Nasal Strips

[hill dweller]

I searched this forum but found no mention of nasal strips, Breathe Right or another brand (generic is available). For those who snore, even a modest amount, these would seem to increase the quality of sleep and maybe increase oxygen to the brain?

Any one using these for AD therapy?

[KatieS]

Those strips benefit those nocturnal non-mouth breathers. Decades before apnea treatment, I used the strips to no avail, but I have a small airway. You can check in the mirror your airway risks of apnea:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallampati_score

[Tincup]

I tape my mouth shut every night: http://www.correctbreathing.com/store/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=7&category_id=7&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

[circular]

I'm not sure that mirror technique is good. I pass easily but have both central and obstructive apnea.

[circular]

I tape my mouth shut every night: http://www.correctbreathing.com/store/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=7&category_id=7&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Howdy Tincup! I take it this is the tape you use from that link? Does the adhesive have any sort of smell? I purchased some 3M Micropore tape but then became aware I'm probably breathing in toxic something in the adhesive all night. It has a scent, not strong, but not exactly the smell of garden flowers either

[Tincup]

I take it this is the tape you use from that link? Does the adhesive have any sort of smell? I purchased some 3M Micropore tape but then became aware I'm probably breathing in toxic something in the adhesive all night. It has a scent, not strong, but not exactly the smell of garden flowers either

It is the tape I use. I don't notice any smell. I've been using the tape for quite a few years now to tape my mouth shut.

I have an r to r (beat to beat) recording heart rate monitor. I don't wear it too often over night, but some years ago I noticed heart rate patterns that could be construed as apena. You can create a heart rate vs time graph, called a tachogram, from the Holter monitor results (a recording ECG). My monitor is not a Holter but does create tachograms. There are studies showing correlation with certain heart rate patterns and apnea. It was then that I started mouth taping at night. My heart rate patterns are much better when I tape. The Buteyko breathing people talk about this.

I recently acquired an Oura ring. It does track sleep and heart rate, but doesn't store individual beats. I keep mine in airplane mode, take it off and upload the data once a day. My goal now is to increase deep sleep (from around 14 minutes) - total, REM and light sleep are all fine as is latency (time to go to sleep). Sleep is an ongoing project with me that seems to be making small positive incremental changes. My computer runs the IRIS app in sleep mode all the time. My phone has nightshift on 24x7. I try to spend as much time outside in the sun with uncovered eyes as possible and I wear filters tha block <510nm wavelength when the sun is down. I try to get out within the first hour of sun, barefoot with few clothes on and expose my eyes to the sun to set my circadian rhythm (even in Colorado in the snow and the cold and yes, neighbors wonder, but I shovel snow dressed only in shorts and sandles...).

[circular]

It is the tape I use. I don't notice any smell. I've been using the tape for quite a few years now to tape my mouth shut.

I have an r to r (beat to beat) recording heart rate monitor. I don't wear it too often over night, but some years ago I noticed heart rate patterns that could be construed as apena.

Thanks, I think I'll switch to that.

My Fitbit tracks heart rate through the night, but I'm not sure if it's beat to beat (?). It will show brief awakenings through the night, but I don't think they're the same as apnea. It shows how your total time awake compares to your own 30 day average and that of others you age and gender. I consistently come in below average, but the data has shown me that all those nights I thought I got eight hours of sleep I didn't. So I've started going to be early, usually by 9 pm, sometimes 10 pm, in order to get enough total time in bed to increase my actual sleep time.

I also use nightshift on my phone and f.lux on my computer 24/7. I occasionally end up at a talk where they're showing a presentation on a screen and the blue light is overwhelming. Come to think of it I should take blue light blocking glasses to such events!

Congratulations on improving your sleep! It's so crucial and the solutions often so personal, but the light/circadian part has to be true for all of us I would think. I have recently found that Chinese Skullcap really produces good sleep, as well as very vivid dreams, at least for me. I also think Life Extension's Circadian Sleep product is helping with the circadian rhythm. When I take that I get good and tired early in the evening and have no desire to stay awake for anything. Prior to that supplement I could easily get tempted to read or do this or that and suddenly another hour or two had gone by. The combination is pretty darn good.

Will have to look into that Oura again. I think I looked at it a couple years ago. Probably like almost all wearables I'm too tiny for it. I have Fitbit Alta HR. I've considered switching to something that will give me VO2 max data, but it seems you can only explore this if you can run? I can't run anymore, only walk, and all the sites seem to be about running and VO2 max. Do you have any thoughts/knowledge about this?

[Tincup]

Will have to look into that Oura again. I think I looked at it a couple years ago. Probably like almost all wearables I'm too tiny for it. I have Fitbit Alta HR. I've considered switching to something that will give me VO2 max data, but it seems you can only explore this if you can run? I can't run anymore, only walk, and all the sites seem to be about running and VO2 max. Do you have any thoughts/knowledge about this?

I got a sizing kit before I got the Oura, for a few $$. I wear mine on my left index finger and am in the largest size they make.

I don't really know about VO2 max with respect to wearables. The Oura also tracks activity. I think it uses a 3-D accelerometer. One day skiing it said I got ~2,500 calories extra. The next time it was like 600. The difference in the days was the first one I was doing a lot of mogul runs and less of those on the second. Not sure how it interprets the bouncing. It usually tells me I get 400-600 calories on an active day, but nothing extreme. I'm guessing it is directionally accurate. Obviously no activity is clear, but what it thinks about different activities, I don't know. For example, skiing moguls vs driving over a washboard road.

I know some Fitbits work with your phone's GPS, this might make it more accurate, but I don't want the bluetooth on all the time on me.

[buck3Maureen]

Wow Tincup,
I thought I invented taping my mouth shut. I have never had sleep apnea, but I did have Tonsil cancer which left me with impaired saliva. So if I breathed through my mouth at night I would wake up with my mouth totally dried out. I didn't want to use any chemicals on it so I just got a roll of scotch tape. Worked. Very cheap.
Maureen

[circular]

I don't really know about VO2 max with respect to wearables. The Oura also tracks activity. I think it uses a 3-D accelerometer. One day skiing it said I got ~2,500 calories extra. The next time it was like 600. The difference in the days was the first one I was doing a lot of mogul runs and less of those on the second. Not sure how it interprets the bouncing. It usually tells me I get 400-600 calories on an active day, but nothing extreme. I'm guessing it is directionally accurate. Obviously no activity is clear, but what it thinks about different activities, I don't know. For example, skiing moguls vs driving over a washboard road.

I'm not familiar with Oura's features, but my impression from looking at some other wearables is that the ability for them to detect which exercise you're doing is still evolving. The ones I've seen are breaking out more common, every day forms of exercise like running and walking. My guess is that what you're doing might create some inaccurate numbers, but I'm really not sure.

I know some Fitbits work with your phone's GPS, this might make it more accurate, but I don't want the bluetooth on all the time on me.

I'm a bit concerned about the bluetooth also. Less so than the constant cellular connectivity, but there seem to be unknowns. I think one could turn off the bluetooth connection to the phone except when syncing or recording exercise where GPS would yield more data, like elevation and the path taken. My fitbit doesn't have the GPS, so I could turn off bluetooth except when syncing. For now I also use it as a caretaker for phone notifications so I don't have to carry my phone everywhere. There have been many times even with my phone relatively near that I didn't hear it ring and the vibration warning on the fitbit was the only way I knew a call was coming through. All this probably doesn't concern you Tincup, but just in case others are reading. I've gotten the impression the Oura is good.