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.

[helen41]

I suffer from ME/ CFS
1 cannot sleep on back or stomach anymore
2 no extractions, many root canals and crowns
3 no jaw surgery
4 bottle
5 no snoring
6 hands and feet norm temp

[TrudieC]

1. What is your favorite sleep position? Can you sleep on your back at all? I generally sleep on my right side but am finding I am waking up on my back and snoring a lot when this happens.

2. Have you undergone any dental extractions in the past, and if so, how many teeth were removed?  I have a smaller jaw and had quite a lot of extractions - probably 6

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 fed

5. Do you snore?  Yes

6. Do you have cold hands or feet? I have cold feet and sleep with socks on usually

[deadgamegrrl]

1. I sleep on my side (always have).  I can sleep on my back but it seems to often bring on that 'sleep paralysis' sensation upon waking which I hate (this started years before fibro)
2.  Wisdom teeth at age 23 (Fibro started at 50)
3. No
4. Bottle
5 No
6. No

[Donna10112]

I've had FMS 30 years, CFS for 5 years, and Chronic Myofascial Pain at least 13 years.
1.  I sleep on my side mostly, using a water pillow.  Yes, I can sleep on my back.
2.  I had 4 bicuspids removed at age 13 for braces.  Two lower wisdom teeth in my later teens.
3.  I have not had jaw surgeries, but was diagnosed with TMJ dysfunction by Dr. Merle Bean in 1983 when I was 27.  I have worn braces 4 times total, 3 times to correct my top teeth recessing and pushing my jaw backward into my face.
4.  I was bottle fed.
5.  Yes, I snore when on my back.
6.  Yes, I developed cold hands and feet when I turned 30, but in recent years the soles of my feet burn at night.  I have to kick the covers off them.

[geminigirl1963]

I was diagnosed with Fibro/CFS about 12 years ago.

1) I always sleep on my back - using a few pillows to prop myself.  Sometimes I will roll over onto my side (normally left side, as I've had a right shoulder replacement so it's painful to lay on that side), but I always end up on my back

2) I've had my wisdom teeth removed (all were impacted and required bone scraping to remove) and have also had 5 other teeth removed.

3) No jaw surgeries

4) bottle fed

5) I do sometimes snore, but not all the time

6) Hands and feet are sometimes cold, my hands more so than my feet.  My feet tend to run hot and I usually sleep with my feet out from under the covers to keep them cool.

[helen41]

so sorry, I don't want to skew your results. My resonse re extractions was in error. I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed as a young adult, 2 with bone impactions

[wonko]

My fibro/CFS is secondary to chronic Lyme disease.  I've been dealing with this for about 3 years now.

1. What is your favorite sleep position? Can you sleep on your back at all?
I prefer to sleep on my left side, but can and do sleep on my back.  When my fibro symptoms are flaring, I am likely to wake up more during the night to reposition, because I more quickly develop pain in the area on which I'm sleeping.

2. Have you undergone any dental extractions in the past, and if so, how many teeth were removed?
No.  My wisdom teeth are impacted but I have yet to undergo the surgery, because I'm worried about it causing my health problems to flare.

3. Have you undergone any jaw surgeries in the past, and if so, what type?
No.

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

5. Do you snore?
I snore lightly off and on.

6. Do you have cold hands or feet?
No.

[MEFMJanet]

1.  Fav. sleep position is on my left side with a pillow between my knees.  I can't really sleep on my back because it causes me to snore and wakes me up.

2.  Total of 8 teeth extracted.  4 molars at age 11 to accommodate braces and then wisdom teeth at age 21.

3.  No jaw surgeries.

4.  Bottle fed.

5.  Yes, I snore.

6.  I don't think I have cold hands or feet.  If I do, I'm not aware of it.

[terri540]

1) never have liked to sleep on my back, but can.  Used to sleep face down, but since all this stuff started I sleep on my side most of the time unless the knee pain is severe enough that I can't

2) two wisdom teeth extracted (top) this was after IBS Fibro CFS symptoms started.

3) No

4) Breast fed but only for a short time.  Didn't take to formula.

5) No

6) Yes cold hands and feet   (34 yo male)

[acker]

1. What is your favorite sleep position?
prefer any side, but i sleep on my back cause i feel it's better for alignment.

2. at least 10 teeth removed; 4 were wisdom teeth and at least two of them had been subsurface.

3. no jaw surgeries

4. bottle-fed

5. no snoring

6. yes relatively cold hands and feet at rest

[Heather68770]

1. What is your favorite sleep position? Can you sleep on your back at all? I sleep on my side with pillow under my head and in front and behind me and then one between my knees and then a pillow under each foot. Can not sleep on back at all.

2. Have you undergone any dental extractions in the past, and if so, how many teeth were removed? 10 Extractions plus 4 Wisdom teeth.

3. Have you undergone any jaw surgeries in the past, and if so, what type? No surgeries but do have TMJD

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

5. Do you snore? Only when sick with a head cold

6. Do you have cold hands or feet? Hands and feet are always extremely cold red and sometimes blueish.

[Steven Y Park, MD]

Can you please clarify how many teeth total were removed? Thanks!

[deadgamegrrl]

Sorry,

2 wisdom teeth, neither impacted.
- dgg

[belkins]

Favorite sleep position is on my  left side. Can not sleep on back because I sometimes let my legs fall down to the their sides and it is so painful waking up.
I have had dentures for 10 years.
No jaw surgeries
Breast fed I would imagine, my mom is 94 yrs old now and she does not remember!
Yes my kids have said I snore
Cold hands and feet often

I have hep c, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, pelvic floor disorder.

[Kelly_NH]

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

Side or stomach with one leg bent. I can sleep on my back, but it's hard to fall asleep in that position.

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

Wisdom teeth, about 6 years ago, over age 40. All four removed. I think one other has been replaced.

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

No

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

Bottle

5. Do you snore?

Only when I have a cold, not usually.

6. Do you have cold hands or feet?

Yes, usually. I have hypothyroidism.

Not sure if it matters for your results, but I don't (yet) have a formal dx of fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue. I am here w/ Lyme disease, & Gerd, still trying to figure out the rest.

[Teasers_firecat]

1. What is your favorite sleep position? Can you sleep on your back at all?  I like sleeping on my back or if I'm not too sore on my side

2. Have you undergone any dental extractions in the past, and if so, how many teeth were removed? I had 3 wisdom teeth removed, one of which was impacted

3. Have you undergone any jaw surgeries in the past, and if so, what type? No

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

5. Do you snore? Sometimes

6. Do you have cold hands or feet? Yes cold hands and cold feet

[nflder]

1. What is your favorite sleep position? Can you sleep on your back at all?  I start out on my side, very hard to get comfortable. If I wake on my back I have a very painful time getting out of bed.

2. Have you undergone any dental extractions in the past, and if so, how many teeth were removed? I underwent surgery to have all my teeth removed...30 yrs ago

3. Have you undergone any jaw surgeries in the past, and if so, what type? No

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

5. Do you snore? Always and sometimes stop breathing according to OH

6. Do you have cold hands or feet? Yes cold hands and cold feet

[lvfrogs]

1. I sleep mostly on my right side, switch to left side when right side hurts too much.

2. All wisdom teeth removed, several have just broke off or fell out

3.  No

4. Bottle fed

5. Only very occasionally

6. Cold feet especially

[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

[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.

[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

[gkneez]

OOPS! TOO LATE.

[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)

[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