Sleep Apnea....AGAIN!

You know, I cannot believe this; I've often heard that doctors get a kickback for selling stuff, but this is getting stupid now....

Last year, I made a thread here about the symptoms of sleep apnea. Anyway, me and my wife came to the conclusion that this is NOT what is happening to me at night. To refresh, Perth is a VERY dry place, and maybe being English, I am used to a more moist atmosphere, but I have the same process every night......my nose dries up until it is completely blocked, then I breathe through my mouth, my mouth and throat get dry, and I am up twice a night for a drink.

GP just says 'sleep apnea', and says I gotta go for a sleeping test. As I said before, I have no symptoms, lethargy, headaches, etc.

I would like some advice on this not so nice subject, because I know there are some very knowledgeable people on this forum.

So, I *think* I have heard that you can get the airways behind your nose widened, I think using surgery or small stents. Has anybody heard of this please? I've also considered a humidifier for the bedroom, because once again, in England and Thailand I did not have this problem. Also, wife has complained in the morning that 'her nose is so dry inside, it's painful'.

Anybody have any ideas or tips please?

Thanks

Andrew.

I have similar symtoms like you but not as bad. The dry winter air (and common cold season) makes my nose dry up and swell shut at night. It's not so bad most of the time, but when it is I use some of those nose sprays agains colds. They widen the airways but you shouldn't use them for a prolonged time, since it apparently can mess up the mucous membrane in the nose.
You can try Nasal Irrigation (WIKI) and see if it helps.
Two of my cousins have had their nasal airways widened, and I could probably do with it too so I guess it runs in the family.
One of them had the surgery in just under a year ago and she said it was a #%&*$# until the swelling went down which took a week or two, but she's sleeping much better since then.

try sleeping with a paper mask on, like people wear during flu season

seriously, it works

Have you tried using a humidifier in your bedroom?

You mention voming from a more humid climate than where you are now, and your nasal passages dry up. Have you tried a humidifier or maybe even a vaporizor close to the bed?


EDIT: D'oh! I didn't see Chef's comment!

Hold your breath for at least four minutes and you won't snore anymore.

Seawater inhaled is very, very good for the blocked nose and respiratory problems, it cleans all! believe me, give it a try

good luck,

Cheers

For moisture I use a simple saline nasal solution which you can use as many times as needed and you can get from any store.Basically it is simple salt water and that is it.

In winter I have the same problem with my sinuses drying out terribly.

I get the same thing in the winter when the air in the house gets extremely dry.

A simple $50 3 litre humidifier resolved the issue for me.
The one we have now is a "warm" humidifier (the "cold" humidifiers require a noisy fan to push the water vapour) that has a sensor which shuts it off when a desired level of humidity is reached.
We close the bedroom door since its a smallish unit and it took a few days to determine the right level to set the sensor to, but it's been great ever since.

C_G

It's called Turbinate Reduction. I had this done about 4 years ago, along with straightening my deviated septum. Did this because my sinuses hurt and I snored a lot. I also had the uvula removed and 3 stints inserted permanently into the pallet at the top back of my throat - this to stiffen the pallet to reduce snoring. Went back for a follow-up and the doc inserted inflatable stints into the sinus tubes to my frontal lobes and inflated those to open up the passages, which worked very well (those inflatable stints are not left in).

I do not recommend the uvula removal. I think the doc took too much away and that area of my throat gets too dry at night now, especially after applying Heineken as a sleep aid.


My wife did say that after all that I went from snoring to purring at night.

Hope this helps.

WC

Is that prescription Heineken?

Hello Kitty. Literally!

That's tiger purring, not some little kitty cat.



Those turbinates in the nostrils swell with blood to 'help' control airflow. If they are too big then they block the nasal passages. They can be cauterized to reduce their size - I should prolly have that done again.

Here's a tip - if you wake up with one side of your nose blocked then roll onto your side opposite the block. Within 10 minutes the swelling will go down in the turbinates and you will be able to breath normally through the side that was blocked.

WC