Breathing/sleep disorders AFTER jaw surgery?

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#1 Post by **elizabeth109** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:45 pm

I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this or I'm just making myself anxious for nothing. I just had surgery (lefort I and BSSO) to correct my underbite, essentially moving the lower jaw back and front jaw forward a bit. Since surgery I've also had problems sleeping, first it was nasal congestion and now even when my nose is clear I feel like my throat and bronchial tubes are kinda swollen and just not getting enough oxygen into my body. So when I sleep I feel uncomfortable and constantly need to take deep breathes, and the more I do that of course the more anxious I get.

So I decided to do a little research. Since I know orthognathic surgery can help problems like sleep apnea, logic says it can also cause it right? I found an article/study from 2000 saying that mandibular setbacks, even with maxilla advancements, contributed to a statistically significant decrease in pharyngeal air passageways. This freaked me out a little cause now I'm afraid that with this surgery I'm sort of doomed to always have more trouble breathing and getting sleep whereas before I didn't have this problem. Does anyone who have had surgery to correct their underbite experience this or know anything about this? Have you felt like you have more trouble breathing since surgery, and I'm not just talking about nasal congestion? PLEASE help! I can't find anything else on this besides that stupid article!

#2 Post by **Chefflaco88** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:18 pm

http://doctorstevenpark.com/5commonproc ... sleepapnea

This doctor says that moving the lower jaw back can make sleep apnea worse so it makes sense that it could also cause sleep apnea. I had both jaws advanced to treat my sleep apnea. I hope this helps.

#3 Post by **ceanna** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:35 pm

I saw in your other post that you had surgery on Nov. 18. It's only been four days since your surgery. I wasn't able to sleep normally until weeks after my surgery. The first week was the worst, but it gets better. I found that it helped if I slept sitting up, propped up by pillows.

#4 Post by **sarahorsomeone** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:41 am

I had both my jaws moved forward and I suffered from quite bad sleep apnea for well over a week post-surgery. I kept waking up gasping and sometimes rather delirious.

I'd never suffered from this before.. and it's completely fine again now; I think it was just down to swelling and congestion.

#5 Post by **elizabeth109** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 11:15 am

Sarah - moving both jaws forward has a side benefit which opens up your airways, so I wouldn't expect you to have true sleep apnea which in your case you're probably right was just nasal congestion and stuffiness.

I keep getting woken up just as I am drifting off to sleep with a little cough/swallow almost like a muscle spasm in my throat, and I also snore very loudly too whereas before I rarely snored. Did anyone experience increased snoring after surgery too? If surgery corrected my bite but now has introduced the possibility of sleep apnea or decreased airway I will be very very distressed!!

#6 Post by **Izzy1979** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:43 pm

elizabeth - are you still taking narcotic pain meds? I'm pretty sensitive to it as far as the respiraty depression goes, and I sometimes would start drifting and almost feel like I couldn't breath/was choking and wake in a panic gasping. This may be part of your issue. Also your airway is likely still inflamed from intubation. If you had upper jaw surgery even if you don't feel "congested" your sinus are still inflamed. After all, they were sawed into:)
Once you can sleep in a normal position and mostly drug free you will likely see much of an improvement. Give it a little time and hopefully it settles!

#7 Post by **sarahorsomeone** » Wed Nov 24, 2010 8:11 am

elizabeth109 wrote:Sarah - moving both jaws forward has a side benefit which opens up your airways, so I wouldn't expect you to have true sleep apnea which in your case you're probably right was just nasal congestion and stuffiness.

Well I don't know what you count as "true sleep apnea".. but as the who stayed with me over night will tell you, I definitely stopped breathing on a very regular basis, which led to gasping a few seconds later (usually, but not always, accompanied by me waking up).

I know moving both jaws can improve the airway, and in fact that's why I'm using myself as an example... as in if I suffered from sleep apnea post-surgically despite not having suffered before and having my jaws moved forwards; then it doesn't surprise me that other people have had the same trouble. Just trying to reassure you that it may well sort itself out

.

I think nasal congestion and stuffiness contributed, but I used to have really severe rhinitis which meant my nasal airway was almost always totally blocked (in fact that's probably what caused my jaw issues in the first place) and it never caused sleep apnea; so I'm convinced it was at least partly down to swelling and the trauma of surgery

Izzy1979's has a good point too, although In my case I only had the one dose of narcotics which were administered before I came round from surgery (I refused them after that because I was in no pain).

#8 Post by **elizabeth109** » Wed Nov 24, 2010 12:48 pm

sarahorsomeone wrote:
I know moving both jaws can improve the airway, and in fact that's why I'm using myself as an example... as in if I suffered from sleep apnea post-surgically despite not having suffered before and having my jaws moved forwards; then it doesn't surprise me that other people have had the same trouble. Just trying to reassure you that it may well sort itself out

I see what you mean. I hope you are right!! My mom mentioned also it might be the fact that I haven't opened my mouth wide in a week and I have numbness on top palate that it makes my throat feel even more tight. I'm crossing my fingers its the breathing tube that did all the trauma and now it's just trying to de-swell and repair itself. Last night I had the same problem with the weird swallowing spasm whenever I tried to drift off to sleep.

I talked to an oral resident today and basically he said that whenever the lower jaw is moved back the surgeon takes into consideration the airway breadth of the patient through x-rays after the movement. I think mine were moved back 3+ mm which really doesn't sound like much...

#9 Post by **pa1n** » Thu Nov 25, 2010 5:25 am

this is depressing, every time i check on this forum i find a thread that makes me reconsider having this surgery. i already have difficulties in breathing now.. i dont need this

#10 Post by **elizabeth109** » Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:02 am

pa1n - dunno about your particular situation but if you have any kind of sleep apnea or nasal passage constriction or throat tightness I would recommend against you having your jaws moved back. However, if your surgeon is planning to move your jaws forward, it will help, or at least not hurt, your breathing issues.

#11 Post by **pa1n** » Thu Nov 25, 2010 8:17 pm

elizabeth109 wrote:pa1n - dunno about your particular situation but if you have any kind of sleep apnea or nasal passage constriction or throat tightness I would recommend against you having your jaws moved back. However, if your surgeon is planning to move your jaws forward, it will help, or at least not hurt, your breathing issues.

i have only just found out recently what ive been suffering from for about 2 years now and its dyspnea. So im guessing it is a bad idea to have this surgery? my life has just gotten worst, right?

#12 Post by **qwertz1** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 4:31 am

when treating sleep apnea with jaw surgery there are usually large movements, 15 mm, even 20 mm.
I doubt moving back 3 mm creates a problem when there wasnt one before. but if in doubt talk to your surgeon about it. there are often more ways to do this (i.e. moving upper jaw instead), Ive gotten extremly different recommendations when talking to different surgeons.