Having trouble with my Inspire implant

I am Interested in having the implant.  Have you solved your problem Snoreman?  Are there any other folks out there using the implant?  I want to learn from others.

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.. Linda\

I just got it activated so I'm hoping. It's got an amplitude of 1 to 10. I started at 1 and I'm supposed to go up 1 grade every few days. I'm at 3. Going to 4 is uncomfortable. Hopefully, I'll get used to it. I don't know if that's a normal progression. I was hoping to hear from others who have experienced this.

Thanks Snoreman.   

I was hoping others who have this would tune in also.  I wonder why it bothers you at 3?  If you find out let me know.

Thanks.

Still trying to get used to it. I see there's something new called Airlift that's simpler and works full-time. Just a half hour surgery and no need to turn on and off.

Hi Snoreman,

Thanks for  the tip, I will go read about Airlift when this note is complete.

With the Isnpire is there anyway of telling how many apnea's you have each night?  

Thanks for your support and suggestions...

Linda

The inspire doesn't register numbers of apnea events. After I have it for a few months they'll have me to do another overnight sleep study to measure that.

I have had the Inspire device implanted for several weeks. When the device is working after the pause period at night it seems to stimulate every two to three seconds. I thought the pattern was associated with my diaphragmatic breathing pattern. It is much more rapid than that. Is this normal? Thanks. 

I got my implant turned on 8/2/22. I am a 71 year old male in pretty good shape. The first problem I had had to do with having to get up to pee after 3-4 hours. When you hit the pause button, you only get 30 minutes to fall back asleep. Most of the time for me, falling asleep within 30 minutes is no problem, but after being asleep for several hours and then getting up to pee, I would still be somewhat awake when the stimulation turned back on, and when that happened, I could not fall back asleep. Most men over the age of 50 or 60 have to get up to pee during the night, and the Inspire device pause cannot be programmed for more than 30 min.

After using the Inspire device for about 6 weeks, I had progressed up to level 5. All of a sudden, the power level of the stimulation increased dramatically, so that when the therapy turned on it jolted me awake - even when I had been in dream sleep. The next week or so, I kept decreasing the stimulation level until I was back down to level one, and that was still too strong. I had to have an appointment with my sleep specialist and the Inspire rep who turned the power level down from where it was, but still higher than what I remember first starting out with. I never did get an explanation for why the amount of stimulation increased so dramatically. Things were fine for about three weeks. I had gone to level two, and was about to go to level three, AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN. I am currently waiting to set up another appointment with the Inspire rep, but I'm starting to wonder if there is something wrong with the device I have, and I wonder how many other people out there have experienced this problem.

One other thing I'd like to mention: On several occasions after being in deep sleep, not moving at all, still breathing the same, eyes still closed, I would become somewhat awake because I needed to pee. While still in this almost sleep state, I noticed that the rythm of the stimulation DID NOT match my breathing AT ALL. Not the timing or the rythm. I could be breathing out and my tongue was being stimulated forward, or vice versa. The sensor implant near your lungs is supposed to synchronize the stimulation to your breathing such that when you breathe IN the stimulation is on to keep your tongue forward, and when you breathe OUT, the stimulation is supposed to be off and your tongue is relaxed.

I brought this up, the last time I met with the Inspire rep, and he gave me an explanation about how it does work in sync with your breathing when you are asleep, but not when you are awake. At the time, I bought this explanation, but since then, after thinking about it, I'm thinking it's a bunch of BS. This device does not and cannot sense when you are awake or asleep. It is not capable of doing that: you have one electrode in your neck to stimulate the tongue nerve to move your tongue forward, one electrode near your lungs to sense your breathing in and out, and one Generator implant in your upper chest that is supposed to receive the signals from the lung electrode, and then sends the stimulation to the tongue electrode at the appropriate time, thus moving your tongue forward. If this Inspire device can tell when you are awake and asleep, then why does it have to be programmed to not turn on the therapy till 30-60 minutes (depending how they initially programmed it when you got it turned on) until you have fallen asleep during this delay period. If it could sense when you are asleep, it could just turn on by itself.

I'm starting to have some real doubts about what we are being told about how this works. Why Inspire limits the pause function to 30 minutes, when most men over 50-60 have to get up to pee is beyond me. Are there any other people out there that have had the stimulation level increase dramatically all by itself?

I have found that level 8 is best for me. If you had implant a week before, you shouldn't be activated yet. Otherwise, you should be level 1 first week then move up 1 level per week. Your tongue is a muscle, and needs to acclimate slowly.