How I think sleep apnoea should be treated

I'm a former OSA patient of Mr Veer, and so is my mum. Both our operations with him were different, I had large tonsil which occluded my airway when asleep which he treated with a Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), and she had a large tongue base which was treated with radio-frequency ablation to shrink it. Both operation were very successful. I no longer suffer from OSA; no more brain fog, waking up with headaches, being moody, poor concentration, and painful joints/ body aches. As far as I am concerned, my quality of life and that of my mum has been tremendously improved thanks to Mr Veer; he is truly amazing and I cant say enough positive things about him.

My experience with the American medical system is they do a sleep study, Rx a CPAP and send you on your way. Its complete rubbish.

Wish I could find a doctor like this in the U.S.

I love your philosophy. I just turned 57 last month and have been watching your channel since late last year. Last year I was on the Keto diet for 6 months and couldn't get below 183 lbs. and that is with swimming 3-4 times a week for 40 minutes. My friend said if I lost weight I would get rid of the sleep apnea. WRONG I started a new Job 14 months ago that has great insurance. My sleep study showed I was having 72 apneas per hour and Oxygen was in the 70's. My primary care Dr. was speechless. I saw an ENT, I said yeah I know I need to lose weight. He said your weight has nothing to do with this, but since I started using a C-Pap and showed him my numbers that were between 5-10 apneas per hour he said to continue. It was very difficult in the beginning and I already wear a night guard for teeth grinding. I have to say it took about 5 months to get used to the C-Pap. It did give me terrible anxiety in the beginning to go to sleep. I had to mentally give myself permission to take it off at any time during the night. Once I did that I began to be able to leave it on longer. By April 2022 I weighed 195lbs.at my well needed foot surgery. By July I started noticing my weight was finally starting to drop. I noticed sugar and caffeine cravings going away, as well as allergies. Before the Cpap, I was using a Netti Pot daily to help me breathe better. I haven't needed to use it in a month and allergies going away. I feel my immune system is getting stronger, because obviously I sleep better. Since April, I have been weighing myself weekly and have been losing 3 -4 lbs a month without really trying. My only exercise has been walking the dog a couple times a day for 20 minutes. I am now down to 174 lbs. Woo Hoo! It's been 3 years since I weighed this. I still find myself getting better sleep all the time. Last Saturday I got 9 hours sleep. Last night was 7 hours sleep and it said the AHI was .6. My AHI is now averaging between 1 and 2 per night. It's amazing how sleep apnea really changes the body chemistry. I feel like I'm climbing out of a rabbit hole, and my health is getting better all the time. I appreciate your videos. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and Haooy New year

One of those rare doctors, that understands what it's like for a few patients who can't tolerate CPAP. Keep up the good work Dr Veer.

The NHS needs more great doctors like you.

omg, a specialist who is also a scientist. not simply applying the cookie cutter approach but seeing patients as individuals, and taking great care to make an accurate diagnosis! incredible, and sadly far rarer than you should be, doctor. I will be sending this to my sleep specialist, who, frankly, is inferior to google at this point. thank you for your sensitivity and your enquiring mind, and finding the balance between following evidence based guidelines while leaving the dogma aside. thank you!!!

All doctors should be like this. Thank you!

I became a bit teary-eyed when you said sorry to those who were let down by medical professionals. I am part of the 30% that can not use a cpap machine and feel like I'm not being heard. The headaches and pressure in my ears from the cpap are horrific and worse than the symptoms of the sleep apnea. I'm getting fitted for an oral device now. Nobody has ever looked at my throat, nose, etc. and I'm just being checked off the list of what's next. I wish more doctors were like you and truly wanted to help and not just check off a box of tried this or that.

As a former paramedic and current osa sufferer, I’d like to say thank you for your pragmatic and holistic approach to this problem. I was left feeling angry and insulted after being told by a consultant that I was ‘non compliant’ in my cpap use. They made literally no attempt to understand WHY this was the case. 18 months on I have improved but really in spite of, rather than because of, that consultant!

