pillar procedure newbie ( long)

[Samuel]

Hi I'm new to the forum. I just had the pillar procedure done yesterday so I thought I would let everyone know about my experience. I had a sleep study in Morgantown, WV and was diagnosed with mild to moderate apnea in 1996. I couldn't ever get any relief from the cpap machine. (I had ear pain from the pressure, I can't breathe through my nose very well etc.) I gave up on cpap after about 6 months of trying to feel better with it. Since then the only relief I have had is elevating the head of my bed about 8 inches with risers on the bed posts, trying to sleep on my side the best I can, and keeping sleep times exactly the same every day. I probably sleep "okay" 2-3 days a week.
I read about the pillar procedure last year in the Readers Digest and have been contemplating it ever since. I went to Dr. Landes in Charlottesville, Va
He seemed fairly new to the procedure and tried to talk me out of it. He said it was only for snoring and maybe a very mild case of apnea. However he did say I had a "long floppy palate" and tried to talk me into somnoplasty for the palate for 1700 and he would throw in nasal turbinate somnoplasty for "free". His charge for the pillar procedure is 1500 with 200-300 charge for any implants that work their way back out. After reading this forum this seems excessive but he is the closest doctor to me that didn't require a sleep study to do the procedure. (I have no insurance so I didn't want to pay for another sleep study) I told him I was aware that the pillar procedure might do nothing for my apnea and asked him if he would go ahead and do it and just consider it for snoring. He agreed to do it and since I drove 4 hrs one way to get to the office I talked him into doing it the same day as the initial appointment. I was a little freaked out by the 6 to 8 numbing shots but the procedure itself caused no pain at all. He sprayed some numbing spray before the numbing shots and I tend to get a little freaked out by my throat being numb so I had to deal with that some but overall the pain wasn't bad. I broke out into a cold sweat after the first few numbing shots and felt very hot but I feel most of this was my nerves. Other than my anxiousness the procedure wasn't bad at all. I only took extra strength tylenol once the numbing started to wear off and after 20 hrs I have very little soreness. The Dr. also gave me some Rhinocort Aqua for my nasal turbinates and maybe one day I will have nasal somnoplasty......
I know everyone will tell me to go get a sleep study in a couple of months but the last one I had I felt I didn't sleep at all and I just don't think it was very accurate or that the sleep labs in this part of the country are very good. I tend to go more on how I feel in the morning. I've never been that sleepy as some people say but just have the headaches and cloudy thinking, trouble concentrating etc. So I guess what I'm saying if I post my results they won't be very scientific. I'll just be able to tell you if I feel and sleep better. I checked into the Tap II as many of you say you combined a dental appliance with it but the one close to me said it would be 1300 more to get that so I'll have to save my pennies a little more if I want to try that as well.
My first night with the implants : last night I seemed to dream more than normal but I didn't wake up feeling like I was a rocket scientist or anything....I'm sure my sleep was disturbed some by the pain of the procedure though....well I'll sign off for a few weeks and let you know more after the tissue has stiffened around the implants....I promise the next post won't be so long. Sam

[Rachel E]

Hey Sam! There are some others who had the procedure reporting and discussing it on the dental sleep medicine forum at Talk About Sleep, in case you want to compare notes.

You must live close to me. I am only 20 minutes south of M-town. Doesn't it stink that we have all these major hospitals and no one seems to know anything about OSA? At least nothing but......here's a mask and cpap.

I am going to Clarksburg tomorrow for a sleep study to see if they can titrate my TAP, a dental appliance. I will be their first. I will leave a post on the dental board to say how it goes.

Sleep well, neighbor,
Rae

[Samuel]

Hi Rachel,

I live in Elkins so it sounds like we are pretty close. I will check out the dental sleep medicine forum you mentioned. Are you happy with the sleep lab in Clarksburg? Do you know of any good ENTs in the area who know about sleep apnea? Later, Sam

[Sleepy Stoboy]

Hi Sam,

I had the procedure last November. You really won't get a read on your success for a few months, probably 6 weeks at the earliest. I had a "false read" with some great sleep in the first couple of weeks, then regressed backwards for several weeks before beginning to feel better. Ultimately, while the pillar implants helped a lot, I still needed a dental device to solve the total problem. My RDI dropped from 36 to 18 with the implants.

Good luck and keep us posted on how you're feeling. Most of us went through the post-op in great shape, but one of our members hit a wall with some cysts and misplaced implants. If you detect any of those symptoms, you'll want to read some of the history so you'll know how to deal with your ENT.

Best of luck to you!

[Rachel E]

Sam,
Yes, there is a good ENT up in Mtown. He is a dentist and an ENT, so the best of both worlds. He will do my turbinate reduction and my septoplasty if I decide to go that route. He doesn't deal directly with OSA but he did scope me and determine that my palate had NOTHING to do with my apnea; instead it was the base of my tongue and he encouraged me to continue to try the TAP.

Michael K. Hurst, DDS, MD
Associate Professor
(Up at the POC)

My personal dentist made my TAP right here in town for 560 dollars. Don't know if that is a standard price and I have to tell you, he was sweating the whole thing because he was in an area that was uncomfortable for him. He does a lot of orthodontal work so that was a plus. If you decide to go that route, I will give you his info.

I like my sleep doc, although he thinks I'm half crazy with the apap and the TAP thing but at least he is willing to test to see if I am right or wrong.

I had my first sleep test done in a dungeon in town 2 1/2 years ago and switched to Clarksburg. I will let you know how the sleep study is. Has to be better than the last one.

The rooms are pretty nice; that's where they hold the sleep clinic appts.

Sorry to all on board, this is very specific info but thought Sam might need it.
Thanks....
Rae

[Samuel]

Thank you Rae

[BeachGal]

I am looking into the Pillar Procedure and would love to know how people are making out after the procedure. I am scheduled for July 15, 2005 for the consult. Any information would be helpful... thanks.

[Sleepy Stoboy]

Hi BeachGal,

If you search on "pillar", you'll find quite a library of posts that detail some of our experiences. Bottom line for most all of us is that very, very few people can go it alone with the pillar procedure as their only treatment. I tried, but only lowered my RDI from 36 to 18. A nice big improvement, but you still have a significant level of apnea. For most of us, we not only have a palatal obstruction, but also a rear of tongue obstruction, that we use a dental device to address.

This combination treatment is doing great things for some of us. Search on the Dental forum here on this site for much more detailed info.

[rested gal]

Hi Beachgal,

Lotsa links here:

LINKS to surgery, turbinates, Pillar, TAP experiences