Looking back

[Rycharde]

Although i did not like my doctor at all due to his very poor bedside manner, he did tell me that as soon as i lost this weight it was highly unlikely I would need the machine.
He told my hubbie who was borderline that it wasn't necessary for him to take a machine and that losing some weight would be all he would need but even in my case with Severe Sleep Apnea, he said it was my choice if I wanted it because he felt if I did lose the weight within the 2 year period I said i would be losing it in I wouldn't be needing it.

And this is coming from apparently one of the best if not the best respirologist in Toronto.
So time will tell as my weight is already dropping but i will let u know once it has if they still think I need it or not .

But just the fact with Severe Sleep Apnea he said he did not think I would need it if the weight was lost and I go back down to my regular 115-120 weight, I think says a lot....

I was diagnosed with severe SA (67 events per hour) when I weighed 325#. One year later, I was down to 210# and found that I now required a higher pressure to keep the numbers down. On APAP I'm set for 9-17, and occasionally hit the 17 limit. (I'm now consistent at 0.1 events per night) So it looks like losing weight and going off therapy are not in my future. Sure hope that you prove it can happen.

[ShelaghDB]

I was diagnosed with severe SA (67 events per hour) when I weighed 325#. One year later, I was down to 210# and found that I now required a higher pressure to keep the numbers down. On APAP I'm set for 9-17, and occasionally hit the 17 limit. (I'm now consistent at 0.1 events per night) So it looks like losing weight and going off therapy are not in my future. Sure hope that you prove it can happen.

It wouldn't bother me either way. I figure IF sleep apnea is the worst I have to deal with at this point in my life, then so be it so I am not someone that is waiting to lose weight in order to rid myself of it.
If i do, and the doctor tells me i no longer need it, to be honest, I think I would always be waiting for it to come back and i might never relax so it might be better to just remain with it, albeit at a lower weight and fewer apneas, etc.

If i do rid myself of it that way, I will let u know but i would think even then, even at my regular weight, I would likely have to start sleeping on my side again and without one side to do that with, I've trained myself to end up on my back, unfortunately

;-)


EDIT:

i have heard of several people that have managed to kick it once losing weight.

The weird thing?
My brother in law, who is my age has one of the best bodies I have seen on a man at 30, let alone 55.
He was as a teen one that was chubby so at some point he began to work out, and he faithfully does it every day or works one grip of muscles one day, another group the next, has it all charted......lives on Tuna and other healthy food and doesn't have any fat on his body but he was diagnosed with Severe Sleep Apnea 2 years ago.
He was fortunate in that he took to it the first night and has felt great ever since, whereas before he was struggling to keep awake in the afternoons.
He loves his machine and would never give it up, although he has just the Elite and doesn't know the things you all know here.

In any event, I mention him for he does not fit the image of one with Sleep Apnea due to his great body. I too until 2 years ago would not have fit the image so I find it hard to believe that a 2 year window in which I gained weight for the first time would have brought it on in a Severe fashion. So I don't personally believe that one has to be overweight to have it.
Therefore, losing weight, despite what my own doctor said, does not mean an automatic diagnosis of becoming a Recovered Sleep Apnea Patient

Rycharde: Did you sleep mainly on your back when you were first diagnosed with Severe Sleep Apnea?

2) Do you still sleep on your back at all with those low numbers? I suspect not???!!

[Sleepster]

The consensus is that if weight gain caused it, weight loss might cure it.

As we age we lose muscle tone so losing weight may not get us back where we were before we gained it. I weigh 250 lb and started having symptoms 30 years ago when I gained enough to reach a weight of 200 lb.

If I lost 50 lb I'd be back to where I was in terms of weight, but a 58 year old doesn't have the muscle tone of a 28 year old.

Nevertheless, losing the weight is a good thing to do for many other reasons. And if you're trying to lose weight CPAP therapy will make it easier to do.

So it all boils down to two things: If you have sleep apnea use your CPAP machine. If you're overweight lose weight.

