been suspicious when the surgeon initially mentioned doing surgery on the nasal valve since none of the other surgeons I had consulted had said anything about it but unfortunately, I wasn't. And I feel having the additional procedure added to the recovery time by a few weeks which wouldn't have made a difference if it had been effective but it didn't seem to be.

It could be the allergies made the turbinate reduction ineffective. Hard to say.





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