Has anyone gone through surgery for Sleep Apnea?

[r0g3r]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if you or anyone you know has gone through surgery for sleep apnea treatment.

I have pretty bad sleep apnea and while using the CPAP is helpful, it's really annoying and often I have issues with the mask leaking.

There are few surgery options out there, that involve removing a bit of the soft palate at the back of the throat... there's also another one that I've read about that tightens the soft palate.


Share your thoughts/experiences please. I really would like to look into a permanent solution rather than this CPAP usage.

Thanks for your help gents.

[Lex350]

Just curious.....are you over weight? That influences Sleep Apnia quite a bit. I was 30 lbs over years back and after I lost the weight I don't have the sleep Apnia or ever snore al all anymore

...of course unless I've had a few too many. lol

[theken]

yeah sleep apnea is cured generally through weight loss unless of course you are not fat then dunno

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by theken
yeah sleep apnea is cured generally through weight loss unless of course you are not fat then dunno

You obviously have no clue about the causes of CSA or OSA. While weight has a minor influence on very few cases of Sleep Apnea, it is by NO means the major cause of it.

Sleep Apnea is a disorder that is linked to all kinds of contributing factors, including malfunctioning communication between brain and muscle.

Both myself and my son have Sleep apnea. I was 180 lbs when first diagnosed, my son is a walking stick.

The only way to properly treat severe sleep apnea is through CPAP machines. Surgeries rarely solve the problem.

When you go into a GP and say "I think I have sleep apnea" the first thing he will do is tell you to "lose 30 lbs" see if that helps. If that DOES help, then the person didn't really have "Sleep Apnea", he was just a "fatty who snored", that gave the same symptoms as Sleep Apnea.

To the OP. Have you tried different masks? I tried a few before finally getting one that works really well. The very odd time, it might leak, but by and large I sleep right through the night, barely moving from the position I went to sleep in.

[Lex350]

Well I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea....went and saw the specialist...spent a night with them observing my sleep patterns. Mine wasn’t severe as some but there was concern over the amount of times I would stop breathing during my sleep. I was lucky and taking the weight off worked for me. I didn't say that was the only cause or solution.

[r0g3r]

Weird thing is,

when i don't use my CPAP, and I sleep, i wake up with a sore throat.

It's as if my back palate just collapses when I sleep.

I wonder if it's because of too much reliance on the CPAP?

Also,

I have tried multiple different masks and my pressure on the CPAP is fairly high so a lot of them leak like a mofo, which defeats the purpose.

I'm currently trying a full face mask but I have to wear it really tight and its hurting my nose lol.

Yes I am overweight, I'm working on that but it's a slow process.

When I lost weight, it didn't seem to have improved my sleeping much. So I don't know how much weight is a factor.

[theken]

Originally posted by C_Dave45


You obviously have no clue about the causes of CSA or OSA. While weight has a minor influence on very few cases of Sleep Apnea, it is by NO means the major cause of it.

Sleep Apnea is a disorder that is linked to all kinds of contributing factors, including malfunctioning communication between brain and muscle.

Both myself and my son have Sleep apnea. I was 180 lbs when first diagnosed, my son is a walking stick.

The only way to properly treat severe sleep apnea is through CPAP machines. Surgeries rarely solve the problem.

When you go into a GP and say "I think I have sleep apnea" the first thing he will do is tell you to "lose 30 lbs" see if that helps. If that DOES help, then the person didn't really have "Sleep Apnea", he was just a "fatty who snored", that gave the same symptoms as Sleep Apnea.

To the OP. Have you tried different masks? I tried a few before finally getting one that works really well. The very odd time, it might leak, but by and large I sleep right through the night, barely moving from the position I went to sleep in. I understand sleep apnea, or the "symptoms" of sleep apnea. Most, read most, people with sleep apnea are overweight, and if nothing else losing weight is not going to make it worse. And other problems related to sleep apnea will also be miraculously cured by losing the weight. I know 3 people with apnea 2 wear masks and the other is just found out he has it. All 3 are overweight by quite a bit. They have all been told to lose weight and it would help tremendously. If you are not fat I have no idea what cures it other than masks but obviously losing weight still wouldn't hurt. Surgery should be a last resort IMO.

[r3ccOs]

surgery is invasive, but depending on the severity of the case, necessary.

A friend of mine sounds like he's dying when he sleeps.
He actually STOPS breathing for a bit... then coughs, wakes up, then quickly falls back to sleep.

does this literially like 80 times in an evening.

I wear my Noise cancelling Headphones when I hit up Vegas with the bro's.

[rumeo]

Originally posted by r3ccOs
surgery is invasive, but depending on the severity of the case, necessary.

A friend of mine sounds like he's dying when he sleeps.
He actually STOPS breathing for a bit... then coughs, wakes up, then quickly falls back to sleep.

does this literially like 80 times in an evening.

I wear my Noise cancelling Headphones when I hit up Vegas with the bro's.

This is basically me. I'm going for an overnight study in about a month at the Centre for Sleep.

At the initial consultation, they only gave me the options for the CPAP mask or the mouth piece. Ideally, I don't want either and would like to go for the surgery where I wouldn't have to turn myself into Darth Vader overnight or wear a mouth piece to bed or on trips.