*Manny’s Healthful Journey™ Overcoming Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea*
Finding better sleep, greater focus, and a more vibrant life.
Manny shares how getting diagnosed with sleep apnea changed his life. From struggling with constant fatigue to renewed energy and joy in everyday moments.
"I've lived with sleep apnea my whole life. I just didn't have a name for it."
Manny’s Sleep Apnea Diagnosis and Treatment Journey
Manny’s experience shows how obstructive sleep apnea symptoms can sometimes go unrecognized for years. He regularly dealt with extreme tiredness, daytime sleepiness, difficulty concentrating and irritability, but assumed these problems were simply part of everyday life. His eventual sleep apnea diagnosis revealed an AHI in the upper 60s, placing his condition in the severe range.
His treatment journey included several commonly used approaches for obstructive sleep apnea. Manny received CPAP therapy, later tried a mandibular advancement oral appliance, and underwent surgery intended to reduce obstruction in his airway. None of these options provided the solution he hoped for when used individually, and the setbacks were frustrating.
Manny continued experimenting with ways to manage his condition until he finally experienced restorative sleep. The effects were noticeable throughout his daily life. He describes having more energy, improved concentration, a better mood and less need for caffeine. For Manny, treating sleep apnea ultimately became about much more than sleeping better. It helped him become more engaged in his work, his relationships and his life at home.
"Do not get discouraged when something doesn’t work,. Continue to fight for yourself and I am confident that good things will happen. Sometimes it just takes a lifetime."
Key Takeaways
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Recognize the Signs
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Get a Proper Diagnosis
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Treatment Can Take Time
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Keep Advocating for Your Health
Full Transcript
00:38 I’m nearly 40, originally from the island of Guam
00:59 I’m new to the Seattle area having just moved in January of 2021
02:04 I’ve lived with sleep apnea my whole life. I just didn’t have a name for it
02:46 I never realized how difficult life was – not knowing what the impact my snoring was having on my overall health – not being able to put a name to my condition nor really having anything to compare it against
Symptoms and Early Treatment
03:00 I had severe fatigue and needed caffeine to power through the day
03:14 The desire to take a nap in the middle of the day – wanting to fall asleep immediately after dinner – I didn’t know these types of things weren’t normal
03:38 My AHI (apnea hypopnea index), which is a measure of disease severity, was in the in upper 60’s which means that 60 times an hour literally once a minute or more I would experience a stop in my breathing at night
03:53 That is considered a severe condition
04:38 I didn’t realize that there were other impacts on my life as well you know my mood
04:43 I was a very very impatient person and I chalked that up to my father being a very impatient person and his father being a very impatient person but at the end of the day I didn’t realize that it was a chronic lack of sleep causing my feelings of irritability
05:14 I received a CPAP device – a continuous positive airway pressure device which was essentially a pump that will blow air into into your mouth to keep your throat open while you’re sleeping
05:58 I think in the course over the course of the next decade of having the device I maybe used the device maybe three to five times and each time
without success and you can imagine when you are in a severe state of fatigue the idea of adding yet one more thing to your routine in terms of setting up a device making sure that it is clean was simply too much for me and my in my condition
08:23 In 2017, I was living in San Francisco and started to explore new options
08:28 I was recommended an oral appliance – a new device that literally works like a mouth guard with the one exception that it will help to to move the lower jaw forward and potentially help increase the airway at the back of the throat again with that mechanical movement of the jaw
08:48 I tried that and it didn’t work and in the meantime I had purchased an oxygen sensor to wear to monitor my blood oxygen levels and again I would see very clearly my blood oxygen would go into the low 80s at night so when your blood oxygen level
09:08 I understand that 85 blood oxygen can already result in organ failure and so going into low 80s is severely is a severe situation and does indeed require medical attention
ENT Evaluation and Surgery
09:50 In 2018, I did manage to go see an ear nose and throat (ENT) specialist and in an examination with the ENT doctor the physician at the University of California San Francisco she mentioned to me that I did indeed have a narrow airway commence also mentioned to me that one of my tonsils was extremely large and so one of the things that she recommended was a UPPP surgery a (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty) surgery
10:21 We would remove the tonsils but also remove some of the excess tissue at the back of the throat to ensure again that the airway would be less obstructed
10:31 We went through the surgery there was a two-week recovery period that was recommended so I did it over the holiday when I was luckily enough to be off work and there was a period of recovery where I had a liquid diet – I couldn’t chew, etc.
10:51 I was lucky that I didn’t feel a lot of pain
11:09 So this was January of 2020. I just completed my surgery and I was very excited to wear my oxygen sensor to see whether or not it worked and I was disappointed
11:20 Unfortunately the oxygen sensor told me that even with the surgery I still had a severe condition to manage through and I went through a period of a few weeks where I was pretty sad and despondent thinking that you know maybe there’s nothing that can be done for my sleep apnea
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