01-26-2017, 06:29 PM
Oral Appliance for UARS
Hello to everyone!
I've been suffering from awful EDS for around 5 years now, and was diagnosed with UARS about a year ago. (More on that in another post.) After doing a lot of reading, I decided on a MAD, though I had to pay $3300 out of pocket as, I'm sure everyone here knows, insurance doesn't pay for UARS treatment.
3 months after getting in and doing small adjustments each night, I'm about 65% of the way through the given range of adjustment--meaning it extends my jaw ~2/3 of however far it's able. This puts considerable pressure on my teeth and obviously my jaw as well, though I find that if I 'warm' my jaw joints/tendons a bit (hot yoga works here), it does wonders for that part. Also, I can generally 'find' a position (usually by pulling my jaw even further forward), where it hurts my teeth a bit less.
Problems here have kept me from wearing it every night, or for the entire night. I know I *should* be wearing it all night every night, so no need to discuss that bit. I'm curious about the following. While I know every person's situation/issue is unique:
1. For anyone else that uses a MAD, at what point did you start to notice improvement in your sleep/EDS?
2. And for everyone else, if I sleep a full 8 hours with it (as I have 6-8 times) and noticed ZERO improvement, doesn't it make sense that I begin to doubt whether such a device is going to be useful for me? I know it "takes a while," but it doesn't make sense to feel NO difference, or even feel worse the next day and expect it to one day reverse course and 'start working.' It either opens up the airway to reduce resistance or it doesn't. Right?
I'm working with a sleep doctor and dentist. Just looking for feedback from the community here.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts/ideas!
I've been suffering from awful EDS for around 5 years now, and was diagnosed with UARS about a year ago. (More on that in another post.) After doing a lot of reading, I decided on a MAD, though I had to pay $3300 out of pocket as, I'm sure everyone here knows, insurance doesn't pay for UARS treatment.
3 months after getting in and doing small adjustments each night, I'm about 65% of the way through the given range of adjustment--meaning it extends my jaw ~2/3 of however far it's able. This puts considerable pressure on my teeth and obviously my jaw as well, though I find that if I 'warm' my jaw joints/tendons a bit (hot yoga works here), it does wonders for that part. Also, I can generally 'find' a position (usually by pulling my jaw even further forward), where it hurts my teeth a bit less.
Problems here have kept me from wearing it every night, or for the entire night. I know I *should* be wearing it all night every night, so no need to discuss that bit. I'm curious about the following. While I know every person's situation/issue is unique:
1. For anyone else that uses a MAD, at what point did you start to notice improvement in your sleep/EDS?
2. And for everyone else, if I sleep a full 8 hours with it (as I have 6-8 times) and noticed ZERO improvement, doesn't it make sense that I begin to doubt whether such a device is going to be useful for me? I know it "takes a while," but it doesn't make sense to feel NO difference, or even feel worse the next day and expect it to one day reverse course and 'start working.' It either opens up the airway to reduce resistance or it doesn't. Right?
I'm working with a sleep doctor and dentist. Just looking for feedback from the community here.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts/ideas!
