My neurologist also recommended the dental appliance after my sleep study, but said it would cost about $600, not $6,000! :eek: And apparently insurance doesn’t often cover it, so it’s completely out of pocket, which is why I haven’t gone in to be fitted with one yet. Now that I know about the less expensive option, I’m going to try that, too. Thanks, UncaStuart!
Unfortunately, I have more than snoring problems during sleep, which a mouthpiece won’t do anything to help. I have frequent leg jerks throughout the night (I believe they recorded 75 during my sleep study), and now my head has started shaking and my hips jerking as I drift off to sleep, making falling asleep in the first place difficult.
Did no one else have to have two sleep studies? The first is without a CPAP to document the drop in oxygen in the blood in order to qualify for the insurance payout. (I think it had to drop to 50% for at least 10% of the night.) The second is with a CPAP to document that using one will solve the problem, and to fiddle with settings to see what pressure to use.
I thought the two-stage study was standard.
Also, I’ve found that the bottom of my mask pushes my lower jaw back. It not only helps reduce my snoring, it also keeps me from grinding my teeth at night. Bonus!
I was originally taken aback the first time I went to the Web site.
If you read further, you will see that they are offering the “Sports Mouthpiece.” I imagine that the wording is just ::wink, wink, nudge, nudge::
In any event, the model I have been using for the last year is a ::wink, wink:: “Sports Mouthpiece.” And although I have not worn it while playing Wii boxing, it works great in bed.
Took home a device for a sleep study. It determined that I was having 10 to 12 apneas an hour.
Took home the special cpap machine the varried the pressure until it found the best pressure for me.
A week after recieving my cpap machine they had me use an O2 sensor during the night as a check to be sure the cpap was working. I had 5 apneas all night.
According to what they told us a 50% drop more than one a night would do you in. The group that I met with before step 2 was considered moderate. The definition of a moderate group was a O2 drop of 1 to 5 %, 5 or more times a hour. Extrream was over 5 to 10%.
The mouth piece did not help the apnea at all. But I have not been able to find it for the last year. And the dentist is not commenting about my teeth grinding so I guess the mask is helping.
