Coming off sleep apnea machine

[donnahill8]

Has anyone ever come off their sleep apnea machine after big weight loss? I do wish that happens to me. I can't sleeps without it, but I hate the way it
causes places on my face and creases and dents.

Donna

[WereBear]

If your apnea was caused by your overweight; I don't see why not. Do you know if it was?

Losing weight with CPAP (http://sleepeducation.blogspot.com/2009/05/losing-weight-with-cpap-for-sleep-apnea.html)

[donnahill8]

I suppect it was. All that soft tissue would cut off my air when I relaxed. I hope so. I have blisters on my face this morning. This happens every once and a while. Allergic reaction. Hummm!!

[Beacon]

Good for you! Are you sure it 's ok now? My friend used to have this too and now he's lost a ton of weight and can sleep through the night,

[teaser]

In some cases the change is dramatic. NorthWest Cable News in Seattle reports that CPAP helped one woman lose more than 100 pounds in a little more than a year. She used to weigh more than 300 pounds.

Then she was diagnosed with sleep apnea and started using CPAP. She began to notice that she had more energy. So she started working out regularly and eating better.

CPAP also played a role behind the scenes of the TV show “The Biggest Loser: Couples.” Each contestant was evaluated during an overnight sleep study.

Sixteen of the 22 contestants were diagnosed with sleep apnea. Sponsor Philips Respironics provided treatment for each of them.

Maybe diagnosing sleep apnea earlier would nip a vicious cycle in the bud for some people?

I wish Biggest Loser would make it clearer on the weekly show what the full treatment is for people on the show. Jillian Michael's books go into a lot of stuff about thyroid replacement, etc. On the show, they make it look like it's all about calories in/calories out and deep-seated emotional issues. Clearly there's more to it than that.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203222145.htm


In a randomised study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers at Karolinska Institutet examined if weight-loss can help to cure moderate and severe sleep apnoea. The study included 63 obese men (BMI between 30 and 40) aged between 30 and 65. The participants had moderate to severe sleep apnoea as measured by the AHI (apnoea-hypopnea) index. All participants had symptom alleviation treatment through CPAP -- continuous positive airway pressure -- which produces more normal breathing patterns during sleep. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups, one of which underwent an intense weight-loss programme, the other served as a control group, for a period of nine weeks.

The results of the study show that the weight loss group lost 19 kilos on average after nine weeks and more than halved the number of apnoea events. None of the treated patients had severe sleep apnoea, half had only mild sleep apnoea and one in six could be declared healthy. The researchers also noted that the effect of the weight loss programme was greatest in patients with severe sleep apnoea.

http://www.bmj.com/content/339/bmj.b4609.full

That's the study itself. Most of the men on the very low calorie diet had at least a decrease in sleep apnea, coupled with weight-loss.

[Beacon]

I hope I'm snoring less now that I'm a bit thinner.

[jschwab]

It might not take that much to make a difference, or maybe changing your diet could help? I am pretty sure I had mild apnea that went away when I gave up wheat. My husband is pretty small and still gets really bad sleep apnea if his weight creeps over 150 which is *just* into the overweight BMI for him.

[WereBear]

Maybe diagnosing sleep apnea earlier would nip a vicious cycle in the bud for some people?

I bet it would. Sleep anea can kill!

So one couldn't have the energy reserves to get more exercise, cook more, even do grocery shopping... all the things that contribute so much to eating right.

[donnahill8]

I absolutely agree that I have more energy to take care of myself and my FBS did come down about 5-10 points in the morning. I can sleep without it now because I know the difference is so big. But I do hope I can when I lose this 120 lbs in the new year or so. It makes my face look so much older and the rashes are very annoying. Thanks for the info.

Donna