Can Sleep Apnea Be Cured By Diet and Exercise?

[Johnny C]

I'd like to know if anyone on this forum has had any luck getting rid of sleep apnea by eating right, exercising, and losing weight? I have read that a lot of sleep apnea is caused due to living a sedentary lifestyle that causes the throat to become loose and fatty, causing the airway to be blocked by flabby tissue and weakened muscles.

Anyone?

[Snoredog]

good luck with that

[Johnny C]

Why do you think my question is funny? I am asking a serious question about a very seriou matter. I am about 40-50 lbs. overweight, and if I could reduce my sleep apnea issues without spending thousands on doctor bills, I would be glad to get on the treadmill.

I am asking if anyone has had any luck with this. I'm not asking to be mocked, so please refrain from doing that. How many of you are overweight on this forum? Has anyone had any luck with helping reduce their sleep apnea problems by exercising and losing weight?

[rstcso]

My cardiologist called less than an hour ago to see how I was doing on CPAP. I told him I was feeling better. We have an appointment scheduled for February. He said to stay on the CPAP and he wants me to be at 250lbs by then (I'm 270 now). He said when(if) I get to 220, I probably won't need CPAP. This is based on my case being mild to moderate and many other factors. The best answer is "maybe", but each person is going to be different. Best of luck to you.

[Wulfman]

Why do you think my question is funny? I am asking a serious question about a very seriou matter. I am about 40-50 lbs. overweight, and if I could reduce my sleep apnea issues without spending thousands on doctor bills, I would be glad to get on the treadmill.

I am asking if anyone has had any luck with this. I'm not asking to be mocked, so please refrain from doing that. How many of you are overweight on this forum? Has anyone had any luck with helping reduce their sleep apnea problems by exercising and losing weight?

It's not "funny", but it's indicative of how little (far too many) people know about this condition. It's more probable that the sleep apnea caused/causes the weight gain......genetics and body structure also play a part......and there are MANY people who are NOT overweight that have Sleep Apnea.

Far too many people are also in denial about this condition and about half of the people who start on XPAP therapy give up.

"Acceptance" is the first step to getting one's life back.

Den

[FoxNewsFan]

Johnny,
I don't know if there is a good answer to your question. While the sleep therapist was hooking all the wires to me at the sleep clinic, I mentioned the subject of weight to him and he said there were 6 people in the clinic at that time and 5 of them were not overweight. He said he had OSA and he was on the thin side.

My sleep doc said he didn't think weight loss would make sleep apnea go away but might result in a drop of the pressure needed to prevent apneas.

Ed

[birdshell]

Excess weight is a factor in sleep apnea, but it is not the ONLY one. Plenty of people with a proper fat:lean body tissue percentage (usually about 21-24 % for women and 14-17 % for men) have sleep apnea.

So, it isn't a guarantee that one will lose weight and totally reverse apnea. It may be more likely that one's pressure would be reduced.

In my case, for example, the sleep doctor told me on my first visit that he could tell from my anatomy that surgery would not work for me. Since I have always snored since about age 12-14 years (tonsils and adenoids were removed at barely age 4), I probably was treated for apnea that young without realizing that I had it!

I say this to demonstrate that many of us are apneics, and are pretty much apneics for life. Even some of the surgeries do not work over the long term, although some are needed to open up the airways. As Ozij has recently pointed out, CPAP cannot force air through a blocked airway.

Here is a link for more information on the body fat percentage appropriate for various categories of people:
Understanding Your Body Fat Percentage Link

Karen,
Who likes the humidity enough to use CPAP at a neutral pressure (Is that even possible?)

[jnk]

Snoredog treats us all that way. But he loves us and is one of the most helpful posters around on any board I've ever seen. Not that he needs the likes of me to defend him.

If you need to lose weight and you do, it will improve your life in numerous ways and improve many, possibly most, of your medical difficulties. But it will not solve all medical problems. No one would discourage you from doing something as healthy as that, if you find success in doing it. It can make PAP therapy more successful. So I, like Snoredog, wish you the best with that. But many of us have been through a stage of denial that your question seems to embody.

Losing weight can lessen the severity of someone's obstructive sleep apnea. Being overweight affects breathing, and belly fat and neck fat can certainly play a major role (roll?). But sleep apnea is complicated. Although there have been a few examples of someone with mild OSA technically no longer falling into the diagnosis criteria for the syndrome after losing weight, it seems to be rare for weight loss alone to do the trick for people with moderate-to-severe OSA. In my case, the anatomy of my throat means that I would have the problem even if I were underweight. And a number in this forum are not overweight but still have significant OSA.

Eating healthy and getting exercise as a way to live the rest of your life is a great choice no matter how much better your OSA gets or even if it stays the same. The thing is, though, that it is difficult to lose weight if you aren't sleeping effectively. So trying to lose weight without first addressing the OSA is difficulty on top of difficulty. That means that if you are really serious about losing weight, step one might be using PAP therapy to get you sleeping and breathing at night so your body is in a better position to lose the weight in a healthy fashion and that might increase your chances of keeping it off.

One man's opinion. That's what boards are for.

[carbonman]

I have read that a lot of sleep apnea is caused due to living a sedentary lifestyle that causes the throat to become loose and fatty, causing the airway to be blocked by flabby tissue and weakened muscles.

