Has anyone ever done one of these...?
You referring to sleep apnea? My mom just did this and the results are scary. Like 20 minutes of REM/night. I'm sched. to do it in about a month.
They usually run $2-3k. Price varies depending on whether they want to keep you the next day for further observations. More time, more $$. My wife had one a few months ago.
I'm doing this next week - there are a lot of options. I've been sleepy during the day, wake myself up snoring with an intensity that frightens grown men to tears. The options I am looking at do not neccesarily require hospitalization and can be performed as an out patient. They include the pillar proceedure(http://www.restoremedical.com/ ) and RF (radio frequency) ablation to tighten up my floppy soft palate. They can also inject alcohol to scar the palate. I am trying to avoid a UPPP, as that is supposed to hurt like crazy and has a high failure rate. I'll let you know how it turns out. I just want to feel rested again.
Snoring is usually suggestive for possible sleep apnea. Ask your doctor.....or call me. Amex (Black Card only)/Visa/MasterCard/Discover/Diner's Club/Costco/Sam's Club/cash/cigarettes/stuff...
Snoring is the norm... There are other problems... Sleep has always been a problem and someone recently suggested I do a sleep clinic... Kind of expensive for such a casual mention What kind of "stuff" are we talking about here...?
I dread sleep and would just love to not have to sleep at all... It sounds like you've got a whole load of stuff going on... I hope things work out for you; keep us posted...
two free treatments to try out for snoring and sleep apnea: 1) you might be very surrpised at how snoring and other sleep oddities can be affected by extra weight your'e carrying. lose it. 2) regular exercise. do 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day or every other day (convenitnely, this addresses issue #1 as well!). oh, and if you smoke, stop. i am NOT a doctor, i just play one on the internet. doody.
A couple of years ago, I had Somnoplasty (the radio frequency procedure) done in an ENT doctor's office -- took about 5-10 minutes with no pain whatsoever. http://www.somnoplasty.com/ It definitely helped my snoring. But, I have also exercised regularly (3 times/wk) for the past 26 years and am not overweight. When I checked in to the surgical options, it was kind of frightening -- one MD/DDS suggested basically removing much of my soft palate. 4-6 week recuperation time. Not for me. I would try losing weight and exercising for 10-20 years before I would voluntarily have my soft palate removed.
I definitely agree about the UPPP (palate removal) - everywhere I read and talk to folks the focus is the pain control issue.
Carbon, PM bst1...he is an ENT who performs these surgeries above, however, surgery is not for everyone. If you would like to discuss other options....he could help you. IMHO. P.S. Did you get my EF PM reply yesterday? My internet connection was sooo slow I couldn't tell if it went through?!!
Carbon, I might be able to answer some questions. I'm currently starting a job as a sleep tech (polysomnograph technician) where I'll be working in sleep clinics. First of all, if your apnea is serious and causing other health problems, your insurance will likely cover the majority of the costs. A preliminary PSG (polysomnogram) will let the doctor know what your sleep disorder is, then from there a treatment is determined.
