Comment by rootedbox
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!
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?