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My experience with UARS - Printable Version

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My experience with UARS - namealreadyregistered - 02-17-2017

I'm 43 and grew up as a mouth breather due to stuffy nose related to allergies.  I haven't slept well since my teens though it was a lot more subtle in the beginning.  Last year, following progressive bad nights over the years, went to an ENT.  Had sleep study done that showed an event every 9 minutes and oxygen level minimum at 82%.  Doctor recommended UPP but I felt that was way too drastic.  Instead, I opted to correct my deviated septum and reduce my turbinates on the first working day of this year.  Around 3 weeks after surgery, my sleep quality somewhat varied from excellent - dreaming sometimes.  Something that I haven't done consistently since my 20s - to same as before surgery.  On my last visit, the ENT told me about my tongue positioning and that it should rest on the palate (i always kept it on the bottom due to underbiting of top jaw which made the palate space area a bit smaller and it felt too crowded to keep my tongue up there).  He asked me to visit a dentist.  Before I got to that, I found out through googling about orthotropics.  Since last week, been trying to reeducate my tongue with instructions from orthotropics.  So far, my sleep has been a lot more consistent.  According to SnoreLab app, I no longer snore.  What is weird though is that I sometimes wake up because of my dreams.  They aren't nightmares, but since I have spent decades without dreaming, I think I've grown unacquainted with it and probably have to adapt.  Even though I wake up with dreams, I don't feel tired, my thinking is no longer fuzzy and I don't get easily irritated as before.

I also have GERD and prediabetes which my doc says are most likely side effects from UARS.  I'm having a new sleep study and prediabetes test done in April.

I hope this is of value to the forum members.  I know how awful it is to go without decent sleep.  Wish you all good health.


RE: My experience with UARS - OpalRose - 02-17-2017

Thank you for posting. I'm sure it will be helpful to others.

Let us know the results of your sleep study.

Good luck!


RE: My experience with UARS - trish6hundred - 02-17-2017

Hi namealreadyregistered,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Thank you for sharing this information.
Good luck to you and let us know how things go for you.


RE: My experience with UARS - namealreadyregistered - 04-17-2017

Hi,

Did my sleep study last week.  The results should be out this week.  Sleep has been good.  Been training my oral posture by keeping the tongue on the roof of the mouth.  I have been able to keep my mouth closed while sleeping with proper tongue posture. I wake up with it sucked up to the palate. Also, I've been dreaming just about every night and sometimes I don't remember even waking up at some point during the night. I still snore lightly though.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I started to have this thought that maybe my tongue was too big for my dental arches.  What makes me think that is because sometimes I bite my tongue whilst talking and that in order for my tongue to fit inside my closed mouth, I have to retract it (a bit like a tortoise's head).  I found the following article on the issue:

http://www.mensfitness.com/life/entertainment/your-tongue-too-big-your-mouth

I noticed that if i totally relax my tongue, same condition as in sleeping, my mouth wants to open and the tongue wants to slightly stick out.  Anyone feel the same ?


RE: My experience with UARS - namealreadyregistered - 04-19-2017

New sleep study out. Only difference between them was the septoplasty/turbinectomy surgery.

AHI went from 4.7/hour to 9.3/hour. On the other hand, my lowest dessaturation rate went from 82% to 90%, with an average of 95.3%. This is probably why I feel that I'm sleeping better, even though I'm having more events. Still mouth breathing at night.

I exchanged some emails with a myofunctional therapist. Something interesting that she wrote about was creating negative pressure inside the mouth so the tongue gets stuck to the roof of the mouth and the lips become sealed. I started to reflect on it and I think that it might have to do with correct swallowing. Basically, from some videos I saw, correct swallowing is done only with the tongue and not with facial muscles. If you keep your lips closed and you swallow by pushing the tongue to the roof of the mouth a vacuum-like effect is created and the tongue gets sucked onto the palate and the lips become more sealed. If you continue to swallow in this position, the vacuum effect gets stronger. I think if this pattern becomes automatic, it may solve the issue. The problem may not be relaxation of the muscles itself, but a lack of a mechanic to keep the whole system falling into the airway.

Tomorrow, I'll call the myofunctional therapist for an appointment.


RE: My experience with UARS - quiescence at last - 04-25-2017

pretty cool information about swallowing setup for tongue to top teeth, and this may be helpful for even the severe apnea patients that are trying to use nasal cup or pillows.

And, good luck.

QAL


RE: My experience with UARS - 99zzz - 04-25-2017

How do you practice correct posture? What sorts of exercises are you doing? I want to keep my mouth closed during sleep without a chin strap...


RE: My experience with UARS - namealreadyregistered - 04-25-2017

(04-25-2017, 06:46 PM)99zzz Wrote: How do you practice correct posture? What sorts of exercises are you doing? I want to keep my mouth closed during sleep without a chin strap...

Hi 99zzz!

I recently watched this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVjMgVClyPA

He's a myofunctional dentist and he has a holistic approach to posture.  He talks about how we stand on our feet affects all of our joints all the way to the teeth.

There are other videos that talk about how mouth breathing affect face development (and, in turn, reduces tongue space in mouth):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcCHaNgwtwo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMr4p5SQe5s

As of now, since I haven't been to the myofunctional therapist yet, I'm not doing any specific exercises apart from keeping my lips sealed, tongue on palate and nasal breathing.  The only info from her on mouth closed and tongue on the palate during sleep was creating negative pressure in the mouth and that this condition is dependent on it's anatomy.

I don't know if the open mouth is a habit from a stuffy nose or if the tongue is too big so the mouth opens to give it more room.  Only recently I noticed that the tongue expands a considerable amount when relaxed.  On a recent appointment with a dentist who specializes in sleep disorders, she recommended a rapid maxillary expansion to open up space for the tongue and improve airway volume.  Going to the ENT on Friday to ask about this possibility.  Seems like a good approach since it's not an invasive procedure and a bonus opportunity to fix my TMJ.


RE: My experience with UARS - 99zzz - 04-26-2017

Awesome! Thanks for the links namealreadyregistered.


RE: My experience with UARS - SHargett - 12-26-2018

Hi namealreadyregistered -

It's been a while since your last post. Did you proceed with the maxillary expansion? How did it go? As someone who has worked with a dentist for almost 3 years to stabilize my TMJ with an oral appliance, and is anticipating palate expansion as the next step in treatment, I'm very interested in your experience!

Hope you're doing well.