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  1. #1
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    Default Sleep Apnea and the AT

    I'm in the early stages of planning my thru hike {2022} Have any hikers used cpap machine on the trail. any info will be helpful. Thanks

  2. #2

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    I've never seen anyone carry a CPAP on a long distance trail. When my son was in Scouting, we camped with a guy who brought a CPAP. As I recall he did sleep in a tent and recharged his CPAP from the car everyday. Carrying a CPAP on a long distance hike would entail a host of logistic issues:

    What is the lightest device available?
    How many nights do you get per battery charge?
    Can you carry spare batteries or do you have to recharge the internal battery
    how heavy are the battery packs?
    How long do the batteries take to recharge from a wall outlet? from a vehicle DC outlet? (planning resupply)

    The typical thru or section hike is 5-7 days between resupplies and is 50 to 100 trail miles. You will need a plan to take enough power to get your phone, sat tracker, CPAP and any other devices powered between resupplies.

  3. #3

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    If its the snoring issue you're worrying about, could could try using one of the many chin straps the make to help keep your mouth closed.
    I have a $10 cloth one the works well. I hike 16 days on the AT last year with minimal snoring according to friends

  4. #4

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    I got stuck between two guys with sleep apnea at a shelter in the Smokies. They seemed to get a reasonable amount of sleep - me not so much. Do those CPAP machines make much noise? if so, in a shelter that might be as annoying as the snoring and fitful breathing patterns. If you require the CPAP due to overweight issues, that would be a good place to start.
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  5. #5
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    I got stuck between two guys with sleep apnea at a shelter in the Smokies. They seemed to get a reasonable amount of sleep - me not so much.


    i'm a light sleeper and this happens to me pretty much at every shelter in the Park......

    and the shelters were there is nobody but me staying there-----the pitterpatting of the mice keep me up all night....

    at spence one year, shelter was very full (and not during the thru hiking season), so i put up a tent in the little flat area
    just to the left of the shelter...

    there was another guy in a tent about 20 or so feet from me who warned me that he snored loudly and that's why he
    wasnt going to stay in the shelter...

    he snored so loudly, it vibrated the ground underneath me.........

    it was an awful way to start a 20 ish mile day....

  6. #6

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    My dentist made an mouthpiece for me that my wife is very happy with.

  7. #7
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    I have moderate sleep apnea and use a CPAP at home and often when traveling. However, I have also had very good success, both traveling and backpacking, by combining a mandibular advancement device (i.e. one of those sleep apnea mouth guard things) and a little plastic nostril spreading device or BreathRite strips.

    I would encourage you to acquire, experiment, and practice with the above combination. It is ultra-light, highly effective for many people, and if it works for you, will solve your backpacking and traveling night-time breathing issues.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  8. #8
    Registered User Siestita's Avatar
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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by HankIV View Post
    My dentist made an mouthpiece for me that my wife is very happy with.
    A friend of mine had a dentist make one for him and it replaced his cpap machine. He's very happy he had it replaced.

    https://somnomed.com/en/patients/som...ive%20surgery.

    Screenshot 2020-10-21 at 9.13.13 PM.png

  10. #10

    Default Apnea solution

    Quote Originally Posted by Joe Brewer View Post
    I'm in the early stages of planning my thru hike {2022} Have any hikers used cpap machine on the trail. any info will be helpful. Thanks
    I tried various devices (between power and space/weight, it isn't practical to actually carry a cpap on the trail) with poor success. My final solution was to get turbinate reduction surgery and lose weight. Less than a year later, I did another sleep test and was fine. It made a huge overall difference in my sleep, and losing some weight improved my hiking/camping in a lot of other ways, too.

    Turbinate reduction surgery sounds drastic, but basically, I had the surgery Friday and was back at work Monday. A few days later, the splints came out (they also corrected my deviated septum) and I felt like I had never really breathed before in my life. Wonderful!

    I still snore lightly as I fall asleep, but I'm told that once I'm fully asleep, the snoring stops.

