CPAP Use Found to Cause Weight Gain?

[BeMurda]

Interesting, thank you

[CorruptAlligator]

A thought has been on my mind for awhile.

Since CPAP machines assist with providing airflow inside the body, the muscles in our lungs are not working as hard during sleep? Does this mean less less calories burned during sleep?

I haven't looked into the article, but perhaps there's a way to quantify the amount of calories burned with and without CPAP?

I have always heard that better sleep reduces weight, but better sleep has not been mentioned in context of CPAP usage. CPAP usage probably changes things.

[DaveL]

I posted a while ago wondering what side effects there are for our treatment.
I don't think it's natural to wear a mask connected to a cpap machine. I've done it for about 35 years.
On the other hand, maybe I have a better attitude and more energy.
What would have happened if I hadn't been diagnosed 35 years ago? I'm still compliant, but it's hard. Yes, I'm overweight.

[SleepyRob]

Backing up here...   

When you don't sleep well (* aka not using a CPAP machine) and have to wake many times during the night you wake feeling wake feeling awful.    This lack of good sleep will raise your cortisol levels in your body. .  (* stress hormone)

Then Cortisol stimulates your fat and carbohydrate metabolism, creating a surge of energy in your body. While this process is essential for survival situations, it also increases your appetite. Additionally, elevated cortisol levels can cause cravings for sweet, fatty and salty foods.



We all need good sleep..

[Snooks]

I have significantly reduced my weight since starting cpap about 15 months ago. I could never get pounds off because in my opinion, not sleeping well, being up at odd hours and stuff like that, you get hungry and eat odds and ends and you normally eat an extra "meal" per day, as in eating breakfast at 2am and again "in the morning" when you get up. Which was normally from the lounge rool floor where my pillows and a blanket kept me comfy lol

Since starting cpap I have been able to walk for exercise and i am actually sticking to eating healthy food and rarely eat garbage now, whereas before i was always picking at something. I have lost just over 30.4kgs (76 lbs) and i firmly believe i could not have done this without being on cpap and controlling the OSA. Only 10kgs more to go

[hh9797]

Let's for one second ignore the credibility of this study and pretend that it is 100% accurate (I doubt it's credibility but that hardly matters and you will see why). Let's take it at face value and then compare risks of being on one vs risks of not using one when you should.
Risks of using it
1) Taking that study at face value the risk of using it is slight weight gain,
2)Bacterial infection due to improper cleaning

ok now lets look at the risks of not using it.
1)Higher blood pressure causing all otehr sorts of risks
2)Higher chance of heart disease
we are already where the benifits outweigh the risks but lets keep going
3)Weight gain... hey looks like point 3 here and point 1 there counter each other out so yeah
4) Fatigue which can lead to being in higher risk when doing things like driving since your ability to react is slowed down when fatigued
5) Brain fog making it harder to remember

I mean we can keep going but you get the gist the point is that for people who actually need to use the machine the benefits far outweigh the risks, there is risks and rewards with all medical prescriptions which is why doctors have to weight the risks and rewards to determine if the benefits outweigh the risks for each individual person because each person reacts differently to medication and medical treatments and so what may be good for one person is terrible for the next person. That is literally their profession is to weigh those risks and rewards to determine what is most likely to be best for you, do they sometimes get it wrong? Yes they are humans after all, but more times then not they get it right.

[Mosquitobait]

I didn't gain weight, but my theory is that people who do were much more physically active while sleeping, using more calories, before they got a cpap. Afterwards, they were no longer fighting for air and could relax. Result? Fewer calories used.

[Yaatri]

I lost 40-50 pounds in the first two years of starting CPAP therapy. Now I am 70 pounds lighter after 14 years. Between year 3 and 14, I gained some and lost some but I was always 50 pounds lighter than I was before I was diagnosed.

[CorruptAlligator]

Studies like this is real tricky. It's difficult to have real controls in the study. Ideally, you want the subjects to be at net zero diet, or diet to not have effect on the weight so that you can rule that out.

It's hard to know if the study isn't effected by external factors in the diet. Only way to go about it is figure out way to measure calories expelled from sleep with and without CPAP, but how would you do that?

[JohnHornbuckle]

I started CPAP in January and gained 15 lbs within the first 2 months. Luckily it stopped after the first 15. I told my Dr. and she said she has never heard of this before. Prior to the CPAP, I had been at the same weight for years (still overweight). For me, I think it is a couple things - I was constantly tossing and turning at night before so maybe my metabolism never really got a rest? The other thing is my appetite has increased like crazy since I started the CPAP and I have no explanation as to why. I just want to eat constantly and never feel full.