Sleep Apnea & Oral Appliance

I’ve been having trouble sleeping & once I’m awake; usually around 2-4am I can’t seem to go back to sleep. I’m was feeling exhausted.

So, had a sleep study & have moderate sleep apnea. I have an average of 18 episodes per hour lasting approximately 11 seconds each.

I tried a CPAP machine & it was horrible. The doc said many people can’t tolerate it.

I went to an oral surgeon specializing in sleep apnea dental appliances & had a fitting. I pick it next week. The contract calls for as many fittings as necessary in order for it to work.

The bad part is I was told upfront that their is only a 50/50 success rate with these appliances. The idea is that they pull your jaw slightly forward as you sleep, which causes the tongue to not block your airway.

I want the help benefits of a good night sleep & would LOVE if the tinnitus was reduced.

Has anyone had an experience with this?

 

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...e-morning-never-used-to-be.24944/#post-287622
I seen this Dr. - appliance seems to work good but I forget to use it a lot. Can't say it helped my noise much if any. It was suppose to be a dual benefit for me, opening airway and repositioning the jaw for TMD. Good luck to you.

 

I had a airplane barotrauma in 2008 that caused my eardrum to fill about 2/3rds with fluid. That may have been the cause of my noise. The TMJ disorder was desperate attempt to find another possible cause of my primarily left side noise. There still could be a chance it is left sided TMD causing my loud noise but most people here dismiss it as being remote. Most ENT's think it's HF hearing loss caused. Can't go back in time regardless of the cause which is the most frustrating.

 

I have been using CPAP machine for 20+ years and dental appliance for 5+ years. I didn't have tinnitus when wearing dental appliance. Yes it pulls the jaw forward so airway is opened. I got it from the dentistry department of our local university and I remember I had to go many times to make sure it fit. But they didn't do sleep test on me while sleeping with the appliance so I didn't know if it works 100%. All the know was it didn't feel too comfortable too. I meant to use the dental appliance for travels but I ended up using it quite often as CPAP was hard to adjust to. But after a while I went back to CPAP as I slowly got used to it. Now after so many years, CPAP machine actually helps me sleep faster. Lol. I guess the human brain can find way to get used to unpleasant things if it is repetitive and we don't emotionally object to them.

 

Hi Billie,
This is hard work and the T is not happy!
I got the oral appliance; one Side works great the other one so tight when I took it off in the morning I could barely move my jaw. it was so painful I have an appointment to bring it in tomorrow to have it adjusted I just hope it could be adjusted well enough .
When I’m comfortable with it, I’m going back to the sleep center for them to check if it’s actually helping the Apnea.
I’ve been using the CPAP machine in the interim with the nasal mask for about four nights now and it is making the T miserable so I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up with the CPAP machine. I feel really horrible about this whole thing. It’s cost me a fortune and I am not seeing any real results so far, but more importantly my tinnitus is worse. Did you find that? Thanks!!

 

@Quiet please, Sorry to hear your bad situation. I must have stepped on my appliance on the floor as it is in 4 pieces now. I will see if they can glue it together for now. I am due for a new one anyway. I think CPAP makes my tinnitus worse too. I have not used my CPAP in a long, long time as I didn't like it too well. I hope a new appliance is covered by insurance.