Any success stories with improved snoring or sleep apnea

I am a nursing student and I've have never had sleep apnea. Here is a study I found which shows the benefits of weight loss in treating sleep apnea

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

An abstract from the above study

"Results Of the 63 eligible patients, 30 were randomised to intervention and 33 to control. Two patients in the control group were dissatisfied with allocation and immediately discontinued. All other patients completed the trial. Both groups had a mean AHI of 37 events/h (SD 15) at baseline. At week 9, the intervention group’s mean body weight was 20 kg (95% confidence interval 18 to 21) lower than that of the control group, while its mean AHI was 23 events/h (15 to 30) lower. In the intervention group, five of 30 (17%) were disease free after the energy restricted diet (AHI <5), with 15 of 30 (50%) having mild disease (AHI 5-14.9), whereas the AHI of all patients in the control group except one remained at 15 or higher. In a subgroup analysis of the intervention group, baseline AHI significantly modified the effectiveness of treatment, with a greater improvement in AHI in patients with severe obstructive sleep apnoea (AHI >30) at baseline compared with those with moderate (AHI 15-30) sleep apnoea (AHI −38 v −12, P<0.001), despite similar weight loss (−19.2 v −18.2 kg, P=0.55).

Conclusion Treatment with a low energy diet improved obstructive sleep apnoea in obese men, with the greatest effect in patients with severe disease. Long term treatment studies are needed to validate weight loss as a primary treatment strategy for obstructive sleep apnoea."

Hope that helps

I used to snore so badly my husband wore ear plugs to bed, now I've lost weight my snoring has gone completely.

I am 52 and have used a Sleep Apnea machine for 15 years in the last year I have lost 65 Lbs. The weird part is my Sleep Apnea actually got worse. I did another sleep study last month and the pressure on my machine went from 11 to 17.

I am only very close to my goal weight and my BMI is at 21 now so I do not have much to lose anymore.

Other than the Apnea I am now very healthy. My BP is way down so is my cholesterol. I also quit a 40 year smoking habit 4 months ago.

Judy

You should have a sleep study done not all apnea/snoring is related to weight....you may need a Cpap machine....Im overweight BUT my apnea etc is related to my deviated septum..I use a Cpap because I was only getting 70% oxygen and I was losing my breath 64 times and hour..once every minute....the doctor said I actually stopped breathing for a period of 48 sec...I guess there is a lot of complications and hazards such as stroke, heart issues.....I would suggest having another sleep study done every 20lbs..just to get the results

You should talk to my wife, lol. Before I started on MFP I snored terribly and probably did have sleep apnea (not diagnosed). After a couple of months of working out and losing weight I am sleeping so quietly my wife once checked to see if I was actually breathing because I was so quiet, lol. True story......:laugh:

I have moderately severe sleep apnoea and have used a CPAP machine for the last 2 years. Since I've lost a lot of weight I do find the pre-set pressure disturbs my sleep.

Another symptom of sleep apnoea is the need to spend a penny frequently throughout the night. Because your body isn't falling into the deep level of sleep required, and excess fluid is building up throughout your body and especially around your heart, your brain keeps telling your kidneys to wake up and get to work trying to flush away the excess fluid.

Since I've been using my CPAP machine I've gone from spending a penny every 30-45 minutes during the night to not at all, or maybe just once.

I'm not due to see my consultant until next May, and by then I should be at least 5 stones down from when I last saw him, but I won't hold my breath that they'll stop treatment, if you pardon the pun

Yes me. At my worst I was put in a sleep study and they woke me up after just 2 hours to hook me up to a CPAP. I was averaging 70 sleep disruptions per hour. I couldn't sleep for a full minute at a time. I was always drained and incredibly unhealthy. I was also carrying around over 100 pounds too many. I never did get used to using the CPAP. After I'd lost around 80 pounds the snoring completely disappeared. I sleep like a baby through the night. Everyone in this house is happier.

I haven't been diagnosed with sleep apnea but my snoring is almost completely gone, my mind is 100% clearer during the day and I'm not as grouchy as I used to be.

Only obstructive apnea is caused by weight. I used to have a touch of that, but it's gone now for good!

On the other hand, my normal weight husband has the systemic form where his brain actually tells his body not to breathe. I made a lot more noise, but my husband is the one with the actual serious problem. Well mine COULD have been serious too and certainly has a pretty long list of health detriments from brain function to safe driving to normal bodily functions working properly, but yeah, my husband actually stops breathing even though there's nothing physically blocking his breathing, his brain is doing it.

Of course because he isn't overweight or aware of what he's doing every night while asleep, I can't get him to take it seriously. I keep an eye on it as best I can but he's got to realize it's a problem and take action himself if he's going to follow through on it I suppose. No amount of my opinion seems to sway him on anything - perfectly normal husband in that regard I suppose!

I used to snore horrible, my husband would have to poke me several times during the night because I was keeping him awake and the kids could hear me in their rooms. I still snore...once in a while but it is nothing like it used to be, I snore just like any other person does now and it is not every night. So yes losing weight does help in the snoring department. Good luck!

Alot of these stories are heartening as I have sleep apnea too. I use a bipap every single night, and now I can't sleep without it. If I tried, my boyfriend would insist I wear it. He says I snore so bad and gasp for air that he can't sleep. I'm truly hoping that losing weight will help with this. I didn't get this until I hit a certain. Before that, I don't think I had a problem with snoring.