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+--- Thread: Anything new coming down the road? (/Thread-Anything-new-coming-down-the-road)
Anything new coming down the road? - Route67 - 10-10-2013
Hello All
I was diagnosed with severe sleep Apnea last summer [2012] and have been using a CPAP machine for a year now with mixed results.
I am only 50 and have a hard time believing I really have to wear this mask for the rest of my days; maybe 30, 40 more years? IF I am lucky? Seems like a long time to wear something which is hard to sleep with, and hard to travel with [I am on the road 4 or 5 months a year].
Thank goodness for the CPAP; without it my severe nocturia was waking me up every 1.5 hours to urinate, now it's just once per night like a normal 50-year old. It just seems like there has to be a better way, has anyone heard about any new advances coming in the future in which we may be able to ditch the mask once and for all? Thanks.
RE: Anything new coming down the road? - DOOM_NX - 10-10-2013
I don't think it's hard to sleep with a nasal mask at all. The benefits far outweigh the minor inconveniences.
How many hours do you sleep per day? Aim for at least 7 and a half hours of sleep per day if you want to see any decent results. It's not only the quality of sleep, but the quantity, too.
I doubt any other treatment option apart from CPAP is gonna be useful for severe sleep apnea syndrome.
RE: Anything new coming down the road? - Route67 - 10-10-2013
well, I am self-employed so I can sleep as long and as late as I want to. I usually go to bed at around midnight and wake up around 8am, with little variation to that schedule.
I remember when I was first diagnosed, the Doc told me the other options right now [surgery, mouth guards and a few others] were not really realistic, that the mask was the only way. But he did mention researchers were working on some kind of a pill which may be able to help people like us.
The machine *is* working for me....my readings off the little media card are always good, the mask fits and I have little leakage and as I say it has definitely cured my nocturia problem, which was driving me crazy. But to say I like wearing the mask and lugging it around to hotel rooms all around the world would be a lie; if there was something else which would give me a good night's sleep without the hassle of CPAP I'd do it in a second.
RE: Anything new coming down the road? - PollCat - 10-10-2013
Have you googled "dental sleep solutions"?
RE: Anything new coming down the road? - Route67 - 10-10-2013
Yes, and unfortunately the people I have heard feedback from usually tell me that's all a scam and doesn't really work.
RE: Anything new coming down the road? - DOOM_NX - 10-10-2013
A pill? I don't think it's gonna work for obstructive apnea.
RE: Anything new coming down the road? - DocWils - 10-10-2013
At the moment, PAP devices are the gold standard for treating Apnoea of almost every form, and because the problem is often complex, it has proven the be the best solution. PAP devices are improving steadily and are getting smaller and smaller, and it may be that one day they will be small enough and light enough to be integrated with the mask itself, but that is still far off. There are other solutions ideal for travelling, like Provent, although I am not yet convinced of its efficacy, but I do not feel sanguine over surgical intervention if it can at all be avoided, especially given the spotty results, and to date, weight loss combined with exercise and throat toning, using a didgeridoo, seem to be the best method of lowering the overall incidence of Apnoea permanently.
Consider this, though - the PAP devices are very new, less than two decades in widely accepted use. Improvements have been very rapid, and new refinements will surely be upon us soon. So hang in there.
RE: Anything new coming down the road? - Peter_C - 10-11-2013
AS others have said, I too feel the benefits far outweigh the hassles - this from a 10+ year user. Yes, it would be nice to not need my dream machine, travel with it is an added hassle to be true.
My concern is the ongoing cost - what to do if/when my machine dies? Welcome to life I guess?