The Pharyngeal Extension Is Gone And I Can Now Use My mRNA Appliance

I tried for almost a week to suppress my gag reflex enough to cope with the pharyngeal extension originally on my mRNA Appliance. Although I made a lot of progress, I still wasn’t able to get the upper part installed. I was also concerned that even if I could get it in, and somehow fall asleep with it, I’d wake up in the middle of the night choking with the wire down my throat.

Yikes.

I didn’t want to wait any longer before I could start expanding so with my provider’s approval, I snipped it off with a pair of wire cutters yesterday so I could start using the appliance last night. It was surprisingly hard to cut the wire; it’s pretty strong.

Here’s what the device looks like after the big divorce:

DNA Appliance with Medieval Torture Device Removed

I wore the upper and lower parts for the first time last night with my mouth taped and my CPAP machine, and slept reasonably well for about 7 hours which is pretty standard for me.

I can’t say that I feel tremendously different this morning, but I do think I’m finally on the road to recovering my health. I get that this is going to take some time.

I stopped wearing my mandibular advancement device with my CPAP machine back in January because I was concerned that the MAD was pulling my teeth inwards due to it’s tight fit and probably negating any potential benefit I may have been getting from mewing during the day. In hindsight, perhaps this was unwise since by reducing the obstruction in my throat it may have been giving my body a deeper sleep. I didn’t see any reduction in CPAP pressure reported in OSCAR when I stopped using it though so I doubted it was having any effect, but I may have been wrong.

Looking at my CPAP machine data I notice what looks like a very gradual increase in AHI, pressure, and total time in apnea over the time I’ve been using it, which is consistent with a gradual deterioration in my untreated obstructive sleep apnea. Interestingly, my tidal volume also seemed to increase, suggesting that I’m breathing more deeply:

Changes in my CPAP data since I started using it

That’s one less thing I need to worry about now. It’ll be interesting to see how the pressure required to keep my airway open varies over time while using the mRNA appliance. I’m assuming that once the pressure drops down to 5, I can reduce the minimum pressure until the machine effectively isn’t doing anything and I can stop using it. I’m expecting this to give my body a deeper, more restorative sleep since my ANS won’t be triggered by a mask over my face and unnatural breathing. I’ll probably have another sleep study at that point just to be sure.

Welcome to the first day of the rest of my life.