I developed severe apnea after treatments, about three years out. In my case as in many OC patients, the radiation treatment leaves you with chronic sinus inflammation which produces a constant flow of mucous, down the back of your throat when laying down. Daytime also, but the upright position changes everything. Because of the alteration of our anatomy near the trachea and the esophagus, if you sleep on your back it builds up there. It also causes you to mouth breath to some extent. The combination of the two form plugs of mucous some of which can trigger the closing of the trachea. Bam apnea event, I went through all kinds of sleep studies to document what was happening, and this was definitely the cause. A CPAP did not work for me. It just dried out my mouth even more than it was. The CPAP is designed to keep the airway open with positive pressure, but the slow build up of mucous over a couple hours was going to cause the apnea even, with the machine going. When it woke me up finally (02 levels drop and you heart gets a jolt of adrenaline) I would /still do have to cough up a hunk of phlegm ( sorry for the gross description.) So I started taking antihistamines to dry out my sinuses at night to no avail. I am stuck here after seeing tons of apnea docs.

Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.