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Comment by tombert | Hacker News Reader

I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea. I'm on the very lower end of "moderate" (about 16 interruptions per hour), which fortunately means that the oral appliances are effective.

I've been suspicious of myself having sleep apnea for quite awhile now, and I held off on getting an official diagnosis in no small part because those CPAP machines give me anxiety; I'm somewhat convinced that I would never really get used to them, and I would wake up feeling like a head crab was attacking me. I had also heard some horror stories (not dissimilar to the Phillips machines) that really held me off.

I'm very grateful that the oral appliances exists, now even more so.

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I was recently diagnosed with severe OSA and I'm using a Resmed machine. I actually adapted to it immediately and I find the mask I'm using (Fisher and Paykel) to be comfortable.

Incredible life changer. You are fortunate that an appliance works, but I absolutely don't regret getting tested for it and using one.

I'm in my mid 30's and not obese, and didn't consider OSA to be likely but got tested due to grogginess and my Dad's recent diagnosis.

Yeah, whatever works! I might still get a CPAP eventually, particularly if my teeth start shifting from the appliance, but at least right now the mouthpiece is convenient and works just about perfect.

I'll do a bit of research on the Fisher and Paykel masks.

Similar story here, same equipment. 41 now, got it a few months ago. Life changing. I've done alright for myself business wise but I wonder what I could've accomplished had I went to the doctor earlier. I thought multiple naps a day, falling asleep on the desk were normal.

Ditto. Waking up after the first night with and realizing I've lived in a fog for a year or so.

Same. For me it was a lesson to complain to my Dr about everything (and also to have a regular doctor).

I got over all those fears and got a Resmed machine and I can't understand how people can sleep with it. Even if you somehow found the perfect mask, the thing is so loud you can forget about falling asleep. Imagine a constant "WHEEEEEZ... WHOOOOOOOZZZ...." right next to your ears, throughout the entire night. What a letdown.

You likely have a faulty machine or insane acoustics in your room. My resmed airsense 10 is almost silent. If you are hearing exhausting in your mask then you might be exhausting into your pillow.

I used the Airsense 10 and now the 11. The 11 is slightly louder, IMO. Neither were loud enough to bother me.

The perfect mask for me is the nose cushion. N30i for me, if anyone is curious.

This is what I use. I'm used to it but don't like it.

The noise doesn't bother me much. By the time it ramps up I'm asleep.

I'd prefer not to use it, too. But I like not having apnea events all night long. I was in a dark place due to lack of sleep a few years ago. If I hadn't discovered the apnea, I don't know how much time I would have gone without some serious health event.

I was advised to not put the CPAP machine itself on your nightstand by your head. The hose should be long enough that you can put the machine at the foot of your bed (by your feet) so you don't hear it as much.

You will want to place the machine below the level of your mattress, but not on the floor (on account of it sucking up dust and whatnot). Preferably on something sturdy, not a flimsy sheet metal table that will vibrate and make more noise.

When the fan is spinning at a constant speed, the noise level should be low. When you switch from inhaling to exhaling, the motor will ramp down, and then up again as you inhale. If you have EPR enabled (or if you are on bilevel), the motor will spin down even more when you exhale, meaning it will have to work harder to spin back up when you inhale. This can cause more noise.

Much like in software architecture, everything in CPAP is a tradeoff. High pressures can cause mask leaks and excessive farting. Low pressures can be more comfortable but can cause snoring or apneas. EPR can cause noise and possibly reduce efficacy. Heated humidification can improve comfort, but requires more maintenance on mask/hose/tank. One mask make be more quiet, but may start to leak as you roll over. Etc.

And much like software projects, every patient is slightly different. Finding out what works isn't easy. Fortunately, you have the rest of your life to optimize therapy. And the better you optimize, the longer that life will be.

I wouldn't tolerate them without the Dreamwear mask, which is the least annoying mask available. At this point, I much prefer sleep with the CPAP than without it.

> I held off on getting an official diagnosis in no small part because those CPAP machines give me anxiety

Thanks for this comment. I'm finally talking to a sleep doctor next week after years of putting it off for the very same reason. I'm hopeful it will be as life-changing as comments here suggest, but I'm still nervous about the remedies.

Don't let the machines put you off. They can be very comfortable, and like all things, you get used to having a mask on at night after some adjustment time. There's also settings to adjust the ramp pressure so you can fall asleep before the air pressure changes too dramatically.

Where are you getting an oral appliance?

My sleep specialist doctor prescribed it. They had to do a scan of my mouth and after 3 weeks I got the mouthpiece in the mail.

how do you like it? Any issues with jaw pain or change in your bite? Also did your insurance cover it? I heard they are similarly priced as CPAPs.

There are options on amazon for under $80 if you just want to try it and see if it helps.

...where? Do I just type "cpap mouth appliance"? Because that only seems to show me 15€ chinese crap with 2 stars out of 5.

They’re usually called “snore guards” or something like that. You boil them in water for five minutes and bite on them to mould them to your teeth.

I have one, it works alright. It lives in my backpack for when I forget to pack my prescribed oral appliance.

https://www.snorerx.com/snorerx-plus/

How confident are you that those devices don't contain toxic chemicals or radioactive material?

Odd.

It was a serious question. Amazon sells some really nasty, toxic products outside of established brand names.

> Some of the samples tested by the Zero Mercury Working Group contained as much as 65,000 ppm of mercury – an astounding 65,000 times the legal limit of 1 ppm set by the Food and Drug Administration.

https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2022/03/dange...

> Amazon Japan K.K. and the two companies in Gifu and Saitama prefectures sold key chains and compasses containing tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, without reporting it to the NRA, in violation of the radiation hazard prevention law, the NRA said.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/09/20/business/nuclea...

If you are actually seriously considering one of these devices I think you can research that yourself. Asking me "how confident" I am smells like trolling.

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