I have gained 10 lbs and I never feel rested on cpap

[eseedhouse]

Gaining a little weight will do you far less harm than sleeping without the CPAP machine will do.

[srlevine1]

My doctor says it is impossibl that my weight gain is due to CPAP but when I stop using it I lose weight. Also, I feel better without CPaP but my husband reports that I stop breathing when I am not on Cpap? Any suggestions for me? Has anyone tried Inspire?
Lalae

Do you show any signs of Periodic Breathing (Cheyne-Stokes Respiration) which could be a sign of fluid retention that may account for both the weight gain and crappy feeling?

[chill]

The second law of thermodynamics applies to *everything*, with *no* exceptions. It has been tested repeatedly for well over a century and an exception has never been found. It follows necessarily from the observed fact that matter is composed of atoms.

At the risk of taking this too far off topic...

I did not meant to suggest that the Second Law of Thermodynamics was wrong. I did mean to say that applying it to weight loss is highly misleading. It does not apply in the simplistic view that eating less and exercising more will result in weight loss. Things can, and do, happen that maintain the balance defined by the second law without weight being lost. This is why losing weight is so much more difficult than diet restriction and activity increases suggest. Weight gain, does require that more energy be input than output, but even that is a small fraction of the whole picture.

[eseedhouse]

I did mean to say that applying it to weight loss is highly misleading. It does not apply in the simplistic view that eating less and exercising more will result in weight loss.

First of all, I think you have the wrong law. The second law of thermodynamics is that entropy always increases in a closed system. Which has nothing to do with weight loss or gain.

The First law is probably what you were thinking about, namely that mass/energy is neither created nor destroyed in a closed system (is in other words conserved). Originally this was applied only to energy, but Einstein corrected it by pointing out that mass and energy are really the same thing in different forms.

Secondly I like to think of things more concretely. If you hold a pound of weight in your hand and step on a scale you are thereby one pound heavier. If you eat a pound of food, or drink a pound of liquid you are also immediately a pound heavier. Of course the body also excretes mass in the forms of feces, urine, sweat, radiated energy, and exhaled air. The radiated energy, as implied by Einstein's e=mc^2 is very low in mass and can be ignored for all practical purposes.

If over time the body excretes more mass than it takes in you lose weight, period. If you eat more than your body excretes then you gain weight, period. Your body takes in mass in the form of molecules and atoms and assembles them into other molecules that allow you to live. These molecules eventually break down and are excreted. Some are not digested and leave quickly, some hang around for longer but eventually they are all excreted and unless you replenish them with other molecules and atoms you will starve.

So we may do two things to lose weight. The first is to take in less mass than is already being excreted. The second is to excrete the mass you take in faster.

BUT, the two interact because the body responds to challenges by adapting. So if you take in less mass it is likely become more efficient in storing it in the form of fat, and so excretion slows so that the mass you do take in hangs around longer. It is thus a dynamic system, not a linear one.

None of this means that the "laws of thermodynamics" don't apply.

[Dreams of Green]

I'm sure this debate over the second law of thermodynamics and entropy increasing in an isolated system is going to greatly help this first time poster looking for help.

[Dreams of Green]

My doctor says it is impossibl that my weight gain is due to CPAP but when I stop using it I lose weight. Also, I feel better without CPaP but my husband reports that I stop breathing when I am not on Cpap? Any suggestions for me? Has anyone tried Inspire?
Lalae

Lalea,

How long have you been on CPAP? It can take time to adapt, and while some immediately start to feel more energy, for others it takes longer and initially makes sleep more difficult. Other factors such as finding the best mask for you and also impact how well you sleep with it.

In my case the first few months was a struggle and I definitely slept and felt better without it. Now I sleep and feel much better with it.

[chill]

I'm sure this debate over the second law of thermodynamics and entropy increasing in an isolated system is going to greatly help this first time poster looking for help.

First law, as it turns out. Doc Giles would mock me. But it does have a relevance: weight gain or loss is not strictly a matter of eating more or less or exercising more or less. The body is a complex system and CPAP therapy could result in weight gain or loss. So the OP's doctor was misinformed. Or is that malformed?

[srlevine1]

Before one turns to physics and imputed laws to explain weight gain, might I suggest that your electrolyte balance (especially sodium) could result in an immediate weight gain due to the retention of fluids. Additionally, using a humidifier also adds fluid to your system as it is absorbed by your lungs. And yes, ten pounds is within the range of water weight gain -- ask any woman. You may wish to ask your physician to do a simple BNP (B-type Natriuretic Peptide) blood test to see if your system is retaining fluids.

[doll]

I've been using the CPAP for a little over a month and I too have gained weight 12lbs, my hands and feet are swelling as well. I understand the benefits of using the CPAP so I'm going to ask my doctor for some possible weight loss options. I'm very uncomfortable so I know what you're going thru. I do receive a good nights rest and awake feeling refreshed. Maybe your mask is not delivering enough air to you at night. Mines can leak air at times.