Sleep Bytes & Blog

Find CPAP success with online groups Hey Sleep Warriors, Have you ever been discouraged by the solitary nature of sleep apnea journeys? Imagine helping someone else just by sharing your own experience! Whether you are new to CPAP or you’ve had CPAP for a long time, you likely have questions - I know, because my patients show up with questions every day. And while I can provide science-backed sleep information, there is something unique that CPAP users offer to each other. By taking a moment to ask your questions or share your story, you could give someone the information they need to keep going and reassure them that they’re not alone. Community is one key to success. In my two decades of practicing sleep medicine, I’ve noticed how valuable community can be in helping people stick with sleep therapy. That’s why I’m excited to offer two ongoing options for cultivating community using online groups: #1 - a Free monthly live Q&A over Zoom – This will be the first Tuesday of each month at 4:30 pm – and starts February 7th! Kenny or I will offer a brief presentation on a common CPAP concern and then open it up to YOUR questions. Sign Up Now. #2 - The Huddle – which is live weekly group coaching or one-on-one coaching on CPAP use and sleep apnea. I have already started offering this live group coaching alongside my new CPAP 101 course. And while you get the most benefit if you show up live, there is also the option to submit your questions in advance and receive the recording within 24 hours. These online support communities are the way of the future. My goal is to help facilitate these sessions and provide science-backed answers so my community can be confident that the shared information is medically trustworthy. And that leads to better outcomes for everyone. Thanks for being here. I’ll see you next week! 

Give the gift of sleep Hi there, In this video, I'll be demonstrating how to insert and clean the SomnoSeal. First, without the optional mouth tape. And second, with the optional tape.You'll insert the SomnoSeal by holding onto the center tab, making sure that the small arrow is pointing up. After getting ready for bed and before you put on your CPAP, gently insert the SomnoSeal behind the lips and in front of the teeth. Adjust it as needed for comfort. Put on your CPAP, and you are ready for sleep. Use the optional mouth tape if you have trouble keeping the SomnoSeal in your mouth overnight. First, insert the SomnoSeal. Then, place one piece of tape vertically over your lips under your nose. Put on your CPAP, and you are good to go. In the morning, remove your CPAP mask and any tape. Then, head to the sink. Remove the SomnoSeal and rinse with water or mild soap. Allow it to air dry on the stand provided in your starter kit and keep it where you'll see it the next night. That's it. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR SOMNOSEAL STARTER KIT TODAY

The SomnoSeal is launching today! Hey, sleep warriors, I have some really big news today. Just in time for the holidays, I am launching my innovative patent-pending device, the SomnoSeal. The SomnoSeal will make an excellent holiday gift for yourself or any CPAP user in your life. It's a soft mouthpiece that sits just inside your lips to prevent airflow from leaking out of your mouth during sleep. It helps eliminate irritating dry mouth and enables your CPAP to function more efficiently because air doesn't have to travel over your tongue to get to where it needs to go. Think of the SomnoSeal as an alternative to a chin strap or mouth tape. It's flexible and comfortable, and it's compatible with facial hair. So finally, there is a new option for CPAP users who want to use smaller nasal only or nasal pillow-style masks but struggle with mouth breathing. When you order the starter kit of the SomnoSeal, you will get two SomnoSeal sizes: small and medium. You can just use the one that fits the best.  You'll also receive a package of mouth tape, which is optional and can be used if you have a hard time keeping the SomnoSeal in your mouth at night. And you'll get a stand. You can keep this by your sink to hold your SomnoSeal, while it dries in the morning after you rinse it. Additional information about the SomnoSeal and videos are available on the SomnoSeal page of this website, or you're welcome to email us at sleep@somnoseal.com I hope you'll try it. Thanks for being here. I'll see you next week. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR SOMNOSEAL STARTER KIT TODAY 

