Hi guys I’m just sharing my experience because I too suffer from Sleep apnea/UARs (AHI 14) I am pretty young and am trying to sort it out without CPAP or surgery for now since it doesn’t suit my lifestyle just yet.
I have all the usual symptoms the worst being fatigue and breathlessness it’s the fact that I get horrible sleep is why I can’t rest and recover and it’s getting harder and harder to exercise when I can’t even get rest... I always feel tired and so doing cardio puts me out winding... I mean we all have our own particular problems with SA but I think we can all relate to basically living with blocked airways... I’ve been searching for ways to improve my health through nutrition and weight training as opposed to cardio since I suck at it willingly or not. That brings me to some of my friends who suffer from asthma and another from COPD and they recommended I try using a high altitude training mask and try a few different exercises everyday to see if it helps... at this point I’ve bought all possible non-invasive kits as I can such as those nose rings, mouth guard (ortho extender), that weird metal ring that works with acupressure, nasal sprays etc. and yeah they make a tiny difference but all in all just like CPAP they aren’t really helping you breathe better... they help to make you breathe forcibly... the only natural way to fix that is by yourself and your own body... some things we can’t fix without surgery (like my throat and nose) but we can definitely improve the efficiency and technique we do for such a simple task - breathing.
So I’m now reporting for the first time in a while I noticed a visible difference in my breathing with this altitude mask... and generally exercising my diaphragm to really take deep breaths and breathe a little better... the mask works by restricting your breathing even further (just like high altitudes hence the name) and that means you and your lungs and diaphragm have to work even harder to get in air... it’s the same as those weight belts that make you restricted that once you take them off it feels like a massive rock on your back has been lifted off and you can sprint if you could run before... it’s dramatic... it’s almost like having the CPAP on.. but it’s your own lungs... I’ve only been using this for 2 weeks but unlike the other things I’ve tried this one works and the more and more I use it the more I feel better once the mask is off same with the general exercises (yoga has several breathing exercises, heck even body weight exercises that work your lower abdominals work).
So the purpose of this post was to share my experience but also to encourage everyone to try more breathing exercises and go even further to push your breathing and actually make a lasting difference to our bodies and the way we live with what is a chronic condition. People with COPD or fibrosis and asthma all face similar or more severe breathing issues than us and I think it’s also in our best interest to help in anyway we can to support our own bodies.
I’ve linked below some breathing exercises: - lung org breathing exercises - Dr Jo - breathing exercises - Paper on effects of Breathing exercises on COPD patients - latest 2019 paper on effect of doing home exercises - Yoga exercises for breathing
Trust me it makes a difference in the day to day... I live in a hilly city and steep inclines were the death of me but lately they have become much easier and I’m able to walk without losing my breath for the first time in ages. Additionally with the COVID-19 outbreak I think it’s in our best interest to do what we can to keep ourselves healthy and breathing fit.
Please add any exercises or routines you might to as well so that we can all breathe better and therefore sleep better as well. Once you get used to an increased lung capacity and improve your normal resting breathing it will do wonders on your breathing during the night when we “forget” how to breathe properly.
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https://www.reddit.com/r/SleepApnea/comments/flgyiv/copd_resistancealtitude_masks_can_help_breathe/
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