This video made me feel like crying. If I had a lot of money I'd fly to England just to see you. I live in a wealthy state that has health care coverage for those who are low-income like myself, in a country that supposedly has some of the best medical schools in the world. And yet it essentially came down to giving me a CPAP and abandoning me (and acting like it was my fault) when I couldn't use it. None of the things you're talking about were addressed. I guess I need to go back in and make them address these things. I had given up, thinking nothing could be done and that I'd just become more and more sleep-deprived as I get older with the attendant health issues. I can't even tell you how angry I am. What good is it to have all this information if it doesn't inform the treatment people need to get better? The system is so very, very broken.

It's amazing that we have someone like you, offering people with sleep apnea hope.

What a credit this Gent is to his Profession

This is incredibly useful. Stumbled across your videos looking up Myofunctional therapy, as I've had a SA diagnosis, with CPAP treatment for over a decade, as well as a septoplasty, and am still suffering from very severe insomnia and fatigue. Really great to have my intuitions about the inverse link between weight gain and SA confirmed, as well as hear some of the frustrations I've experienced as a patient (in Ireland unfortunately) be validated. You're doing an incredible service to people in severe distress here. Thank you so much for taking the time to create these and share your perspective.

Thank you so much for this Video. I have felt my whole life terribly tired and started to gain weight so much. At 39 finally they found after a sleep study I got very severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea with an AHI of 100 my oxygen level dropped til 68% extreme fatigue and still kept on thriving with everything in life. Docs were in shock how I did it all. I now am almost a 3/4 year using my Cpap machine, and I feel tremendous and slowly better. I even set my father to do a sleep study as well at the age of 76 and he had the same as me. AHI of 45 but had several strokes heart problems and alrzheimer now even due to never being treated. It's never too late to start using a Cpap machine. He already as my self is more alert and it really shows off. Never give up you all. Much love.

I've just found your channel and what you explained makes 100% sense to me and I'd be grateful to be a patient of yours

The world is such a better place with amazing people like you. I admire and am grateful for your loving contribution to helping people.

Hi Vik, I love your channel this may sound a bit over the top but I wholeheartedly believe it’s saved my life. Your videos helped me understand that I had sleep apnea and able to talk to my dr even though she only did a epworth test and told me that my score didn’t reflect that I had sleep apnea. So much so I paid for a sleep study myself where it was confirmed I had server obstructive sleep apnoea. I also paid for an ENT consultation where I was told just I had a deviated septum and I needed to loose weight to help with the snoring. I then took my private report to my GP where she referred me to sleep clinic where I had another sleep study and I was told that my AHI was 123.7 per hour, and that I qualified for CPAP but the clinic that did the study wasn’t commissioned to provide the treatment and there is an understandable waiting list. So in the mean time I purchased my own CPAP machine and within three days of using it everyone around me said I was my normal self again it was honestly like I was seeing colour again. Even though I don’t find it comfortable to use or look forward going to sleep if that makes sense, but it works so for now I will just put up with it I guess. I’m still waiting for my appointment since the last one back in may. I am so glad that I watched todays video as I recently had an appointment with an ENT consultant where he told me that there wasn’t much treatment for sleep apnoea other than a tracheotomy or many different operations that would inevitably lead to one. However I feel as if I can go back and ask for more and not just take his word for it and not be treated unless it an extreme measure. I really wish you were my consultant. It seems like it’s taking a while for the advancement of treatment for sleep apnea to reach the clinics and doctors up in the north west. Thanks again for all your videos! (P.S sorry for the long story)

You are absolutely right about the mental trauma that the medical system put a patient through. I was told I was just too fat and wanted attention - right to my face only to be diagnosed 6 years later with pain cause by an error in surgical procedure. Undiagnosed with OSA for 10 years plus. When retested rousing 69 times / hour. You carb load to try to get some energy! But I am just a fat slug who is causing my own hell and deserve contempt. Bless you for your compassion.❤ It has done my heart good.

Thank you so much for being an excellent thoughtful intelligent and sympathetic Doctor...the world needs more like you... I thoroughly realize how hard it is to become a doctor and to stay in the profession in these trying times..you all need to support each other and to be the excellent human beings that you are for wanting to help people by becoming doctors!