Lost weight but still having events

[E.W.]

Mosquitobait. that bit about younger folks being more successful getting off cpap after weight loss
was interesting.  I expect that may relate to the fact that after 30 or so if you don't exercise you start 
losing lean body mass.

[Timur]

Congratulations on losing weight, well done!

Lots of half truths abound re OSA. First one is that weight loss will automatically  cure OSA and the other  is that XPAP will miraculously result in weight loss with no other interventions. 

Bit off topic here, but I was absolutely blown away by the Newcastle study  linking stored  fat in the pancreas and liver to type 2 diabetes, and how significant  weight loss can put type 2 diabetes into remission due to fat loss in these areas in particular. 

So many people who have OSA also have blood glucose issues and losing weight is vital, and keeping it off just as important.

Unfortunately meta analyses recently show that using XPAP makes a majority of  people gain a bit of weight and so we need to be especially vigilant.

[sheepless]

timur said: Unfortunately meta analyses recently show that using XPAP makes a majority of people gain a bit of weight...

that's discouraging 'cause I've read for years how untreated apnea, maybe sleep deprivation in general, leads to weight gain. I've long said when I feel well I eat well and when I feel poorly eat poorly. anyway, sounds like weight gain either way without extra vigilance.

[CB91710]

that's discouraging 'cause I've read for years how untreated apnea, maybe sleep deprivation in general, leads to weight gain. I've long said when I feel well I eat well and when I feel poorly eat poorly.  anyway, sounds like weight gain either way without extra vigilance.

It is an interesting relationship.
Apnea tends to make people feel tired, so they are less likely to be active, which contributes to weight gain.

However, treatment for apnea results in better, deeper, and more prolonged sleep cycles.  While this results in being more rested, it also results in fewer static calories being burned overnight than when you were only sleeping for 3 hours and really awake for 3-4 hours.

The weight loss will not be automatic, but feeling better and having more energy makes it possible for people to be more active and lose weight.

[SarcasticDave94]

After the bariatric sleeve surgery, I had lost 100 pounds in a year's time, getting down to 200. I've picked up a few though to be at 215-220 depending on the day. Prior to the weight loss, my AHI was 70 ish a few based on the sleep study for the BPAP. After the weight loss, I think AHI was roughly halved to 35 - 40. Even so, I still need the ASV to treat my mixed apneas, as the BPAP and my central apnea events didn't play well with one another.

[Cygnus]

I'm with you here...

I''m 43 and have managed to lose about 50 pounds.  I've tried lowered pressures on my RM AC but I am still at a min of 6 and max of 13.  If I go anywhere below that, my AHI starts rising quite a bit.

So yea, weight loss...didn't really do a thing for my apnea.  To be fair, when asked 3 years ago, my Sleep Doc did not believe that for me, weight loss would cure the apnea.  I have a fat neck, huge tonsils and lots of a tissue back there.  This stuff doesnt go away when you lose weight.

Also dissappointing was very little lowering of my Blood pressue or blood sugar.  Basically, I've called BS on all Doctors and their "just lose weight" lazy easy silver bullet.  For a lot of folks, weight has apparently little to do with these types of markers or health issues...

Now Exercise on the other hand HAS helped lots of things.  But the weightloss alone (which most of which I lost before starting to exercise) was basically worthless except forcing me to buy new clothes...

[SarcasticDave94]

I can tell that weight loss is good for addressing apneas, but even I still need the ASV after 80 pounds lost. The weight loss did cut AHI roughly in half for me, but having over 35 AHI meant I still needed xPAP therapy. Bottom line is weight loss helps, but in most cases you'll still need a CPAP.

[sine]

I am one of those cases where weight had no impact whatsoever. I was snoring extremely loud (like, one could hear me through the thick wall separating units in our building!) when I was 20 years old, 60kg and competing at athletic sports on national level. Over the following 20 years I gained 60 kilos and my snoring is just as bad as it was, then lost 10 and - not surprisingly - no changes. CPAP solved that for me basically overnight. And yes, I've been told by lazy and incompetent doctors that losing weight will surely cure me of sleep disorders.  I think if one has sleep disorders the first thing to do should be to try that, and only later - having sleeping under control - dealing with the slow-to-fix underlying health problems. 

L.