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+--- Thread: I've tried and I've tried. (regarding cpap and masks). Any other way to help apnea? (/Thread-I-ve-tried-and-I-ve-tried-regarding-cpap-and-masks-Any-other-way-to-help-apnea)
I've tried and I've tried. (regarding cpap and masks). Any other way to help apnea? - Tmansdc - 11-25-2020
I've had sleep apnea for 12 years and it's really affected my daily routine lately. I have so many memory glitches and I have so much trouble remembering about half of what I see and eighty-five percent of what I hear that it is just frustrating.
I have moderate sleep apnea. It used to be severe but I've done two things that dropped it to high mild/low moderate. I lost 120 lbs and I had my deviated septum corrected. Still have sleep apnea.
I have tried and tried with nasal pillow, mouth only, full face mask, etc. and just can not wear it. I know this is a huge problem.
What else could I do? Thank you very much!
Yes I had two sleep studies since I lost all that weight. One back in November 2019 and another one in August 2020. November 2019 I was low moderate and August I was high mild (like right on the borderline when it came to both times. I was like 1 or 2 ticks ahead of the line between mild and moderate in November and 1 or 2 ticks below the cut-off between mild and moderate come August so that's why I say high mild/low moderate.
It was obscenely severe prior to losing all this weight.
That's true I never thought about an A pap or a bi pap I've just always heard cpap and never even thought about the other two.
I'm willing to get a tonsillectomy and a soft pallete reduction done if need be as well because all these memory glitches and problems have just really really got me down and frustrated and how I seem to be made a mockery of to everyone else and thus I need this corrected.
I have an appointment on the 9th to get a cpap btw.
RE: I've tried and I've tried. (regarding cpap and masks). Any other way to help apnea? - Boroma - 11-25-2020
Congratulations on your weight loss. I wish I could do it.
You don't mention what machine or mask that you use.
There has been quite a bit of discussion on this Forum regarding machines and some recommendations have been made.
I use a Resmed Airsense 10. I found it to be much better than my previous machine.
When I first started I tried 5 or 6 masks and settled on the Philips Respironics Comfortgel Blue Nasal mask. Some of the masks that I tried did not work for me.
I've found it to be very helpful to use the Sleepyhead/Oscar software, downloading my results every week or so, more often if I have a bad nights sleep. The reports seem to be better that what the doctors that I've consulted have.
As time goes by I seem to be finding more and more underlying health issues that the doctors have missed. I now know where the emergency department of my local hospital is and the procedure to get admitted.
I've found an evening walk of half an hour or so can help.
RE: I've tried and I've tried. (regarding cpap and masks). Any other way to help apnea? - SarcasticDave94 - 11-25-2020
Congrats on the weight loss. There's a number of surgeries that are out there, but unfortunate, most still end up with a CPAP of some sort. If you do end up trying a CPAP of any sort, be sure to try the ResMed AutoSet first. With your AHI tending to be lower now, that AutoSet may be best for therapy and the least expensive to use. Yes Respironics machines are a bit less expensive, but the ResMed more than makes up for it with better and more comfortable therapy.
Consider different masks than ones you considered a failure. Maybe try Fisher and Paykel as the y make very comfortable masks. The tonsil surgery or others, again will probably leave you still needing a CPAP, so I'd be inclined to skip the surgery and try getting used to PAP therapy. The big issue with PAP therapy is lack of knowledge and not getting support for the therapy in most cases. You have to get the PAP, use OSCAR to monitor the therapy, and adjust the settings to get things right. You can do it yourself or we can suggest what needs adjusting. Once a person is diagnosed with apnea, it will rarely go away with out PAP therapy to tame it. And from hearing your symptoms, it's still an ongoing situation of damage.
The bottom line is it's your choice. But PAP therapy is better than suffering with the issues.
RE: I've tried and I've tried. (regarding cpap and masks). Any other way to help apnea? - Sleeprider - 11-25-2020
Your words of despair don't offer much of a starting point, so let's start over. We have many members that arrive here, and are receiving the wrong therapy, or the right therapy in the wrong way. If we could see a copy of a sleep report with redacted personal information, that will help. If you have been using a CPAP machine, tell us what brand and model, and perhaps we can get some data to learn what makes it intolerable. Finally, if you suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, claustrophobia, that is useful information to let us know what you're working with. We can't guess, you have to help.
RE: I've tried and I've tried. (regarding cpap and masks). Any other way to help apnea? - mesenteria - 11-25-2020
(11-25-2020, 04:13 PM)Tmansdc Wrote: ...
I have moderate sleep apnea. It used to be severe but I've done two things that dropped it to high mild/low moderate. I lost 120 lbs and I had my deviated septum corrected. Still have sleep apnea.
...
I'm willing to get a tonsillectomy and a soft pallete reduction done if need be as well because all these memory glitches and problems have just really really got me down and frustrated and how I seem to be made a mockery of to everyone else and thus I need this corrected.
I have an appointment on the 9th to get a cpap btw.
Well, you apparently have something going for you; you're motivated. If you really are ready, and desperate enough, to try surgery, it means you're primed and ready to come to grips with your current circumstances. We can probably help, maybe a whole bunch, but we aren't good at playing 20 questions. So, we need some information, as the others have said, and you'll need to download any downloadable information on your machine and enter it into OSCAR, our free software that we all use for our own reports and analysis. We can help with suggestions if we see OSCAR data...which you must provide.
If you look up top, in the dark marquee, centered, you'll find OSCAR and the rest is just a read.