Sleep Apnea and Weightloss

I found it easier to lose weight because I wasn't always tired. Lack of sleep seems to cause overeating; lack of good sleep is almost the same thing.

Weight loss may or may not get you off the CPAP. It did not for me. I asked the sleep tech about it and he told me I was a little guy and it was unlikely to make a difference if I lost weight. I told him I was about 25 pounds overweight, which I was at the time. He said "There's I-Beams under the bed; you are a little guy and 25 pounds is nothing." I lost down to a healthy weight and he was right; I still snored like an elk with the silence followed by sucking wind when I stopped breathing. I even had a second sleep test done at one point (changed insurance providers) when I was lighter and the numbers were the same. I forget the exact numbers, but I am at the low end of severe; the longest I stopped breathing was 70 seconds and I stopped breathing dozens of times an hour (most were shorter).

EDIT - I looked it up. 34 events per hour. My BMI was 31, so technically I was more than 25 pounds overweight but I was 25 pounds over what had seemed to be a healthy weight for me for several years. I have had my BMI as low as 25 and change (currently shooting for < 25) and still snored and stopped breathing if I fell asleep on the couch. No one in my family leaves me alone if I fall asleep on the couch; they think I will suffocate and die even though I slept like that for years before being diagnosed.

My husband has sleep apnea. His doctor told him that weight loss might help, but it might not. He has a narrow airway that could be genetic, since others in his family have sleep apnea too (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12531037). My uncle has sleep apnea and still needs a CPAP even after weight loss surgery. So for some people, weight loss helps, and for some it doesn't.

You probably will have more energy when you use the CPAP, though. All of the people I know are surprised by how much better they feel once they get used to sleeping with it. My husband feels dramatically worse the next morning if he forgets to use his CPAP. It is literally a life changer.

Be aware that they take some getting used to and most people don't like them at first. Just don't give up on the machine before you become accustomed to it. People that stick it out past the growing pains find it can make a big difference, but they can be annoying in the beginning.

I have it. Mine stems from an odd curvature in my neck. Once I got my CPAP it was like a whole new world for me. Life was so cool because I was awake for it lol. Weight did drop for me easier than before. I am guessing cortisol was an issue. And I chose a different way of calorie management once I started feeling better. It all just fell into place once I started actually sleeping!

Stick with it. You will get use to the machine. It helps tremendously. I do still have apnea. They can't fix my neck but they took my machine away. I have less than 5 events an hour so insurance won't cover it any more. I just have to work on not sleeping on my back to minimize the apnea.

Here's what my CPAP did for me:
- It cleared my brain fog.
- I am more rested during the day.
- My blood pressure dropped to normal ranges.
- I am still alive.

My girlfriend says you don't see a lot of old people with sleep apnea, because they all die before they get there. Quietly, in their sleep. Ack.

I think weight loss was incidental to the CPAP machine, as I lost weight when I ate less. Cortisol levels tend to be higher for people with sleep apnea, so getting that under control might help you lose weight easier.

Good job on going to the doctor and getting help! My brother has apnea and he too hated his machine at first. He tried a few different hose/mask types before finally finding one he could tolerate. Now he doesn't mind it at all.

I just did a sleep study and found out I do not have apnea. That is good news since my sleep issues started in 2001 and I was worried about possible heart damage after waiting so long. But it's also frustrating news as the doctor said it's going to be tough trying to figure out why my sleep quality is so poor.

He told me to try some OTC fixes so I ordered nose vents in an attempt to figure out if my problem is nasal related...

lorrpb wrote: »

You don't get CPAP to help weight loss. You get it to help nighttime breathing & sleep. Whether or not weight loss cure sleep apnea depends on whether it's weight related or genetic. I was retested after I reached my goal weight and I was cured. In most cases, that's how you know. It's not like they retest you every 25 lbs or whatever.

I don't think anybody said s/he got a CPAP to help with weight loss. The OP was DXd with Obstructive Sleep Apnea. S/he is wondering whether the CPAP will help her (see paragraph below) but obviously didn't get the order for the CPAP for weight loss specifically. That's impossible, AFAIK (unless you buy one with no RX and just throw it on).

There are a number of ways it could (but certainly doesn't have to) help weight loss efforts; I believe the OP specifically referenced energy levels. For someone who loses better while working out, better sleep could certainly help with that.

My husband had severe sleep apnea. Dr. said on a scale of 1-10, he was a 60. That if he didn't do something he would be dead in his sleep within a year. CPAP machine was great, but he did end up getting weight loss surgery. 100lbs later, the apnea was completely gone. That was 13 years ago and he's never had a problem since.

i have sleep apnea and it's either triggered by heavy drinking or by acid reflux. since losing 25 pounds (with 30 more to go) i've not had acid reflux nearly as bad and that has made incidents of sleep apnea decrease significantly. as for the drinking triggered apnea, that will probably always be an issue but i try not to drink enough to trigger it.