PROVENT Therapy - Part2
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PROVENT Therapy - Part2

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Posted by stillnotcured on June 23, 2009 at 00:31:29:

Well, I just started using the provent nasal filters a few days ago. Good news is i do notice a significant improvement when I use it. fwiw, I've had several surgeries (including the MMA/GA), tried dental appliances, etc, and nothing has given me any lasting help. The MMA gave me the longest-lasting benefits, but those benefits only lasted for several months. So I was back to using the CPAP. If I don't use the CPAP, I wake up feeling absolutely miserable and out-of-breathe. If I use the CPAP, I don't feel quite as bad. But I don't wake up feeling refreshed. I get mediocre results. Just surviving. I would say the provent therapy gives me close to what I expereince with the CPAP. Nothing incredible my any means, but still better than not using anything at all.

Part of my problem seems to be that I'm still often breathing thru my mouth. Wake up with a dry mouth. So I tried medical tape to close-shut the mouth, chip straps, etc, but it's pretty near impossible to fall asleep in that condition. It feels suffocating trying to exhale thru the small nasal opening when you're awake and conscious. The directions does say you have to exhale thru the mouth when you're awake and conscious. But once you've fallen asleep, you'll be exhaling thru the nose. (In other words, you'll be unconcscious and therefore can bare exhaling thru the nose vents. But it's impossible to bare it when you're awake and conscious). That's the catch-22 for mouth-breathers. Still, it's still been effective to some degree. So I'm guessing I'm not exhaling thru my mouth 100% of the time.

The way this works: My sleep doc (neurologist) who set me up with provent explained that what it does is it breaks the progressive cycle that leads to apnea. He said that there's a progressive narrowing of the airway. Whether you're inhaling or exhaling, there's a progresive narrowing. In other words, it's NOT like the airway is at 100% diameter (like when you're awake and conscious), then you inhale and the negative pressure would collapse the airway. Doesn't happen like that. He said the airway progressively narrows over time, and then when it's at a very narrow point, the airway will collapse when you inhale due to negative pressure. Provent supposedly disrupts this progressive narrowing by "inflating it" from time to time.

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