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Don’t Hate CPAP: CPAP Tip of the Week

Dr. Lisa Shives — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:04:06 +0000

Many patients “hate” CPAP at first, but most of the initial difficulties can be solved by close follow up with a caring, comprehensive medical team. For example, it is common to have sneezing and runny nose when you first start CPAP. What is happening is that the the histamine receptors inside your nose are being stimulated by the positive airway pressure and this results in the same symptoms as an allergy attack. The good news is that the nose quickly gets use to the pressure and these symptoms go away on their own. Until then, your sleep doctor can suggest saline nasal sprays, nettie pot rinses, anti-histamine nasal sprays, anti-cholinergic nasal sprays, steroid nasal sprays, oral anti-histamines, or any combination of these. The easiest solution is often to switch, at least temporarily from a nasal pillow mask to a regular nasal mask. That often works like magic, and the beauty is: no medication needed.

CPAP Tips

Dr. Lisa Shives — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:37:13 +0000

If you are having a hard time getting use to the CPAP pressure, ask your doctor to lower the pressure while you get accustomed to this therapy. Also, you might try a Bilevel machine which gives a higher pressure when you inhale (so you and the machine are working together) and a lower pressure when you exhale (which is when people feel that they are fighting against the machine).

I reccomend that you find a comprehensive sleep center that will take care of all your problems, big and small. Also see if there are any CPAP support groups in your area. We run our own, but there is a national organization, AWAKE, that runs support groups all over the country. Find one near you at: http://www.sleepapnea.org/awake/index.html

Do you hate CPAP?

Dr. Lisa Shives — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:57:38 +0000

If you hate CPAP, then you need to check out my blog every Tuesday for the Tuesday Tips for CPAP Strugglers. If you can’t get use to the CPAP, the most common reason is that you have not found the right mask, so you think that you hate the CPAP when in fact you hate the mask.

Today’s Tuesday Tip is to find a comprehensive sleep center that handles their own CPAP machines and masks because that way you have medical professionals working together to treat your sleep apnea and help solve the problems that you are having with the CPAP therapy. Employees of medical supply companies who, by the way, are usually not health professionals, simply cannot deliver the same quality of care. Such a sleep center should do what we do at Northshore Sleep Medicine: we let you take home and try many different masks without repeatedly billing you or your insurance company. We guide you toward the best masks and then let you take home as many as you need until you find the perfect fit and comfort for your face and your sleeping patterns.

And remember CPAP is the gold standard therapy for obstructive sleep apnea and the only proven first-line therapy for severe sleep apnea. It is in your own best interest to make a good effort to use the CPAP if that is what your doctor prescribes. So don’t be fooled by the advertisements from dentists who encourage you to “hate CPAP” and to give up on it and switch to their expensive oral appliances that often do not adequately treat the sleep apnea. There is an appropriate use for the oral appliances, but only a physician should be making that recommendation, not a dentist.

Sleep apnea is a serious medical disorder that, if left untreated, increases your risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity and dementia. It goes without saying that the treatment is best guided by a sleep physician. If you snore, have excessive daytime sleepiness or for some other reason suspect that you have sleep apnea, do not start by going to a dentist who advertises that he treats snoring. Start by going to a reputable sleep doctor, preferabably at a comprehensive sleep center, who will then refer you to a trustworthy, experienced dentist if the oral appliance ( AKA: mandibular advancing device) is an appropriate therapy for you.