  11. #11
    Registered User Onemorehill's Avatar
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    I had the surgery w.a.s.h.a.d. had - turbinate reduction and septoplasty about a year before my hike. Best thing I ever did for myself. I chose the surgery so that I would be able to use a CPAP afterward (couldn't really breathe through my nose before having it done), and the CPAP is my best friend at home and during normal travels. During my 2-month AT section hike I used an oral appliance made for me by a sleep dentist, and it worked just fine. A piece of advice about the oral appliances: There are two types--one type adjusts with a screw that is integrated into the device's design, and the other type has little plastic "straps" of varying lengths that attach the upper piece and the lower piece to one another. To change how far the lower jaw is advanced while wearing the devices, you either turn the screw on the first type or you change out the straps on the second type. I found that my normal "home" setting had to be adjusted on the trail, according to the changing altitudes of the shelters/campsites I stayed at. (Decreased air pressure at higher altitudes meant that I needed to advance my lower jaw more to keep my airway open, for example.) So be sure to take the little screwdriver (or a range of strap lengths) with you so that you can fine-tune your appliance as you go. Both the straps and the screwdriver are tiny, so weight isn't really an issue.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Onemorehill View Post
    I had the surgery w.a.s.h.a.d. had - turbinate reduction and septoplasty about a year before my hike. Best thing I ever did for myself. I chose the surgery so that I would be able to use a CPAP afterward (couldn't really breathe through my nose before having it done), and the CPAP is my best friend at home and during normal travels. During my 2-month AT section hike I used an oral appliance made for me by a sleep dentist, and it worked just fine. A piece of advice about the oral appliances: There are two types--one type adjusts with a screw that is integrated into the device's design, and the other type has little plastic "straps" of varying lengths that attach the upper piece and the lower piece to one another. To change how far the lower jaw is advanced while wearing the devices, you either turn the screw on the first type or you change out the straps on the second type. I found that my normal "home" setting had to be adjusted on the trail, according to the changing altitudes of the shelters/campsites I stayed at. (Decreased air pressure at higher altitudes meant that I needed to advance my lower jaw more to keep my airway open, for example.) So be sure to take the little screwdriver (or a range of strap lengths) with you so that you can fine-tune your appliance as you go. Both the straps and the screwdriver are tiny, so weight isn't really an issue.
    I have obstructive sleep apnea also and have used multiple custom fitted oral "jaw thrust" devices and after only a few(3 to4) days have to stop wearing the device due to the effect on my upper incisors----they become tender and feel as if they're loosening. Does this ever happen to you, if so, how do you remedy it?
    humor is the gadfly on the corpse of tragedy

  13. #13

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    If snoring is the issue - I would just be aware of that and sleep in my tent away from the shelter.

    If it is you falling a sleep you are concerned with here are some things that I do as a restless trail sleeper....

    Earplugs..every night
    melatonin...every night
    and lately a small dose of larasapam(valium) goes a long way.
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  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by greensleep View Post
    I have obstructive sleep apnea also and have used multiple custom fitted oral "jaw thrust" devices and after only a few(3 to4) days have to stop wearing the device due to the effect on my upper incisors----they become tender and feel as if they're loosening. Does this ever happen to you, if so, how do you remedy it?
    It sounds to me like your case needs either care through a dentist, or if you are already going through your dentist, maybe care from a more experienced dentist or more follow-up from you with your dentist. They should be able to build the device in a way that doesn't even touch your incisors if necessary. The one thing they can't do is get the device to work if the forward thrusting of your jaw leads problems and complications with temporomandibular joints (jaw joints below your ears).

    Good luck. I love being able to use my mandibular advancement device (MAD) while traveling or backpacking stead of dealing with my CPAP.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  15. #15
    Registered User Onemorehill's Avatar
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    Do you also use the "reset" device in the morning to realign your jaws? That is an important aspect of using the oral appliance. If that's not the source of your trouble, then it would be best to talk to the dentist who made your device and find out if there is something wrong with the fit that is causing the pain and looseness in your incisors. Sounds like too much pressure on the front teeth and not enough "assist" from the back ones, due to a fit issue.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by HankIV View Post
    My dentist made an mouthpiece for me that my wife is very happy with.
    All sleep apnea hikers should get one of those

  17. #17
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    Do you mind giving me the name and source of your chinstrap? I'm just at the "wanting to go" stage but dread the likelihood of my snoring bothering others.

  18. #18
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    I have sleep apnea and use the CPAP every night at home. I have the dental appliance and have used it on the trail. My concern with sleep apnea is dying out there. If I snore, I'm alive. So, I'll sleep away from the crowd.

  19. #19

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    Read "Breath" by James Nestor. Mouth taping at night, forcing nose breathing, often helps or solves sleep apnea, snoring, and other things. Our noses were made to be used. Mouth breathing just gets us into trouble healthwise.

  20. #20
    Registered User NY HIKER 50's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RockDoc View Post
    Read "Breath" by James Nestor. Mouth taping at night, forcing nose breathing, often helps or solves sleep apnea, snoring, and other things. Our noses were made to be used. Mouth breathing just gets us into trouble healthwise.
    Not so since if the nose gets clogged you will wake up gasping for air. That could cause even more problems.

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