Comment by rootedbox

Comment by rootedbox 4 days ago

13 replies

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I have sleep apnea and I have an implant to stop my apnea / snoring.

1. if your watch tells you that you might have apnea go get a sleep study! 2. apnea and snoring do tend to happen together but not necessarily. you can have apnea without snoring(sometimes the other way but not as common) 3. apnea is like high blood pressure it's slowly killing you. 4. there are a lot of options now to help you. one might be losing weight. one might be sleeping on a side or stomach.. you won't know until you do a sleep study! get it done.

After I got my apnea fixed I feel like a new person. I did not even know how tired I was or what being "awake" was like anymore. My body adjusted to a new normal. Please look into treatment!

huhtenberg 3 days ago

> you can have apnea without snoring (sometimes the other way but not as common)

Got a source for the "not as common" part?

From my personal anecdotal experience snoring without apnea is excessively common. Most of people whom I had a pleasure hearing snore would just go on in a steady rhythm and that's it.

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  • MagicMoonlight 3 days ago

    How do you know they don’t have sleep apnea? You’re making the assumption that the snoring people are healthy, whereas the logical assumption would be that something is making them snore. Given that snoring is caused by an obstruction to their airway, it’s reasonable to assume that obstruction will impact their breathing.

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    • huhtenberg 3 days ago

      Because they are breathing in a sustained steady rhythm.

      Apnea, by definition, is not breathing, so if they are snoring and breathing, they aren't likely to have apnea, are they?

      > You’re making the assumption that the snoring people are healthy

      I am not making this assumption.

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OptionOfT 4 days ago

Tell me more about this implant. Is that the electric one that basically tenses up your tongue as you breathe in?

How long until you got it? Did you have to 'fail' CPAP & the mandibular device?

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  • rootedbox 4 days ago

    I did fail at CPAP.. it really is hard to do; but I have friends who swear by it.

    mandibular devices.. rarely work.

    I am using inspire. It's great. Turn it on when I go to sleep after 15 minutes it turns on and it moves my tongue depending on my breathing. It is basically a pacemaker but connected to tongue instead of the heart. And if you look at pictures of an inspire and a pacemaker they look exactly the same.

    So the reason everyone isn't getting it.. is not really for the side effects. But cost. My bill was 150k.. luckily I only paid a few thousand. So in order for your insurance to approve it you have to meet certain criteria.

    (talk to your doctor for an exact list) 1. Can't have a high BMI. Snoring and Apnea are closely related to weight. Your doctor should get you on semaglutides first. 2. You must have failed at using CPAP. It failed for me for multiple reasons. But like I said I have friends who love CPAP and get the same relief as me. 3. You have to get a type endoscopy to see if the procedure will work.

    I'm sure there are some other things they check but those are the main ones..

    Now once you get the surgery.. recovery isn't tons of fun. When they are programming it while you are in surgery they are moving your tongue in all sorts of ways.. It took about a month to get to the ability to eat a sandwich again; and I was still sore for some time after that. They also have to do some craziness to get the wiring from your chest to throat(where the nerve for the tongue is actually stimulated. So my chest was sore and my arm was unable to pick up anything heavy for a couple months..

    Also it takes a few months for everything to heal and for them to first turn it on. Then 3 months of programming to be stronger and stronger without waking you up.

    But one day it clicked and I was sleeping like a baby!

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    • huhtenberg 3 days ago

      Looked up inspire just now and the procedure (and your description of it!) feels really extreme.

      I realize these are intrusive questions, but can't help but ask - Are you overweight? Did sleeping on a side/stomach not help?

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      • rootedbox 2 days ago

        Not overweight (5'11 170). Side / stomach sleeping makes my apnea / snoring go down but it's still 'moderate'. My snoring is extremely loud. You can hear it in the entire house. It's definitely ended relationships.

        Procedure is definitely extreme. Just like any operation. But my situation was extreme. I literally was killing myself each night slowly.

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    • zwirbl 3 days ago

      150k is just obscene

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      • rootedbox 2 days ago

        I wonder how much it costs in other countries. There was a whole host of people working on me. Multiple doctors (surgeons / anesthesiologist) .. Inspire tech. Multiple nurses.

        Because you are dealing with breathing and the tongue it's critical to monitor the patient very closely.

        Below is a link to a view of someone getting the device(not for the screamish) https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=HAmtAynxW7w

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      • 39896880 3 days ago

        The user you're responding to is probably in the US, where medical billing has no real relation to the amount of money an individual is expected to pay. It's just numberwang.

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  • hackernewds 4 days ago

    It is probably "Inspire is an implantable device that treats obstructive sleep apnea by stimulating the tongue nerve to keep airways open during sleep. It's an option for people who have moderate or severe sleep apnea and can't use or don't benefit from a CPAP machine.

    Here's how Inspire works: Components: The device consists of a generator, sensing lead, and stimulation lead, all implanted under the skin. It also includes a handheld remote that patients use to turn the device on and off, adjust stimulation strength, and pause it during the night. How it works: When the sensing lead detects breathing, the generator sends a signal to the stimulation lead, which then stimulates the hypoglossal nerve. This causes the tongue to move slightly forward, which helps keep the airways open. FDA approval: The FDA approved Inspire in 2014.

    Some potential side effects of Inspire include: Damage to blood vessels near the implant, Excessive bleeding, and Nerve trauma or damage"

    There's a reason it hasn't taken off in 10 years.

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