Meet My Special Guest This Week! Hey, sleep warriors. Kimberly MD here, and I have a very, very special guest this week. I am introducing you to my mom, Gloria, who is one of my favorite CPAP sleep apnea patients. So today, I'm just going to ask her a couple of questions since I'm here visiting. And I want you, Mom, Gloria, to tell everybody out there what made you want to get tested for sleep apnea in the first place. Well, I didn't really want to, but one of my daughters insisted that I snored, and I didn't think so. But then what did you find out with the sleep study? I found out that I was gasping for breath 25 times per hour. Wow. So that's moderate sleep apnea. And so, fortunately, after a few weeks, we got Gloria on a CPAP machine, and that was about ten to fifteen years ago now. And so what sort of things have improved in your life? Or what do you notice that might be better now that you've treated your sleep apnea? I definitely sleep much better without waking and gasping for breath or gasping and waking. How do you feel when you wake up in the morning? I don't want to get out of bed. So maybe treating your sleep apnea doesn't get rid of all of your symptoms. You still need to be sure that you're getting enough hours of sleep at night. But this is a perfect example of how even though you think that you may not have sleep apnea, or if someone out there is just telling you that you snore, there is a chance that you may. And once you get it treated, then you would have the opportunity to actually sleep more soundly. If you had to give any advice to people out there that were thinking about maybe getting tested for sleep apnea, what would you tell them? I would say, do it. You've got nothing to lose, so why not? There you have it, friends, thanks for being here this week. Join us, we're hopefully in a future week sleep bite. I'll have my mom on again. Bye.

What’s involved in a sleep study? Are you at risk for sleep apnea? If so, the next step is to get a sleep study. There is really no way around it…because, you want to know! A sleep study is done while you are sleeping and measures your breathing (airflow and effort to breathe) and oxygen levels. There are two types of sleep studies: Spend the night in a sleep lab (polysomnogram) Home apnea test Think of them like megapixels in a digital camera, the overnight, in-lab polysomnogram is like a 10 megapixel camera that provides extensive, detailed data about your sleep, like sleep stages and leg movements, and it can pick up even subtle sleep apnea. The home apnea test (sometimes referred to as HAT or HSAT) is like using a 2 megapixel camera – you can see enough to diagnose most sleep apnea, but other details aren’t captured, and sometimes mild sleep apnea is missed. The home apnea test is usually more convenient for people and costs significantly less money. And because of this, some insurance companies require a home apnea test before paying for an in-lab sleep study. Home apnea tests are a great way to start your journey of improving your sleep. There are two important things to remember about a home apnea test. It underestimates the degree of sleep apnea. Your AHI (apnea-hypopnea index) will be lower than an in-lab sleep study If a home apnea test is negative for sleep apnea and you have symptoms suggestive of sleep apnea (like snoring, daytime sleepiness, or non-refreshing sleep – to name just a few), then I recommend an in-lab sleep study. A home apnea test can miss sleep apnea up to 20% of the time! And don’t forget, you can talk to just about any medical provider about ordering a sleep study. If they can’t order one for you, they can refer you to someone who can. Why? Because better sleep changes everything. Good luck on your journey.

How do I know if I have sleep apnea?    While millions of people have undiagnosed sleep apnea, there are many who don’t have sleep apnea. So how do you know which group you fall into?  If you are a healthy person who feels they sleep well and you function well during the day, chances are you don’t have sleep apnea and you can stop reading here.  However, if you fall into the category of being tired or functioning poorly during the day, or wake up wishing you could go back to sleep (even after sleeping 7 or more hours), then read on.  Primary symptoms of sleep apnea include: non-refreshing or restless sleep daytime fatigue daytime sleepiness irritability problems concentrating depressed mood poor judgment poor memory it can even cause weight gain through affecting appetite hormones. Yikes.  While many of the symptoms of sleep apnea can also be caused by other things, treating any underlying sleep apnea is guaranteed to help. The most common reason people today are sleepy during the day is that they aren’t getting enough sleep at night. We live in a 24/7 culture, and one that values productivity and achievement over physical and mental wellbeing. Sleep is undervalued so the first thing to do is get adequate sleep at night. This is 7-8 hours for most adults.  If you are getting enough sleep at night yet still feel sleepy during the daytime, then you are at risk of something disrupting the sleep you are getting, such that the quality of your sleep is not ideal. This is where sleep apnea comes in. Most people aren’t aware of the repetitive brief arousals to breathe at night, but these disruptions prevent us from getting into and staying in the deeper stages of sleep that we need to feel restored and function our best during the day.  How do I know if I have sleep apnea? The first place to start is to talk to your doctor about a sleep study. Most sleep studies for adults are now done in the home and involve being hooked up to fewer wires than in the past. Home sleep studies are much less expensive and more readily available. Word of caution: while these home tests are particularly good at identifying moderate to severe sleep apnea, they often miss mild sleep apnea, so if you have symptoms and your home test is negative, I recommend going into the sleep lab for more detailed monitoring. Sleep Apnea Curious? Take the Quiz