JC, desperate to find the answer to pain in my legs and chronic fatigue,
my doc, said, it's a long shot and you don't fit the profile,
but lets do a sleep study.

I am not over weight, have not been in years,
I do eat a very healthy diet,
and ride my bike 120m a week.
I have the lungs of a 30yr old, according to the lung tests I
do when I have a physical.
My throat should be very far from loose and fatty, as it has
been trained to mouth breath for years.

My AHI at the sleep study was 71.

Good luck, you're going to need it.

[CorgiGirl]

My story is a bit different...I was referred for a sleep study because I was unable to lose weight despite a lot of exercise (two hours per day, five days a week) and a restricted calorie diet. I know other people who have also been referred for sleep studies because of weight issues.

Sleep governs the hormones that tell us whether or not we are full or hungry. Not enough (time or quality) of sleep and your body makes too much grehlin (hungry) and not enough leptin (full) hormones. Now that I have been on CPAP for three and a half months, I can tell a difference. I used to be HUNGRY *all* the *time*!!!!! Now I'm not very often hungry and I can stop eating halfway through a big restaurant serving because my brain recognizes the leptin signals and knows I'm full. I have not lost much weight yet, but my BMI is lower and I'm getting smaller. I'm also doing strength training, so I'm gaining muscle at the same time I'm losing fat.

I believe I gained the fat because of my OSA screwing up my hormones and making me constantly hungry. I'm on my way to losing the fat, but I don't think I'll ever be free of my CPAP and that's okay with me.

[Lee Lee]

I lost 47 pounds after starting therapy. I began to excersise, walking 3 miles 5 or 6 times a week. I went to have a second sleep study, positive that I no longer had OSA.
Guess what? My pressure went UP! And I was having more events than ever!
I have read everything I can get my hands on about apnea, and almost every respected source has said that it cannot be cured.
Having said that, losing weight helped all my other health issues and my state of mind.
I am now out of denial and on the hose for good, or until there's a breakthrough!
Best to you,
Lee Lee

[Kiralynx]

I'd like to know if anyone on this forum has had any luck getting rid of sleep apnea by eating right, exercising, and losing weight? I have read that a lot of sleep apnea is caused due to living a sedentary lifestyle that causes the throat to become loose and fatty, causing the airway to be blocked by flabby tissue and weakened muscles. Anyone?

Johnny,

I'm new at this CPAP business, and asked a similar question a couple of weeks ago. Although my interest was nutrition, more than amounts of foods. Yes, I'm obese, down 180 pounds from morbidly obese. Working on the last 100 pounds.

I was diagnosed with apnea by a pain management doctor because of on-going pain from earlier surgery and in my hips. The hip pain started in June of 2002... after I had lost 75 pounds.

Since starting CPAP treatment, my hip pain has diminished. So, apparently, I started showing symptoms of apnea over six years ago, and after I'd lost a significant amount of weight.

You are correct that apnea can be worsened by being overweight. But apnea can be a cause of overweight as well as being caused by it. It's a serious "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" situation.

Now, I follow a special diet. I do water therapy at least three times a week. So eating healthy and exercising isn't going to hurt you and will certainly help you. But... it isn't (as I can demonstrate) a cure for apnea.

When I came out of the doctor's office after getting my diagnosis, I was crying. I've just been through cancer surgery, and the last thing I needed was another major health challenge. I'm claustrophobic, and the idea of wearing a mask terrified me.

Tonight will be my 15th night on the hose. I could wish that when I reach my optimum weight, I could retire the hose forever. But I rather doubt it. I can tell you that I'd be willing to do any number of things if I could avoid having to do the hose for the rest of my life. But in the meantime, I'm accepting what is, using the hose, and hoping that the healing will assist me in getting that last hundred pounds off.

Welcome to CPAPTalk.... this is the place where I've learned how to stop being scared, and how to take charge of my therapy.

[FoxNewsFan]

Kiralynx,

Well said. I'm sure there are a lot of us on this forum that are wishing you the best.

Ed

[Bearded_One]

Where did you read that "... sleep apnea is caused due to living a sedentary lifestyle that causes the throat to become loose and fatty, causing the airway to be blocked by flabby tissue and weakened muscles. "?

That statement is offensive and I seriously doubt that there are any studies that show this.

[stacia123]

Why do you think my question is funny? I am asking a serious question about a very seriou matter. I am about 40-50 lbs. overweight, and if I could reduce my sleep apnea issues without spending thousands on doctor bills, I would be glad to get on the treadmill.

I am asking if anyone has had any luck with this. I'm not asking to be mocked, so please refrain from doing that. How many of you are overweight on this forum? Has anyone had any luck with helping reduce their sleep apnea problems by exercising and losing weight?

He's not mocking you. It's just that so many people think sleep apnea only happens to fat people and what you said sounded more like an attack. Asking if we're all fat and lazy and how many here are overweight is pretty rude from someone who hasn't even registered.

Like practically every other illness discussed on talk shows and in magazines, people who don't know better claim that all you have to do is lose weight and you'll be cured. That's simply not true. It may work for some, but it's not a cure for many of us who have issues with our throats, genetics, jaw structure, or whatever. And besides, we don't know anything about your situation. What does your doctor say? When did you have a sleep test? What were the results? Are you having centrals?