On Wed, 28 Sep 2005 16:00:07 GMT, Don Tuite
wrote:

SNIP

For the curious, a CPAP machine looks like a mini vacuum cleaner. Its
hose connects to either a mask that covers your nose or to what I
have, which is a snorkel-like contraption that ends in a couple of
buds that stick into your nostrils. (Not a cannula, they actually
close the nostrils.) Either way, it means the air pressure at your
nose is higher than the air pressure at your mouth, forcing you to
keep your mouth closed while you sleep and to breathe through your
nose. The result is no more snoring and none of the sudden
interruptions of breathig air that occur when your tongue or glottis
gets in the way of the air you'd be breathing through your mouth. And
those interruptions are the apneas that interupt your REM sleep, which
is what you need enough of in order to avoid narcolepsy.

For the really curious, yes you take the damned thing off for sex.

Alternative surgical approaches that don't involve CPAP include cuting
off your uvula and breaking your jaw and resetting it further forward.
I understand that some people actually opt for them. Go figure.

Don

Actually Don, you're using the headset they tell me is for people with
some clostrofobia. Two plugs in the nostrils and a small line that
goes up between the eyes to be less noticible.

The regular (note, I didn't say NORMAL) mask is a little trangular
thing that fits over just your nose and is feed by a plastic line
about an inch in diameter. I used one for five years and it does
work.

And then they make a full-face mask that fits over the nose AND mouth.
It has a quick release in case your stomache comes up while in the
mask. I tried one for a couple nights once and couldn't take it.
Made me feel like a scuba diver and was just TOO much all over my face
-- and I'm not clostrofobic at all.

On the surgical solutions, there are two or three of them. As you
mentioned -- none of them sound appealing and NONE of them guarantee
to be effective. I told the doctor to forget it -- no surgery for me!

I have a friend who opted for the upper palet reduction (remove uvula
and some of that upper arch in the top back of the throat). He was
****ed afterwards. Not only did it NOT help his Apnea, he had to
learn how to eat & drink all over again. For the first couple years
after the surgery, he wouldn't eat out as he kept having liquids go up
his nose while he was drinking or swallowing.

In my case, my Obstructive Sleep Apnea is very position related. On
my back, its bad. On my side or front, it barely makes the cut to be
diagnosed as Apnea. So, while I used the CPAP for five years -- I
pretty much stopped about three years ago. I've taught myself to
sleep on my side and back and it works OK. Only time I have trouble
now is the rare occasions I turn on my back or I'm having a lot of
sinus trouble. Then I use CPAP.

Thanks for the info Don. I figure the more I can get, the better I
will come out in the end.



Chuck