Side-sleeping a game-changer???

[MorningGirl]

Hello, everybody -

It's been a while since I was on the forum. I went and saw a super-duper specialist up in Boston, and he sent me to an equally awesome person here where I live. The doc here was amazing -- really smart, wanted to figure it out (a la Sherlock Holmes!), and had had experience with other patients who had had a palatectomy. He said that Yes, my soft palate tissue was hanging all over the place in the back of my mouth as a result of my palate surgery, and of course I had sleep apnea! So, I did a second sleep study here, this time with a bipap, both on my back and on my side. The only thing I haven't done in a sleep study is to sleep on my side without a machine.  

My question is this: Does anyone here think that plain old sleeping on my side could be the answer?? The results of this second sleep study -- again, with bipap on back and side -- were worse than ever, so no help there. I've been avoiding sleeping on my side due to discomfort from my spinal fusion, but I'll put up with that if it means avoiding reconstructive soft palate/throat surgery. That would be a bad one -- serious surgery, long and painful recovery. 

In short -- has anyone had success simply moving to their side? My apnea is 100% obstructive due to the soft palate tissue hanging down. Might it move to the side it I sleep on my side...?

Thanks!

[PaulaO2]

No. Because the airway is a small space and yours is being filled with tissue on its own.

Positional sleeping can lessen sleep apnea but cannot cure it. The only thing changing is how gravity is pulling. Everything is still in there.

[Walla Walla]

I don't know but I'd sure give it a try to avoid surgery.

[rooy1960]

Not that I remotely have your situation with anatomy, but I wanted to share that my AHI was significantly higher during my sleep study when I was sleeping on my side (which surprised me). I hope you find a remedy for your situation quicky.

[Mogy]

Hi MorningGirl,
Apparently 80% of people with sleep apnea have a higher AHI when sleeping on their back than on their side. And 50% have positional apnea, meaning their AHI on their back is at least twice as bad as on their side. A friend of mine has an AHI of 25 on her back, and 5.7 on her side.
Another thing you may want to look into is sleeping  prone. It may be even better than side sleeping. Normally, if you sleep prone it is bad for your neck, but they have developed  a mattress & pillow combo that allows you to sleep  with your head face down. This study looks at the reduction in AHI while sleeping prone.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4389730/

The system is called Rest-me
They claim it is also good for your back.

[MorningGirl]

Thank you to all who have responded! In an effort to avoid surgery, I'm going to further investigate the side-sleeping option, since it sounds like the data point to its being better (how much better doesn't seem clear) than sleeping on my back. My AHI was typically 30-45 when I was using the CPAP on my back (obviously not a helpful tool for me!), so cutting that in half wouldn't be sufficient...but cutting it by 80% might be, so I'll ask more questions of my new sleep doc this week. I'll also check out the prone position (and the study - thanks for the link!). 

Boy, this isn't easy, is it? Thanks for your thoughtful replies, all.

[Dream Machine]

My apnea is much better on my side than on my back, so I sleep on my side only and keep my machine pressures low that way. For some years I was able to sleep on my side without a machine, but the apnea has progressed with age. The solution for staying on my side is to sew three socks on the back of a t-shirt and put a hard, lightweight whiffle ball in each one. I wear that over my pajama top.

[SideSleeper]

How long ago was your spinal fusion? Will the problems sleeping on your side get better as time goes on? I'm looking at the same problem--surgery in July.

[DriverLou]

Have you considered Inspire, i am a side sleeper, brought my AHI to zero. Is this the surgery your refering to.

[yrnkrn]

We change sleep positions several times though the night. Even if you go to sleep on the side and wake up on the side, without video recording or positional sensor strapped to the body you can't be sure you actually slept on the side all night long.