WEIGHT GAIN! In TEARS!!!

I have been using my new Bipap for 6 weeks and I have gained almost 12 lbs!!!! It seems to be climbing by 2 lbs a month!!! I am in TEARS over this.. .None of my clothes fit... I feel so out of control. I have weighed the same for 5 years now... and nothing has changed... other than that fact that I feel GREAT on the machine... I am working out... on the move all the time..where as before I was couch ridden most of the time.. Sooo what trade off... I get to not suffocate at night...but I get to get fat in the process.

I just don't know what to do... has anyone found why this is happening? My doc says it is very normal.. I am hardly eating much because I am sooo frreaked out and still gaining... I just want to cry over this.. So I have to buy a whole new wardrobe now...because of CPAP therapy?

WTF????

Anyone have any words of wisdom for me???

Sorry to be such a downer..... (((((((

Well that's disheartening. I have read on here of a few who gained weight after starting CPAP and some theories have been thrown around. No idea how valid they are. One theory is that being sleep deprived with the stress of sleep apnea uses up energy while we try to sleep. I guess the question would be if the increased activity after being treated offsets that pre-treatment energy use. Any chance some of your weight gain is from the strengthened muscles from working out? Any sign it is water weight? I don't know what to tell you. I've stalled out in the weight battle myself. Just don't deprive yourself to the point it signals your body it's starving so hold on to all the fat it can. I don't really understand your doctor's response as if this to be expected. Did they at least check your thyroid function? Or kidney function if there's edema? Things can happen with the body that just happen to coincide with CPAP use. If the weight gain continues, I'd insist on some follow-up. Maybe your body is going through some sort of adjustment phase and things will level off. Let's hope. Congrats on using your machine and having the energy to become more active. I know that feels like little consolation right now, but it's really a big deal and commendable.

Hi Jacque,

kteague have very good points here and I would like to add one more. Did you start (or change) any new meds around the time you started CPAP or maybe just a few months before? Some meds, like those for depression, might have some side effects like weight gain. I've been lurcking in sleep apnea forums for about a year now and I think you are the first thread I see about weight gain under xPAP, so I guest it's pretty rare that people would gain weight only because of xPAP. But the fact that you feel so great and able to work out after 6 weeks is really a good start and should keep you motivated in continuing your Bipap therapy.

At this point, you might start looking at the balance between your exercise and your dietary intake.
There are relatively inexpensive pedometers that also estimate the calories used.
It may be that feeling better translates into food tasting better which leads to eating more.
Keeping a journal for a week or so about everything you eat and all the exercise you do may lead to an idea of what is going on. Remember if calories in is greater than calories out, your weigh goes up.

Really interesting, and surprising, study to read. Thanks for the link Morbius.

I too gained weight after starting CPAP. I was not expecting to gain weight. Eventually, I decided I had to throw out my previous assumptions about what I was eating and how much I was working out, and start all over again. In my case, my eating had crept up, and I think my body had become used to the workouts/walking I was doing, and then so I needed more exercise. I started again with a diet journal, writing down everything I ate and drank for a week, measuring everything with a scale. I was eating more than I thought.

It doesn't seem fair, I know.

Good Luck!

John

Morbius wrote:http://www.aasmnet.org/jcsm/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=29161

Study was done 2003-2008....I wonder if there is more current data?

Jacque wrote:I have been using my new Bipap for 6 weeks and I have gained almost 12 lbs!!!! It seems to be climbing by 2 lbs a month!!! I am in TEARS over this.. .None of my clothes fit... I feel so out of control. I have weighed the same for 5 years now... and nothing has changed... other than that fact that I feel GREAT on the machine... I am working out... on the move all the time..where as before I was couch ridden most of the time.. Sooo what trade off... I get to not suffocate at night...but I get to get fat in the process.

I just don't know what to do... has anyone found why this is happening? My doc says it is very normal.. I am hardly eating much because I am sooo frreaked out and still gaining... I just want to cry over this.. So I have to buy a whole new wardrobe now...because of CPAP therapy?

WTF????

Anyone have any words of wisdom for me????


Sorry to be such a downer..... (((((((

Are your numbers correct? 12 pounds in 6 weeks?...that's 2 pounds per week. If your numbers are correct and you are gaining 2 pounds per month, you were gaining months before CPAP.

LSAT wrote:

Morbius wrote:http://www.aasmnet.org/jcsm/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=29161

Study was done 2003-2008....I wonder if there is more current data?

There is.

Jacque wrote:I have been using my new Bipap for 6 weeks and I have gained almost 12 lbs!!!!

I gained too. My theory is that with decent sleep ones digestive system works "better". This also applies to any medication you are taking. A good example of this is coffee - the caffeine in one cup of coffee now has the effects of 4 cups previously on me. Many people find they have to adjust any medication they are taking WITH THE HELP OF YOUR DOCTOR!!!!!

Once your cpap therapy is dialled in you need to evaluate EVERYTHING - food, meds, habits, exercise! Don't just look at the calories but WHAT you are actually eating. Carbohydrates do a number on your glucose levels so if you are eating low fat that might be really bad your particular body type. Also people in general under estimate what they eat by 30 to 40%. It is amazing how many bad habits have crept in under sleep deprivation that you don't think about (That chocolate bar at 3pm, that snack before bedtime, those extra Cokes or flavoured lattes for the caffeine, crashing on the couch at 7pm, the habit of thinking you will be "too tired" to join and do things - all those mental ruts that are so comforting)

Cpap is not making you gain. You said that you are barely eating....well not eating enough also makes you gain weight. Your body goes into starvation mode and holds onto any calories you put into your system. It does not take a lot for your system to enter starvation mode. Take a breath and pay attention to eating and eating a healthy diet.not over eating or under eating. Best to you!

webbie73 wrote:It does not take a lot for your system to enter starvation mode.

Could you show some documentation to support this claim?

Thanks.

Morbius wrote:

webbie73 wrote:It does not take a lot for your system to enter starvation mode.

Could you show some documentation to support this claim?

Thanks.

I have read this before also however it is usually associated more with stagnation of weight loss - plateauing.

"Starvation mode" is an excuse to keep eating.

Unless one is on the Dachau Diet, there is no such thing as starvation mode.

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/