Sleep Apnea

[jesster]

Had severe apnea 4 years ago. Was afraid to go to sleep or would down alcohol and hope to pass out. I would dream i was drowning and wake up a dozen times a night gasping for air. Tried cpap machine for a month. Could not get used to it. Finally, in desparation, had throat surgery. Surgeon said she cut away a large amount of soft palate. Worst pain I've ever had for 2 weeks. lost 16 pounds from not eating. Finally was able to sleep. Past 6 months, sleep has become shallow again. I wake up 10 times a night, but not gasping like before. I do need to empty the bladder after 2 hrs sleep. Went to sleep center. Was told i was not getting enough air and full bladder was a result of body compensating. Went thru sleep study. they said i stopped breathing again 14 times a night. Called me back for 2nd study with a mask. said mask worked and tried to get me to order one. i asked what was causing the blocking.Throat, nose, soft palate, tongue? They couldn't tell me. I asked about other alternatives. they barely mentioned them and continued to push cpap machine. I CAN NOT USE IT. They never tried oral appliance or anything to widen nasal cavaties. Just kept saying the machine was solution to all my problems. i do not want to be tied to that thing for the rest of my life. About 6 months ago I woke up and my jaw was out of whack. Dentist ground down teeth to new bite and said it just happens to some people. Chiropracter says its from stress in shoulders and back, its all connected. I think all my problems are connected but no one is connecting the dots. On saturday i did a lot of garden work. Passed out at 10:30 at night. Woke up 1 AM. My wife asked what was wrong. i told her I was done for the night and got up and watched TV for a few hours. I have now slept 3 hrs a night for about 10 years. You can not imagine what total exhaustion feels like.

[cpatz58]

You said you had surgery but the problem came back? Did you talk to the surgeon about why the problem came back. I am in the process of deciding to have surgery or not. I also have problems with the CPAP machine when asleep and feel like it is suffocating me. I have a meeting with a surgeon in a week to talk about surgery for my sleep apnea. Did they look into doing other forms of surgery that can be done to help with sleep apnea?

Chad

[jesster]

I went back to surgeon, who was out with family emergency. Another surgeon was covering. He looked at my throat for 10 seconds and said there was plenty of room there. Advised me to see my dentist. i went back to dentist. He tilted my head back and said the top of my tongue just touches the roof of my mouth. Advise my jaw and tongue probably slip back when i sleep and cause blockage. I saw advertisement for oral aplliance dentist in local paper. I made an appointment. He took about a dozen measurements and recommended oral appliance, top and bottom that keep my jaw seperated and forward. Cost me 3000. Its not as bad as cpap machine but I'm drooling like an open fawcet all night. I've been at it a month. Appliance can be adjusted to keep jaw more forward if necessary.
I think I can get my tongue shrunk by surgeon with radio wave treatment, but I'm going to try appliance for a while. surgery hurt like a bear for about 2 weeks. lost 16 pounds because it hurt to swallow. what do they give you for pain? pills!, so it hurt to get them down. It was good for 4 years though. i thing weight gain caused the problem to come back, not too bad, about 30 pounds overweight. Except once jaw started giving me problems, it was downhill from there. I also work midnight shift so thats a contributing factor. Good luck with the surgery. After 2 weeks of discomfort, you'll be okay.