Sinus Congestion and Apnea

[Tabbycat]

A sleep dentist I went to told me that, in his opinion, my sinus congestion made my apnea worse. I have chronic post-nasal drip, throat mucus, and such.

This sleep dentist is one of the most knowledgeable people I've met in the field. Formerly worked at the lab where I got my sleep test, and was honest enough to admit to the biases inherent in their tests. He knew about virtually every dental OSA appliance, and had actually used many in treatment.

He's the first sleep professional to ever mention this.

In my home SPO2 tests, I found some suuport for what he said. I've tested nasal strips and antihistamines. All improved my O2 numbers. The best O2 numbers I ever got were using Zyrtec before bedtime, and got similar results repeating the test.

Anyone know anything more about this?

[PaulaO2]

Obstructive sleep apnea is a throat thing, not a sinus thing. Unless your sinus issues are swelling the upper tissues of your throat far enough down to be contributing to the narrowing of your airway, I don't see how they are making your sleep apnea worse. If he is saying it is causing you to snore, that's not the same. Snoring is just a symptom of, not the same as sleep apnea.

Sinus issues can interfere with the treatment of sleep apnea, however.

And I can see how clearing the sinuses would increase the O2 levels. That's a no-brainer. The nasal strips and the like have been proven to help open the nasal passages and increase oxygen. That's why athletes use them.

[surferdude2]

In my opinion, if you have restricted nasal passages and aren't normally a mouth breather, you may suffer from low o2 saturation under certain conditions and that would make any small sleep apnea event become more critical and have greater effect on disturbing your sleep.

For example, if you're a nose breather and sleeping on your side, using a soft pillow that allows your head to sink down sufficient that it may tend to keep your mouth closed, or at least make it less apt to be open, may make a nasal restriction have some effect on your obstructive apnea events.

The bottom line to me is, a nasal obstruction just adds one more obstruction to the air flow and obstructed air flow is the essence of obstructive sleep apnea. Indeed, it's part of the title of the malady.

Using Nasacort has been a great help to me in reducing my OA events.

[PaulaO2]

Ah, I can see your point. I'd not thought of that.