Really Bad Snoring. Looking for experiences/suggestions?

[Ozark Tracker]

back in Sept, one morning I woke up with a pain in my back, went to the doc. long story short, I ended up getting a heart stent, havent' snored any since the stent went in, my wife has been amazed as how quite I am sleeping, has to listen hard to hear me breath and absolutly no snoring, the doc said it happens sometimes, it helps your breathing when you get the stent and the snoring just quits.

 

[HMFIC]

Ehhhh ... I'm not sure this will help you any but I have not snored once since my breast reduction ... (And I used to snore so bad I would wake myself up sometimes -- I dunno how GC stood it. How sexy, huh??

Seems to me this whole world's gone crazy...

When my version of Lady Liberty holds her scales, there is no amount of snoring in the world that can weigh more than a great set of funbags.

<cue Rodney Carrington 'show them to me' here>

 

[Shootin 4 Fun]

I have the same problems, who is the man (dr) for this problem in Tulsa?

It depends on your insurance company.

 

[ratski]

My dad snored terribly. He wasnt overweight just a really tall and big dude. His sleep apnea didnt kill him, heart disease did.

There are direct links between sleep apnea and heart disease.

Dave

 

[Foghorn]

I had a sleep study in 2003. My snoring was so bad they asked me to leave since they couldn't turn the cpap up enough to stop me snoring and nobody else could sleep. I had my septum repaired and my sinus cleaned out, had another sleep study. Same result. Then I had the uvula, tonsils and adenoids removed along with having my tongue re shaped. Still not succesful. finally I had to have facial reconstructive surgery. They basically cut off my face and bolted it back on 1/2in forward. I've got 37 screws, 7 plates and my chin is titanium rod.

It was not fun! But it worked. And i have a cool xray!!
No cpap needed now.
I'd reccomend you have the sleep study and try the cpap first. Surgery is horrible and I also lost my sense of smell.
Cpap works like 98% of the time...

Fog

 

[SoonerP226]

The doctor said he could send me to a sleep center for monitoring - but he said he thinks it's all snake-oil.

You need a new doctor, because that is a load of horseshit. Maybe you're just snoring, but it could be sleep apnea, which is a potentially life-threatening condition, and the only way to diagnose it is with a sleep study. I'd say you should ask former NFL star Reggie White about sleep apnea, but you can't ask him anything anymore.

I can recommend a doctor in Norman who deals with sleep apnea, but there's a sleep clinic in OKC associated with Baptist Hospital on that also has a really good reputation.

 

[OKCIS]

I thought when i got my Cpap machine that it was the greatest thing ever. Probably a year after i got it i shelled out the money for a really nice mattress and the 2 combined wow.... 4 hours of sleep i feel twice as good as i did with 8 hours of sleep before all of it. Now when i get a full 8 hours its unreal.
I know alot of people that wont spend the money on a nice mattress but think about it you spend more time on that mattress then you do any other place in your life. Ive got friends with $90K cars and $899 Mattresses....

 

[nofearfactor]

There are direct links between sleep apnea and heart disease.

Dave

Yaa, I was being morbidly sarcastic, I apologize.

My dad after his first heart attack and subsequent first bypass operation at age 44 refused to believe he had heart disease despite his own father found dead in bed of a supposed heart attack at only 56- my father died a month shy of his 60th birthday. He was fit and had good teeth, hair and skin so he figured he was healthy and bullet proof, but he also was a meat and potatoes guy who wouldnt change his diet and was a pretty heavy 'social' cigar smoker and drinker being a businessman always having to schmooze clients. The sleep apnea could have been a cause because he had been asleep in his hotel room when he had his coronary.

My wifes ex husband at 48 sat up in bed one morning and was having a coronary. His wife called 911 but he was DOA at the hospital. He was tall but heavy as well as a heavy drinker and smoker with a bad diet and she said he also snored heavy and lost his breath at night alot. He could have died of sleep apnea also but it was ruled a heart attack.

Sleep apnea may be the cause of more deaths than are thought because they get attributed to something else. Scary.

 

[Barrett]

Man, at my old fire station, there were a few thicker dudes, and it was like trying to fall asleep in the pits at the drag races....

Then, one guy showed up with a CPAP machine, then he was like "best sleep ever" and "more energy than ever before" his b/p improved, he lost weight. Then three other guys got them. Then there was a 'whishing' sound in the bunk room. Those guys all swear buy it.

Get a sleep study.

Give it an honest try.

 

[ratski]

Yaa, I was being morbidly sarcastic, I apologize.

SNIP

Sleep apnea may be the cause of more deaths than are thought because they get attributed to something else. Scary.

No need to apologize. GREAT post.

The more I study this stuff, the more intrigued and motivated I become.

Your comment that "Sleep apnea may be the cause of more deaths than are thought because they get attributed to something else" is spot on.

No one just "dies in their sleep".

Recent studies are showing that as many as 25% of all auto accidents are directly related to sleep disorders (sleep apnea). Good Morning America just ran a piece last week about people falling asleep at the wheel. Just for a few seconds in some cases. I had done it. People think, ah just for two or three seconds, that's no big deal. Well when you are traveling at 75 mph, that comes out to 110 feet per second. Go to sleep for just three seconds (1-2-3) and you have traveled from one goal post on a football field to the other ASLEEP.

In addition, there seems to be a direct link to weight gain and sleep apnea. For that past several years, everyone has thought "heavy person = sleep apnea" lose the weight and you will lose the sleep apnea. Well, it looks like the reverse may actually be true. Sleep related breathing disorders affect the hormones that control your eating desires. Sleep disorders can actually be the cause of weight gain and not the reverse.

Last year at this time, I had no idea how much I didn't know or understand about this stuff. It has only been a few years that the dental field has gotten really involved in this stuff. It is the most exciting thing I have done in dentistry in I don't know how long.

Dave