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21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
#11
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
(02-20-2013, 06:56 PM)eh33 Wrote: Thank you SuperSleeper, and everyone else for the response. I am glad I can look to someone for advice on this.

The doc is actually a very reputable guy - Dr David Steward, UC Physician MD for Head & Neck Surgery. I simply can't use the CPAP due to my circumstances - Deployments and upcoming police academy, so, straight for the knife I am going.

No excuse, regardless of what "they" told you. Anywhere something can get plugged in you can use a CPAP. Everywhere else there's a battery pack option.
#12
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
(02-20-2013, 07:36 PM)Ugly Wrote:
(02-20-2013, 06:56 PM)eh33 Wrote: Thank you SuperSleeper, and everyone else for the response. I am glad I can look to someone for advice on this.

The doc is actually a very reputable guy - Dr David Steward, UC Physician MD for Head & Neck Surgery. I simply can't use the CPAP due to my circumstances - Deployments and upcoming police academy, so, straight for the knife I am going.

No excuse, regardless of what "they" told you. Anywhere something can get plugged in you can use a CPAP. Everywhere else there's a battery pack option.

Lol, wow

Im good, actually. How about, I'm NOT going to use the CPAP?

No excuse? Because obviously you've been there......

#13
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
Well, good luck with that. I hope that it will be successful.

The chances that OSA at an AHI level of 22 could cause such a neurological condition is rather small - the amount of anoxia that you are experiencing is likely to be too small, in terms of number of events (although if they are long duration events that ups the risk factors), to have any real effect that way, although it IS of course possible, but OSA can and does have strong effects over a long term, just less likely the one you mentioned - stroke and heart attacks, though, they go up (along with your blood pressure) along with exhaustion, diminished mental capacity and general weakness of the muscles due to a basically tired brain. Other factors that could cause the muscle weakness that you are experiencing are vitamin B12 and D deficiencies, so getting a CMP, Vitamin Panel and a TSH (if it is not included in the CMP) is advisable, and should be accompanied by a CBC and DA (sometimes this whole bunch of tests together is called a Full House). I assume you've had your Serum Glucose already checked as well?
#14
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
(02-20-2013, 07:44 PM)wilorg Wrote: Well, good luck with that. I hope that it will be successful.

The chances that OSA at an AHI level of 22 could cause such a neurological condition is rather small - the amount of anoxia that you are experiencing is likely to be too small, in terms of number of events (although if they are long duration events that ups the risk factors), to have any real effect that way, although it IS of course possible, but OSA can and does have strong effects over a long term, just less likely the one you mentioned - stroke and heart attacks, though, they go up (along with your blood pressure) along with exhaustion, diminished mental capacity and general weakness of the muscles due to a basically tired brain. Other factors that could cause the muscle weakness that you are experiencing are vitamin B12 and D deficiencies, so getting a CMP, Vitamin Panel and a TSH (if it is not included in the CMP) is advisable, and should be accompanied by a CBC and DA (sometimes this whole bunch of tests together is called a Full House). I assume you've had your Serum Glucose already checked as well?

Negative to all that ...
#15
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
Negative as in negative results or negative as in you don't want to go down that road?
#16
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
(02-20-2013, 03:18 PM)eh33 Wrote: Doc says rating is a 21.6, which, is that severe? Anyone bad effects just from a rating in the "moderate" level like mine?

My AHI was 23 and it was ruining my life. In addition to being constantly tired I was suffering from headaches, insomnia and anxiety, and had high blood pressure, too. CPAP therapy, despite being a difficult thing for me to get used to, has changed my life and given me relief from all those nasty symptoms.

The rankings of 5-15 for mild, 15-30 for moderate, and so forth are just for medical research purposes. If you have an AHI over 5 you need to get treatment for it or you'll lead a miserable sleep-deprived life and die early of a heart attack or stroke.

Surgery is a treatment that doesn't have a great success rate. After surgery there's a good chance you'll still have an AHI above 5, and a decent chance you'll get no improvement at all!

And there are horror stories about people who've had that surgery and then have difficulty swallowing.

Surgery should be the last option, not the first.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
#17
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
(02-20-2013, 06:51 PM)robgb Wrote: I'm not necessarily recommending surgery, but if your apnea is severe and you're willing to suffer through the recovery, then I can tell you from personal experience that it at least helps. I don't think my AHI would be hovering around 0.6 every night (using CPAP) if I hadn't had the surgery.

If I understand you correctly, what the surgery did for you was lower your prescription pressure from something that was too high (well over 20 cm) to be treated with CPAP therapy to only 8 cm.

Quote:That said, it's a pretty drastic measure. If I were you, I'd try to be patient and make sure that nothing else works.

The OP asked for advice from someone who's had the surgery, so I'd say you've given the asked-for advice!
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
#18
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
I agree, eh33 was asking for advice from someone who has had the surgery. My brother recently had the surgery, he told me not to do it as his recovery was quite rough and he's a pretty tough guy, AHI was much higher than his at 47, mine 69.3, I had the option for CPAP which is going much better since I was given the correct machine I needed. I am trying to find the information where I read recently that approx. 75% of people who have the surgery will still eventually need CPAP Therapy. Hopefully with your current situation with deployments etc. your recovery won't interfere. Welcome to the forum, keep us posted.
Tim
Finger Lakes Region, NY
#19
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
(02-20-2013, 06:56 PM)eh33 Wrote: The doc is actually a very reputable guy - Dr David Steward, UC Physician MD for Head & Neck Surgery.

I'm probably stating the obvious here, but when you ask a surgeon what method of treatment is best for OSA, guess which answer will be given in most cases? (hint: surgery). Cool

In other words, when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Quote:I simply can't use the CPAP due to my circumstances - Deployments and upcoming police academy, so, straight for the knife I am going.

I realize that you might have made up your mind already, but I would be irresponsible if I didn't suggest that you really should get a second opinion from someone who is a sleep specialist (not a surgeon).

Not quite sure what type of circumstances would prevent you from using CPAP... care to share?

Smile
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.


#20
RE: 21.6 AHI. Hoping surgery will do the trick.
SuperSleeper,

You are stating the obvious. 21.6 AHI is in the title of my thread

You, however, are not stating the obvious about my surgeon. Because I do not feel like addressing why you are wrong, I will not.

8 responses, and only one from someone who has actually had the surgery....


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