Sleeping in a Recliner…..

[ZacharySimon]

Are there any positions in a recliner that would be best for positional apnea? The range would be sitting at a 90 degree to a flat at 180 degrees. The recliner does do zero gravity…Thanks in advance….

[Jay51]

Every night for the past 2 and 1/2 years I have slept at what I called a 45 degree angle in either a recliner or in my bed (I used 3 full body 36" x36" wedges stacked on top of each other to get to that angle).  

According to your math I would be at about 135 degrees (if 90 is sitting straight up and 180 is laying flat).  

This was just my experience.  For whatever reason, it worked for me personally.  I believe gravity had less of an effect on the soft tissue in my upper airway/throat/tongue.  Much better SPO2 results sleeping this way vs. sleeping flat (supine) convinced me of this (and on room air not using the ventilator here on this experiment).  Also, the  pressure of this ventilator was 20 EPAP and 30 IPAP laying supine in bed and reduced to 10 EPAP and 20 IPAP in the 135 degree angle position. 

I have read where even small angles of 5, 10, 15 degrees (175, 170, or 165 by your math) can help some people with positional apnea.  

That said, some people have tried elevating their head/body like this and it did not work for them.  I have stuck with it because it has worked for me personally.  It reduced my intolerably high pressures to tolerable levels.  I hope it works for you also.  

It seems to me that the higher angle (more towards your 90 degrees would yield the best results because gravity's effect would be reduced even that much more), but I found sleeping at angles greater than 135 practically unsustainable due to hip/back pain from that angle.  You may be able to tolerate an even higher angle though.  I use a seat cushion underneath me at night also and pillows under my legs. 

I even tried sleeping on my stomach on a massage table that I have around the house (has a headrest also).  My SPO2 numbers were great (again on room air on this particular experiment and not using the ventilator), but totally unstainable for me due to the pain it caused in my forehead from the contact with the headrest.  

I hope that you find a sustainable solution.

[HalfAsleep]

IMO this is a trial and error thing. You can analyze the results via Oscar. Post a base level, get the settings sorted, then proceed with the experiment.

[Jay51]

Here is some information on positional apnea from our wiki also:

5.3Positional Apnea

[Deborah K.]

For your positional apnea sleeping flatter is better.  Sleeping somewhat elevated helps people with other breathing issues.