[plasticplumber]

If you see my previous post the sleep clinic wish me to come off the APAP now as they consider that it and the mask may now actually be more detrimental to my health in actually causing disturbed sleep than preventing it. I have been running at 4.5cm for some time now and my sleep test without machine recorded just one apnea.
I know that the weight gain over the past twenty years is certainly partially to blame for my condition and that genetics also has a big part to play.
Without weight gain my neck would not have grown to over the magic 17", now that its back down under 15.1/2 it is and will remain flabby but all that fat in that extra 1.1/2" will have been pressing on my airway in the night, I wonder how much it actually weighed.
Without treatment I would never have had the energy to exercise and loose weight - you end up in a catch 22 situation - No energy, too much food for the calories you burn and you can't do anything about it.
I started very slowly and weighed myself daily noting the information in sleepyhead, It went up and down during the week and trended up at first as fat gradually turned to muscle slowly the tide turned and my weight fell averaging 1lb a week which I felt was enough and was rewarding without being excessive.
I have been off the machine now for a few days and still feel OK and only one oxygen saturation down to 88% recorded during this period of days.
Strangely I am missing my machine and am having difficulty getting off to sleep, it feels as though part of me is missing, perhaps it acts as a comforter or substitute teddy bear.
If I get used to sleeping without the machine so be it and I will continue to monitor myself with greater infrequency until I am happy that my condition is resolved. If I fail to become comfortable off the machine then I shall stay with it - perhaps its become an addiction but it does not bother me either way.
Even coming off the machine I can see that in the future there may well be a need to return if things change.

[Rycharde]

[quote='ShelaghDB' pid='72198' dateline='1402530920']
[quote]

Rycharde: Did you sleep mainly on your back when you were first diagnosed with Severe Sleep Apnea?

2) Do you still sleep on your back at all with those low numbers? I suspect not???!!
[/quote]

No to first question. I snored so loud that my wife would not let me sleep on my back. I mostly slept on my stomach.

2nd question: I now sleep on mostly my right side and sometimes on my back. Before the APAP, I could not breathe if I slept on my right side, but after APAP, the position I'm in does not seem to effect my breathing at all.

Strangely enough, I've been experiencing a few central apneas lately. Maybe one a week for 10 seconds. My 30 day stats show the AHI to be at .01, and just a tad lower with SleepyHead. On CPAP my numbers were mostly under 3.0, with some higher, but on full auto on APAP, much lower. My leaks are almost none, (looks like a flat line with an occasional spike under 24) and I usually sleep between 8-10 hours per night, uninterupted! Our local hospital does not like me sometimes, since when I spend overnight there, I bring my own XPAP equipment with me, and they don't get to charge me for the use of their equipment.
Enjoy your day today,

[Tom in RI]

From my own experience weight loss has not had a beneficial effect on my sleep apnea. Several years ago I went on the NutriSystem diet and dropped about 30 pounds (from 215 to 185, on a 6 foot frame). I went in for a sleep study and my apnea had gotten worse then my last previous test.

[jaycee]

I've had plenty of patients that have weaned themselves off of CPAP with weight loss. I've had some that have lost the weight but still remained on CPAP (but most of those at much lower pressures than they started on).

I'm just guessing here as I don't have any real numbers, but of the thousands of patients I've set up on CPAP, 90-95% are overweight. You see some thin people in this business but they are the exception, not the rule.

Worst case scenario, you lose the weight and still need the CPAP. There really isn't a downside to losing weight (as long as you aren't doing some crazy starvation diet).

[retired_guy]

I hope to lose some more weight. I need to dump about 15 more pounds. I've lost 10 since beginning the new and improved me, and just that much has made an improvement in my "getting-aroundness." So I'd like to continue that trend for lots of reasons.

However, that said, there is no way in the world I will give up my cpap machine. They will have to pry it from my cold, dead nosie. I am not going to even think about returning to a life of falling asleep behind the wheel, snoring so much it causes the National Guard to be deployed...

My ahi these days ranges from little to somewhat less, and that's good. But I'm still lovin' the 'livin!