Snoring? It could be sleep apnea
1/7/08
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/sleep...sleep_apnea;_ylt=AhelViNMF7ERcyKTAQ4Sod1a24cA
Snoring? It could be sleep apnea
Discussion in 'Driver Health' started by Cybergal, Jan 7, 2008.
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Mastertech Staff Leader / Admin Staff Member Administrator
I HAD sleep apnea. My ear, nose and throat guy cured that problem...
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How? Did you have surgery? Or are you on the CPAP machine? I think hubby has it. Some nights between that and the RLS, I have to move to the couch.
I'm pretty used to the snoring, but the RLS drives me nuts. LOL Our next mattress is going to be the memory foam type.
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Mastertech Staff Leader / Admin Staff Member Administrator
Yeah, I had surgery. He went in and fixed my deviated septum, trimmed my turbinates, trimmed my pallet, removed my uvula and took out my tonsils all in one shot.
The very first night after surgery the snoring stopped, and I haven't stopped breathing in my sleep since. Heck I can't even make a snoring noise if I try to....LOL
I had this done just this last April.
I tried the CPAP machine and it messed up my sinuses real bad and the mask I had to wear was a royal pain.
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Wow, I bet you were a hurting unit for a while after all that.

Glad to hear it was successful. Did your insurance cover it? -
Mastertech Staff Leader / Admin Staff Member Administrator
It actually wasn't as bad as I expected. One thing that really helped was I had a VERY skilled surgeon, IMO that makes all the difference in the world.
Also the liquid pain meds helped...
Anybody that has sleep apnea that doesn't care for the CPAP machine I recommend having the surgery done as it's not that bad, and this comes from a person that had never had any kind of surgery before. -
The surgery doesn't work for everyone. As a former sleep lab tech (professionally known as a Polysomnography Technologist), I had a half dozen patients in the short 8 months I worked at the sleep lab who still had sleep apnea. Specifically obstructive sleep apnea which is what is described in the article above.
Here's what is said of the success rate of the UPP sugery (which is what Mastertech had done) as published by the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Center in a pamphlet entitled "Surgery for Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)".
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Mastertech Staff Leader / Admin Staff Member Administrator
THe OSA is what I had, I have been REALLY pleased with my results, no more waking up gasping for air and I don't keep the wife awake with my snoring.
I know when I made the decision to have my surgery done they told me up front that there was a 50% chance it wouldn't cure the OSA, IMHO it is worth taking the chance.
I think that your chances for favorable results are better with a very skilled and experienced surgeon also. -
YOU would think my husband would get tired of me saying; "Please Turn on your side"
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I suppose I should have made it more clear that I wasn't trying to discredit you in any way. I was merely wanting to highlight the fact that it doesn't work on everyone. Personally, I would rather have the surgery if I was ever diagnosed with sleep apnea as well. I had to sleep with a CPAP mask on (just the mask, not the machine) as part of my on the job training to experience what my patients would experience. That was one of the worst nights sleep I've ever had.
Of course your changes for favorable results are better with a skilled and experienced surgeon. Just as with any other surgery. My step dad had to have his cancerous left lung removed and only the best surgeon in the state of Indiana was able to do it. He entered the operating room (in June of 1997) with a 10% chance of survival, and he's still alive and kicking today. There's no way you can put a price on having the best when it comes to your health, regardless of how serious or mundane a procedure might be.
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