[Equipment] Renew Sleep Solutions

[PaytonA]

Bluedude,

The main obstacle to your adapting to CPAP is your attitude. You appear to not want it to work. My mask is on tight because of my therapeutic pressure which is up around 20 and yet I do not even notice it in the morning. The amount of air pressure used to splint your airway open is really small.

Good luck with alternate methods.

PaytonA

[Bluedude81]

Tell that to the folks who don't end up using their CPAP machine because of how uncomfortable it is and how much noise it makes, AND because of the airflow getting pumped through your throat. You're seriously going to tell me that you don't notice that you have a big hunk of plastic strapped onto your face when you wake up in the morning?

[Walla Walla]

You can't make people stop drinking. You can't make people quit smoking, and you can't make people use CPAP. The offer is there to help you. If you don't want the help than maybe you should move on. I was one of those who didn't want to quit my bad habits. Woke up in a hospital with a different type of mask on my face. I've since quit the bad habits. The nasal pillows are heaven compared to that mask in the hospital. Hope you don't end up quitting because of some air is blown down your throat. It's called breathing.

[OpalRose]

Tell that to the folks who don't end up using their CPAP machine because of how uncomfortable it is and how much noise it makes, AND because of the airflow getting pumped through your throat. You're seriously going to tell me that you don't notice that you have a big hunk of plastic strapped onto your face when you wake up in the morning?

Yep, there are alot of folk who give up on Cpap therapy for various reasons.

It doesn't have to be uncomfortable and certainly not noisy.  Finding the right mask is half the battle.
If your not a mouth breather, the P10 nasal pillow mask is minimalistic and you hardly know your wearing a mask.  You don't have to settle for a "hunk of plastic" (your words) on your face.

As far as "airflow getting pumped through your throat" (your words), there is no way you feel that or notice it.  There are times I wake up and think my machine isn't on, then I reach up and feel the mask and know it is working.  

If you have your pressure set properly to treat your apnea, you would adapt easily enough.  

This is what we do here, help you get started and then give you the tools needed to be your own advocate and take on your own treatment, with the help of your doctor too.

These mouth pieces have been around for awhile, and there have been some that try it, but it seems they end up back on Cpap therapy.  The mouth devices can alter your bite, and there's no reversing that.  

Only you can make the decision which way to go.

[Gary1of2]

I can say I am one of the success stories. My blood pressure is down, my blood sugar a1c is now down to high normal 6.0, my wife says I am more cheerful, best of all I am sleeping better and less.

[ajack]

half of us drop out for various reasons. free will and all that.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2679572/

RESULTS:

Patient demographics included mean age 58, male sex and mean apnea-hypopnea index 70 events/h. At the time of the interview (64. months after diagnosis), 43 of 80 patients (54%) were still using CPAP and most reported an improvement in symptoms. Twelve of 80 patients (15%) had abandoned CPAP after using it for 10. months, and 25 of 80 patients (31%) had never commenced therapy after initial diagnosis and CPAP titration. Analysis of scores reflecting initial patient sleepiness revealed a significant association of this symptom with subsequent CPAP compliance.

CONCLUSION:

Although many patients with OSA derive subjective benefit from, and adhere to treatment with CPAP, a significant proportion of those so diagnosed either do not initiate or eventually abandon therapy. Initial experience with CPAP appears to be important, reinforcing the need for early education and support in these patients.

[PaulaO2]

When I use the full face mask, I wake up and the first thing I notice? Not the thing on my face. My pressure is high (15-20) yet I have to put my hand up to make sure the air is on.

The good thing about CPAP is we use it while asleep. That's it. Who cares if it is an ugly mask? It's dark! My old S9 is noisy, yeah. Annoys the crap out of me because I can hear myself breathing. But once I'm asleep? I don't hear it because, you know, I'm asleep. Do I feel the pressure in my throat? Not now, I've been using it for too long. Did I in the beginning? Hmm. No, not my throat. I had more trouble keeping my cheeks from inflating and figuring out how to exhale. I had very little support from my supplier and none from the doc so I had to figure most of it out on my own. I guess it was two or three months before everything settled down. But that was fine. My blood pressure was dropping, I was getting sleep for the first time in years. There's times when I just want to lay down at night without the mask, but I wake up feeling like crap on a stick. My heart is racing, I have a headache, PVCs are happening, and I'm so very, very grumpy.

Meh, we can tell you all the good parts, even the bad parts, but you have your mind made up. We're here to help you if you want to figure it out. That's what we do. Yeah, it's rough. Yeah, it can be a pain in the arse. But it sure beats slowly dying from multiple reasons just because I didn't want to put on the mask each night.

[PaulaO2]

If you do try it, I suggest this:

Get a recording oximeter. While using your CPAP, use the oximeter to see what your blood oxygen does overnight while your OSA is being treated. Do this for about a week so you have a solid baseline trend. Compare the results to the SleepyHead data to confirm that a drop in O2 or rise in heart rate is indeed linked to an event. Or see if your O2 drops during events at all.

Go without the machine for a night and use the oximeter again, to have the record of what happens when not treated. If you want, do it more than one night.

Get the SomnoDent. Get used to it. Then use the oximeter again for at least a week, hopefully more since you are still adjusting.

Compare the oximeter results.

If the results are comparable to being treated with a CPAP, then great! Use the oximeter every other night or so to ensure you are being adequately treated. Otherwise, you won't know.

If you do this, we'd love to see the data. It would help us to help others in the future. That is what we do here. We may be sounding harsh to you about your opinion but that's because, at least for me, it hurts me to know you hate it so much. I have several friends who don't use their CPAP except for "when they feel bad". That's like only taking your insulin if you eat cake (yes, I knew people who did that).

[sonicboom]

I think learning to play the didgeridoo would be more beneficial to actually treating your OSA than a jaw device.  That's not to say a jaw device won't work its just that playing the didge doesn't come with some potentially unwanted side effects.  For those not versed on the connection between this musical instrument and the treatment of OSA  there are numerous studies confirming the efficacy of this treatment.  Here is one example:

http://www.bmj.com/content/332/7536/266

[Walla Walla]

Why not a Tuba? It's all about breathing with your diaphragm to help expand your lungs. It makes sense that it might help someone with mild Apnea.