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I would love to hear of others' experiences with Inspire devices. I'm hoping my long term sleep issues will be greatly improved over time
I'm 65 and been struggling with OSA for many years. I first identified my OSA over 20 years ago with a sleep study. It identified me with medium OSA. Ive tired 2 more sleep lab studies through the years and never lasted more than 3-3.5 hours. Ive used 2 "at home sleep studies" which dont provide as much data or visual, but do help. . My OSA has progressed to severe in the last 5 years even though I tried other strategies to improve my OSA. Ive had an ENT provide ablation ( causing a slight reduction of tissue volume) to the base of my large tongue. In office procedure done 1x/month for 6 months. Didnt clearly change anything for me. Ive learned by better listening that my larger tongue is really the issue, which falls back cutting off air when I sleep at night. Ive tried CPAP several times and sadly never could get to sleep, even ONCE. I've had UPPP surgery approx 10 years ago. No help. Ive had several nasal surgeries but they've had little help. 2 years ago I was fitted for a dental appliance which I still use. Its helped a little ( my events/hr are down but still high) and I'm still struggling sleeping well.
I'm new to this forum and just had the Inspire device implanted 9/11/18. Ive turned on the Inspire for 3 weeks now and notice a slight improvement to my sleep. Im in the start up phase of ramping up the microvoltage every 3-4 days. I go to bed at 10pm regularly and Im now lasting until 3-4 pm before getting up to go to the bathroom. Disappointed so far that this hasnt been a " game changer " yet. Will Have my 1st post surgery sleep lab study in 10 days.
for those folks here that have used a dental appliance, what is the issue(s) with the jaw moving forward ?? Approx how far forward is the advancement? Can you or someone else see the movement or is it that you feel your teeth mis-align. I am supposed to be fit for a dental appliance. I can not tolerate CPAP.
My large tongue base is my OSA issue. I am 62, 180 lbs and have a 16 neck. No health issues except slightly high BP. I am undergoing a series of 6 treatments on the base of my tongue. High frequency ablation of my tongue base is done outpatient in my ENT's office, under local anesthesia. It supposed to reduce the tongue base 10-15% and stiffen the tongue base tissue, which relaxes and collapses during sleep. Causes my nasty snoring at night also.
This is my 1st time in the forum area. I too have diagnosed med OSA with no luck so far trying different strategies to improve my sleep quality the last 15 yrs. I've had 2 dev septum surgeries + turbinate reductions 20 yr ago and 1 yr ago. 1 yr ago an ENT also implanted little wings made from straightened septum tissue to hold open my collapsing nasal passages. I do bring breathe a little better since the wing/bridge inserts, yet I'm still a mouth breather and yes still a big time snorer !!! I tried UPPP 7 yrs ago with little effect.. did snore less for a while but now Im loud as ever says my wife,kids. I also tried RF tongue reduction about 5 yrs ago...no improvement. My ENT at the time said I have a large tongue. During my 2 sleep studies, 12 yrs ago and about 5 yrs ago I only lasted 3-4 hrs before going home. After all those 40 + sticker and wires are attached to you, I struggled to sleep in a strange bed. They got enough to confirm OSA both times and I seem to have restless legs. I tried a top of the line CPAP machine 2 summers ago for 2-3 weeks, even leaving on the mask during the day when I could ( not very long). Never once got to sleep with it on at night. Called the Doc's asst assigned to me and she had the Doc prescribe me a sleep pill/Ambien. Still...never got to sleep with the mask/machine on. FRUSTRATING !!! Gave this NEWEST/BEST CPAP machine back to the company. Received a call from the doc a week later to tell me Im going to die soon and I didnt try hard enough to adjust to CPAP.. My response to him was I would love to have a good nights sleep with a CPAP...didnt happen for me !!!!
I've bought an inexpensive custom dental appliance $200 to hold my lower jaw forward at night, but I cant seem to keep it in at night. Its on the floor every morning. Wish I could find a solution to a better nights sleep. Getting older isnt help muscle tone. Im still very active and working despite poor sleep. I fall asleep on the couch early many nights and feel sleepy during the daytime sometime. Ill even fall asleep at the movie theatre. However, even on nights when I have no early nap sleep is just OK...snoring loud also. Dry mouth at night during the winter wakes me up also. Not sure what else to try. I'm on no meds of any kind 61yrs old/182lbs, but my BP has been rising the last 2-3 yrs and at 145/105 recently. Think my reg doc is going to put me on meds to control my BP better. Im also struggling with Sciatica for the last 8 months which wakes me up at night sometime to worsen sleep continuity. I think my poor sleep is at the root of some of my problems.
