cpap?

[jk the sooner fan]

any of you older folks have/use one of these? or close to somebody that does?

[OUDoc]

No, but I know about them. Need some info?

[Mjcpr]

Howzit has a cpap smear every year as part of his Well Mo exam.

[Howzit]

Pat's underwear has a crap smear...does that count?

[Mjcpr]

Pat's underwear has a crap smear...does that count?

What, that game didn't pucker you up?!!

[TexasSooner01]

My mom has had one for a few months. She hates it and hardly uses it. She says that she can't sleep on her back and when she uses the cpap machine she has to.

But my mother-in-law loves her cpap machine.

Guess its just a matter of personal opinion.

[jk the sooner fan]

No, but I know about them. Need some info?

well, my options are

a) surgery

2) cpap

just how uncomfortable are they to sleep in?

[OUDoc]

Some hate them, some love them. I've had people say they haven't felt this rested since high school, others feel claustrophobic in them. I'd give it a try over surgery and see how you do.

What kind of surgery? I wasn't aware of any helpful surgerys for sleep apnea. Soft palate removal?

[jk the sooner fan]

i have to breathe thru my mouth for the most part because of a severely deviated septum....i've had my nose broken twice, and had a septoplasy....the misery factor after that surgery is really bad.......i think the surgery recommended is something along the lines of another septoplasy.......not something i want to go thru again

[OUDoc]

Well, depending on how bad the surgery was, that may be one case where I'd consider it. If you have true sleep apnea, I don't think there's a surgery proven to help (although lots of things have been tried). If the surgery to fix your deviated septum would "cure" you of your sleep problems, I'd consider doing that instead of CPAP.

[Frozen Sooner]

My stepfather has sleep apnea, and the CPAP machine saved his life.

[yermom]

i know lots of people that have them and swear by them

there was one of them that had all kinds of junk taken out of his throat and doesn't use one anymore though

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

A friend of mine has one. His wife says it is the best thing ever.

[MamaMia]

I just had the surgery in between home games on Sept 11th, and it was no fun, but I sleep so much better now. I wish I would have done it years ago. I don't know what a cpap is though.

[BajaOklahoma]

JK, who did your evaluation? I like the guy who is head of Sleep Study area at Presby-Dallas.
I agree about the surgery for deviated septum - it is hard to explain just how bad you feel after that. I would rather look like a female Stallone than go through it again. But that usually isn't a contributing factor in sleep apnea, is it?
I know they have a guy who inserts some kind of plastic-like support into the soft palate as a cure for sleep apnea. Think shirt collar stays for the shape of the plastic inserts.

[Rogue]

JK, I got an O2 machine and just wear a grandpa like O2 tube (cannula) instead of the CPAP. Pro: comfortable enough, my sleep is much improved and I'm not a walking zombie all day anymore. Also the little hum of the machine drowns out the noise of neighbor dogs barking, cars, etc.
Putting off that nasssssty surgery. Pulling the 27 miles of cotton guaze out of my nose was an experience I only want to have once. Damn near passed out from the pain.

Cons: not small enough to be portable even though the O2 lady will hook me up with O2 anywhere I travel I don't bother with that. Feelin' like an old dood.

If it's apnea, there's other options. One is some kind of headgear dental appliance thing-a-ma-jigger that holds your jaw "up and out" or something while you sleep. For my money, anything to avoid having my nose re-broken and re-straightened yet again is worth trying.

Damn southpaws always snuck up on me.

[jk the sooner fan]

it was the texas therapy center in lewisville - cardiologist is dr rellas, he's big in plano as well...

i'm going to give the cpap a try - once the dr recommends it, which is inevitable....if that doesnt work, i'll give surgery a thought, but its not on my "must do" list

[Salt City Sooner]

Both me & my wife have apnea. I went the surgery route, she has the c-pap. She says it helps her sleep better so I guess there's something to it, but I have a heck of a time seeing how she sleeps in that thing. As for me, I'm more than happy with the surgery (I originally had it due to my soft palate falling, causing my uvula to hang too low in my throat, didn't realize I had apnea until I went to the doc, who told me I had one of the worst cases he'd ever seen). You'll be sore for a couple of weeks, but other than that, it's been smooth sailing, & you don't have that facemask on 8 hours a night.

[John Kochtoston]

I have one, and love the thing. The mask is not that big of a deal, but do try to get wide straps, as the narrow ones tend to cut into the skin a bit (a towel behind the neck also helps with this). My wife also enjoys not sleeping next to a 747 every night. I'd be happy to share more (about CPAP, anyway) with you if you'd like.

[Tailwind]

I have one and I hate it. I have never noticed a difference in the way I feel when using it. If there were a sugical option for Sleep Apnea, I think I'd take it.