Re: Same RDI after MMA!
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Re: Same RDI after MMA!

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Posted by westernjoe on July 14, 2009 at 07:50:26:

In Reply to: Re: Same RDI after MMA! posted by biam2009 on July 12, 2009 at 23:09:24:

So no UP3?
Can you breath through your nose ok?
Anything ever mentioned about enlarged turbinates?
Are you using a nasal mask or full face?

This is controversial (but you're in controversial territory :), but I've heard that a small % of apnea is caused by the epiglottis and sometimes even the vocal folds. This is not well accepted by many sleep Drs, but please consider it since you've tried the mainstream treatments.

The epiglottis is a structure right behind the base of your tongue that is a valve to close off the airway during swallowing. Think about it, it's designed to close off the airway, so we should consider that since apnea is the closing off of the airway.

Ask for the Dr to study your vocal folds and epiglottis closely. There is a Dr who does a partial epiglotecttomy procedure where he removes the tip to prevent a floppy epiglottis from falling back and blocking the airway.

The airway is a chain and there are many links. It's usually more than one link causing problems, but you have to check them all.

Another, more drastic option is to have a temporary trache to make sure you can sleep when your airway is open. It removes all of the unknowns in your airway. This could limit a lot of experimental procedures and get you to a solution faster.

Please keep us posted.

I'm not a Dr, just a guy who's been through some of this.

RA in TX


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