Hi,
I just found this board a few days ago. I have been thru a <a href="http://www.uwmedicine.org/PatientCare/MedicalSpecialties/SpecialtyCare/HARBORVIEW/Sleep/index.htm">sleep clinic</a> and was given a CPAP machine last fall. Have been using it for about 8 months. I am sleeping more and better but am having chronic problems w/ waking up w/ a stuffy nose, congestion, etc.
I finally got insurance thru my new/current job and went into <a href="http://www.docroc.com/">an ENT</a> for a consult. He said my septum is just almost Z shaped, it's so curved. The sleep clinic had said I was only getting 20% air thru the left nasal and maybe 70% thru the right. The ENT said he thought it was less than that.
He also said my uvula and upper palette was 'practically laying down on the back of my tongue'.
I've done a lot of research on this, read "Snoring & Sleep Apnea" by Pascualy.
It's interesting that the sleep clinic was adamantly against my getting surgery until this March when I went in for a follow up visit and the nurse practitioner there reluctantly admitted that maybe I needed surgery.
So this ENT has told me he's been doing this a long time and tomorrow I'm getting the Septum and the UPPP at the same time. At first I thought 'great, get it done and over with' and then I was like 'YIKES, how do I breathe???'
Just wondering if anybody else has had this and how well they were able to breathe after? I've been using the CPAP religiously breathing thru my nose and now my nose is going to be bandaged shut for several days.
Thanks,
-- M.
P.S. I should add that aside from being 40 pounds overweight, I'm in excellent health, perfect BP, exercise as much as possible and am 42.