12-02-2009, 07:51 PM
lazydays, does your insurance (I assume you have some kind of coverage) pay for a CPAP machine and mask? There's NO question in my mind that starting with CPAP is the only intelligent thing to do.
The surgery is tremendously invasive and, despite your father's result, in most cases it is not successful. I have seen at least five sleep specialists in the 20+ years since I was first diagnosed and none of them encouraged me to have the surgery, except as an absolute last resort.
After years of failure in finding a mask/machine combo that worked for me, I have finally been using a full face mask and a specialized Respironics AutoSV BIPAP machine with some success. I have to say that discomfort with the mask is still the biggest issue for me, but I'm doing my best to adapt.
You may have better success with finding a mask that works for you.
Based on your doctor's comment, I'd say that you'd be "insane" to jump right in to having such invasive surgery before giving CPAP a shot. Also, how is your weight? If you are overweight, losing some pounds can have a tremendous effect on your problem. Some time ago I went down 20 pounds and the sleep study that I had at the time showed that my apneas had disappeared and that I no longer needed to use a machine. Unfortunately, it's been impossible to keep my weight down lately.
If you need a machine and don't have insurance coverage, I may still have a CPAP that I "graduated" from stored away. You could have it if necessary along with several masks that I wasn't able to use. They'd have to be checked out and the machine set up by your sleep specialist's RT, but this is a possible solution. PM me if you're interested and I'll look around to see if I still have the equipment. Call it a "Free Stuff Monday" donation.
The good news is that a lot of people do get tremendous benefit from using a CPAP. It's worth a shot!
Best wishes,
GeneL
The surgery is tremendously invasive and, despite your father's result, in most cases it is not successful. I have seen at least five sleep specialists in the 20+ years since I was first diagnosed and none of them encouraged me to have the surgery, except as an absolute last resort.
After years of failure in finding a mask/machine combo that worked for me, I have finally been using a full face mask and a specialized Respironics AutoSV BIPAP machine with some success. I have to say that discomfort with the mask is still the biggest issue for me, but I'm doing my best to adapt.
You may have better success with finding a mask that works for you.
Based on your doctor's comment, I'd say that you'd be "insane" to jump right in to having such invasive surgery before giving CPAP a shot. Also, how is your weight? If you are overweight, losing some pounds can have a tremendous effect on your problem. Some time ago I went down 20 pounds and the sleep study that I had at the time showed that my apneas had disappeared and that I no longer needed to use a machine. Unfortunately, it's been impossible to keep my weight down lately.
If you need a machine and don't have insurance coverage, I may still have a CPAP that I "graduated" from stored away. You could have it if necessary along with several masks that I wasn't able to use. They'd have to be checked out and the machine set up by your sleep specialist's RT, but this is a possible solution. PM me if you're interested and I'll look around to see if I still have the equipment. Call it a "Free Stuff Monday" donation.
The good news is that a lot of people do get tremendous benefit from using a CPAP. It's worth a shot!
Best wishes,
GeneL