What is Reddit's opinion of Anti Snoring Nose Vents by Snore Bastion -12 Nasal Cones - Nasal Dilator to Stop Snoring - Sinus Relief Cones - Soft Silicone Snore Silencer - Easy to Use Snoring Solution?

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The recommendations to improve breathing through your nose make a lot of sense. I've been facing similar issues and have made some incremental progress. If you have a deviated septum, then most likely the long term solution is surgery, so seeing and ENT is the first step. There are a few other things that might help:

• Use a nasal rinse. The products from NeilMed work well and are easy to use.

• Try using Breathe Right stips (or any of the generics).

• Raise your head slightly when sleeping via raising the bed frame with blocks, using a wedge pillow, or an adjustable bed. If using pillows, be careful not to make the situation worse by pushing your chin towards your chest.

• Ask your doc (primary or sleep) about medications like Fluticasone (OTC is Flonase but it may be more expensive than the Rx version) or Azelastine (Rx only).

• Try nose vents. Here's an assortment: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MSWZW0U/

• Buy an auto-adjusting CPAP and try it out

In terms of getting on CPAP, this may be a gray area for insurance coverage. AHI and O2 saturation are the most common measures and the bar is usually set at AHI<5 and/or O2<88-90. If your insurance uses RDI, you might qualify. Your insurance people should be able to tell you the specifics if you call them. As UARS is a relatively new diagnosis, it may be difficult to get coverage. You might want to look into the more complete overnight in-lab study.

I’m sorry you are going through all of this, I know how stressful being exposed to covid is and can’t imagine going through it as I recover. I’m 7 days PO so am in a similar place.

My throat was also super screwed up from the intubation and is just now starting to feel a little better. The inside of one of my nostrils is also crazy swollen and my doctor said it was totally normal when I got the cast off yesterday. Always check these recommendations with your surgeon but he has me taking Sudafed once a day to help with the congestion. He also gave me these nasal tubes to use at night and last night I was finally able to not mouth breathe 24/7 and it helped my sore throat so much. Good luck!

It might just be a "getting used to the CPAP" thing. The simplest thing is to try upping the humidity.

Breathe-rite strips can help. These nasal cones worked better for me:

https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Snoring-Nose-Vent-Snore-Bastion/dp/B01MSWZW0U/

If it persists, the doc can prescribe Azelastine and/or fluticasone. These can have a big impact.

After reading these comments, it seems that the problem isn't mouth breathing or snoring, it's CPAP. Get the CPAP working right and all these other issues will fall away.

Breathing through the nose is better both while awake and asleep. It humidifies the air and is a more direct path to the lungs. It avoids the problems of drying out the mouth, tooth decay, and gum problems that are more prevalent with mouth breathing. Also, CPAP can be easier to tolerate with the smaller, less obtrusive nasal masks or pillows. And, because there's less surface area to seal, nasal masks can fit better and are less prone to shifting around while asleep. Sometimes all it takes is using a chinstrap for a while, sort of like training wheels. For me it just took a couple weeks to get used to sleeping with my mouth closed. Now I don't need the chinstrap anymore. Some people just can't get enough air through the nose, but here's a few things I've tried:

• Breathe Right strips (I ended up liking a generic knock-off better, but that specific one is no longer available.)
• nasal vents (This set has 3 different styles. I ended up liking the graduated cones the best.)
• nasal rinse (like a neti pot)
• nasal saline drops (these also make it easier to clean out the nose with a Q-tip)

I've tried each of these with some small improvements. Be careful about Afrin and the like as they'll cause a rebound effect.

You might also ask your doctor about fluticasone and azelastine, both of which can be prescribed to help with congestion. (Fluticasone recently came off patent and is available as OTC Flonase but it will cost more and you probably want a docs input on it anyhow.)

Also, playing with the humidity on your CPAP machine can help. (Oddly enough, I found that very low humidity and cold air helped me, so I was freezing the water chamber. It kept it cold overnight.)

In the end, I gave up on these half measures and got the surgery, but maybe some of these will work better for you.

>have used three different masks

Finding the perfect mask is something most of us struggle with. 3 masks is a drop in the bucket. Keep trying. If possible, go to the DME, bring your CPAP, and try out a bunch of masks. If they can't get something that works, try a vendor like CPAP.com and look for "mask insurance". This will let you use the mask for 30 days and return it for free if it doesn't work out. For me, the best full face mask was the ResMed F20 and the best nasal mask is the Philips Respironics Dreamwear Nasal Gel Pillows. If you're really desperate, some people say the ResMed AirTouch F20 works when everything else fails (but it's expensive because it needs a new cushion every month).

In the end, snoring doesn't matter and mouth breathing is relatively minor but curing sleep apnea is huge. Get that CPAP working!

Wait! Hold up I saw these things in an article I’ll be right back and send u the link!

Edit: Anti-Snoring Nose Vents by Snore Bastion - All in One Set of 12 Nasal Dilators - Medical Grade Silicone Snore Stopper - Snoring Solution for Instant Natural Snore Relief - Anti Snoring Devices https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MSWZW0U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_I3ZTDbZTPTCPG