Questions for Fibro/CFS Members From Dr. Park

[Steven Y Park, MD]

This is Dr. Park, former Sleep Apnea Expert Moderator. I was wondering you you could help me out and answer a few simple questions for me regarding your condition. I'll tally up the results of the poll and give you the results after a week or so as well as the reasons for asking. Thanks.

1. What is your favorite sleep position? Can you sleep on your back at all?

2. Have you undergone any dental extractions in the past, and if so, how many teeth were removed?

3. Have you undergone any jaw surgeries in the past, and if so, what type?

4. Were you bottle-fed or breast fed as an infant?

5. Do you snore?

6. Do you have cold hands or feet?

Thanks again for your help.

[psyvamp]

1. What is your favorite sleep position?
****** right side- unless having flare of bursitis, then left side
Can you sleep on your back at all?
*****yes, short periods of time, occassionally

2. Have you undergone any dental extractions in the past, and if so, how many teeth were removed?
****** yes--  3 times:  2 wisdom teeth/ twice ( once upper/once lower)
*****and another time, ALL remaining upper teeth ( due to roots of teeth growing too long and into sinus cavities-- puncturing sinuses)

3. Have you undergone any jaw surgeries in the past, and if so, what type?
********* none

4. Were you bottle-fed or breast fed as an infant?
*********bottle

5. Do you snore?
************sometimes

6. Do you have cold hands or feet?
**********yes-- both hands and feet stay icy cold

[JLB3713]

I have CFS

1. Side and back
2. Wisdom teeth and 4 when I was in elementary school
3. No jaw surgery
4. Breast for at least 6 months
5. No
6. No, my hands and feet are always warm (I have erythromelalgia)

[gkneez]

OOPS! TOO LATE.

[gkneez]

1. What is your favorite sleep position?BACK Can you sleep on your back at all? YES

2. Have you undergone any dental extractions in the past, and if so, how many teeth were removed? WHISDOM TEETH ONLY

3. Have you undergone any jaw surgeries in the past, and if so, what type? NONE

4. Were you bottle-fed or breast fed as an infant? BOTTLE

5. Do you snore? YES, USE CPAP ALSO

6. Do you have cold hands or feet? NO

[Steven Y Park, MD]

Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you about the reason for my survey.

If you look through the results, you'll see that the vast majority of you had all your wisdom teeth taken out, and a significant number had many more teeth removed. Almost everyone was bottle-fed, as well as having cold feet or hands. I'm also willing to bet that most of you have a high-arched hard palate, where the roof of your mouth is pushed upwards into your nose, with a narrow space between the upper molars.

One thing that I've noticed is that people who have CFS is that all have various degrees of excessive dental crowding. Narrow jaws, dental extractions, and bottle feeding can all narrow the air passageway behind the tongue. This is why most people with these issues can't or prefer not to sleep on their backs. This observation goes along with many of my dental colleagues that are raving about their results in expanding the jaws with advanced dental/orthodontic techniques, even in CFS or Fibro patients. The interesting thing is that many may not have official sleep apnea. However, these people have severe trouble breathing at night due to narrowing of their throats, which causes them to keep waking up from deep sleep to light sleep, without being registered as an apnea or hypopnea on a sleep study. I'm thinking about doing a study on this. Thanks to all for your help.

[Moo22Q]

Fibro - 10 yrs + & lord knows what else is wrong w/ me, I have multiple symptoms, not all match w/ Fibro
* I can sleep on back but prefer right side
* all 4 wisdom teeth out
* no jaw surgeries
*Breast fed
* no snoring
* often have cold feet, sometimes hands, I'm hyper sensitive to cold really