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Weight Loss
#11
RE: Weight Loss
(03-07-2015, 02:25 PM)snowdrop Wrote:
(03-07-2015, 12:55 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: Weight loss is great, but rarely results in a sufficient improvement in sleep apnea to leave the machine behind. There have been cases of pressure requirements changing and even increasing with weight loss. Unless you had a mild case to start with, you'd be better off to look forward to looking better at the pool than losing the mask at night. Hope it works out for you anyway. There are always a few exceptions.

So much for wishful thinking!

My AHI was 26 untreated... moderate is what the doc said...

My machine is at a fixed pressure. How often does that need to be reassessed then? Or after how much weight loss/gain? My AHI are consistently below 1 with treatment.

If you're consistently below 1 at a pressure of 6.0, that's great. If you want to try lower pressure you could observe the results in your data. If you want to nap or sleep without the machine, maybe have someone check in on you and observe your breathing, or use an app like the free"Sleep Bot". It records snores and motion and can tell you what's going on in your sleep. You'll obviously survive an attempt to sleep without it, and you can gauge how you feel. If things seem pretty good, maybe ask for a home sleep study to confirm.
Sleeprider
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#12
RE: Weight Loss
(03-07-2015, 02:25 PM)snowdrop Wrote: So much for wishful thinking!

My AHI was 26 untreated... moderate is what the doc said...

My machine is at a fixed pressure. How often does that need to be reassessed then? Or after how much weight loss/gain? My AHI are consistently below 1 with treatment.

Just keep an eye on your results. You're doing absolutely great! So, next comes the "how do you feel" stuff? No longer fall asleep in your rice krispies? That's a good thing actually. Did the fire department quit coming to your house in the middle of the night because of all your snoring? That would be a good thing too.

In my experience I have really come to not like the terms "mild, moderate, severe...." I always think "small, medium, and large," which has no more relevance to sleep apnea than it does to people sizes. Fine for ordering french fries. But in general my feeling is you either have sleep apnea, or you don't. I do, and I'm good with that. I was "diagnosed" as having "mild" sleep apnea when on my side, and "ya gotta be kidding me" when on my back. I could have told them that. Back sleeping was not something I could ever do. But now I can, and I love being able to do it, even if I choose to sleep on my side most of the time.

I also have "severe" emphysema. There's that stupid qualifier label again. I know guys that have to use oxygen tanks and all sorts of crap to keep going. I don't. I will not allow O2 in the house even. At least not in bottled form. The last time I broke in a new pulmonist he said "frankly you are not in the condition I expected to see when I came in the room." Ok. I thought that's a fine thing. Because I can acknowledge my various and sundry conditions as being something I have while refusing to allow them to have me.

Sleep Apnea is no different. We recognize it is something we have. But it does not have us. We will do whatever we need to do to manage the issues, and while we're at it we'll love the experience.

Enough of all this: I think I'm going to fix me a nice "severe" sized chocolate fudge sundae.

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#13
RE: Weight Loss
Hi All,
For some reason and I don't know where I got this idea, I thought once I started CPAP that I would "magically" lose weight. Ha,Ha! Well, at least I'm still at the same weight. :grin
My untreated AHI was 33, now usually is 1 or under.
I only wish that I would have been diagnosed 10 years ago! I would gladly have used the machine all these years.
The truth is there is no cure for sleep apnea that we know of, but losing weight can't hurt.
Anyway, can only tackle one devil at a time!
Eat-popcorn
OpalRose
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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.  ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.  INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#14
RE: Weight Loss
I was that short fat guy with a 17 inch triple chinned neck before being diagnosed with apnea. I dropped 45lbs my neck is now 15 inches, I have gone from XL to small. I could not do 3mph for 5 minutes on the treadmill. I am now able to do 800 calorie cardio workouts including 3 mile follow runs at 7mph followed by weight training.
I was able to lower my pressures as my weight diminished. I ended up with an AHI of 0.5 -1 at 5cm fixed. My mask will not allow me to go lower as it starts doing press ups on my nose as I breath and irritates the hell out of my nostrils.
Last June my doctor wanted me to come off my machine but I did not feel ready. In January I came off the machine and was fine for the first three weeks when I was hit by the flue bug, presumably the one missed by this years injection. I was totally wiped out. I went back on the machine. I have stayed on the machine since as I see no disadvantage in staying on it, I actually missed it. I would therefore say see if you can loose weight and feel better and enjoy life more but do not beat yourself up if you do not come off the machine.
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#15
RE: Weight Loss
losing weight was one of my goals - doc said I probably be cured if I could shed 30 pounds - she actually said it is effective for 95% of the people. well I lost 8 pounds but they were found and returned to me! Some of us got some fluid retention issues we are working through. my neck size has reduced, even though my weight hasn't. yay, cpap is working, boo, it means I get some discomfort from fluid retention. yay, the exercise and drinking water is definitely helping. and I am back to EPAP 2cm lower than IPAP until we lick the pitting edema.

Take the test. It couldn't hurt. An associate of mine was told by the doc to not use the CPAP for 2 days prior to taking the next test.

QAL
Dedicated to QALity sleep.
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#16
RE: Weight Loss
Good job on the weight loss.

Not all sleep apnea is caused by a large chubby neck. My sleep apnea is caused by anatomy of the lower jaw and throat area. At the time of my diagnosis my neck circumference was 13 inches. Over the years I have lost weight and gained weight yet my SA remains a constant.
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