What's the cause and effect of Weight and Sleep Apnea

Enchanter wrote:Also why isn't liposuction in the neck a recommended surgery if it is the fat tissues causing the obstruction?

Over the last year that my weight has dropped 90 lbs and my AHI has quadrupled my thyroid has shrunk, too.

Doctors don't know s***...

Enchanter wrote:So when a doctor looks down your throat and thinks you have OSA, what is he looking at?

Mallampati Score

Lipo is very dangerous in areas that have many blood vessels.
Can you guess why?

"It's not the size of the neck on the outside. It's the size of the airway in the neck." - Dr. Mack Jones

ChicagoGranny wrote:"It's not the size of the neck on the outside. It's the size of the airway in the neck." - Dr. Mack Jones

So there's nothing you can do about size of the airway except lose weight?

Not even that. Just use your cpap.

Losing weight is unlikely to appreciably widen your airway which is mostly a matter of individual genetic structure - it's not 'fat'. I think only if you were hugely obese that it might apply a little pressure to the inside, but even losing e.g. 200 lbs doesn't mean apnea will necessarily be cured by that.

They aren't always able to look at your throat, neck and predict if you have sleep apnea. That certainly was not the case for me. I had the physical part of the exam and from my understanding it wasn't remarkable. The only way they could tell (sadly) was the sleep study. Too bad because otherwise they could look at you, do no sleep study, say you need x and this amount of air pressure to hold your airway.

My first plan of action if I was overweight and was diagnosed with sleep apnea would be to adopt a healthier lifestyle (better eating and exercise habits).

Yeah, it might not cure your sleep apnea, but it's definitely worth a shot. Being overweight isn't going to help your health, that's for sure.

However, I've never been overweight in my life. When I was diagnosed, I was extremely lean with little body fat. Every website I read told made it seem like only overweight people had sleep apnea. You can only imagine how confused that made me back then.

TLDR; It doesn't matter. If you're fat and get terrible sleep, get a sleep study. Use a CPAP if you have sleep apnea. Start a healthy lifestyle and get another sleep study when you inevitably lose weight. Compare results. Done.

Some people say that playing the digeridoo can improve the muscle tone of the throat and help with apnea. No joke. Probably the right kind of singing would help, too, but don't know about that.

Enchanter, it is not always weight related. I had a sleep study in 2014, no signs at all of apnea. By 2015 I had a heart attack and severe hypoxia and another sleep study and within that type was diagnosed with apnea and am on CPAP within that time I had lost 25 pounds. So give up on the weight thing and just use your machine.

chunkyfrog wrote:Not even that. Just use your cpap.

Chunkyfrog, you already know the deal.

cancun wrote:Enchanter, it is not always weight related. I had a sleep study in 2014, no signs at all of apnea. By 2015 I had a heart attack and severe hypoxia and another sleep study and within that type was diagnosed with apnea and am on CPAP within that time I had lost 25 pounds. So give up on the weight thing and just use your machine.

Cancun, I cannot sleep in my machine. Please don't make me repeat myself. Don't be ignorant.

Enchanter wrote:

cancun wrote:Enchanter, it is not always weight related. I had a sleep study in 2014, no signs at all of apnea. By 2015 I had a heart attack and severe hypoxia and another sleep study and within that type was diagnosed with apnea and am on CPAP within that time I had lost 25 pounds. So give up on the weight thing and just use your machine.

Cancun, I cannot sleep in my machine. Please don't make me repeat myself. Don't be ignorant.

I did not tell you to sleep in your machine and all you do is REPEAT yourself. I am many things but ignorant is not one of them.

It's the type of breathing, tmk, not the sort of instrument (I play a tenor recorder, which no doubt sounds a lot better), it's the type of breathing. With the digeridoo you do something called circular breathing. The other instruments that require this are things with double reeds like the oboe or the bassoon. I guess the digeridoo has gotten attention because buying a PVC one is pretty cheap (I've seen them online for under $30), where even a student oboe will cost you. Second, I think that the low wave tones may be therapeutic, but don't know for sure on that one. (So maybe if you sing baritone?)

It couldn't hurt though it might scare the dog or cat.

herefishy wrote:Some people say that playing the digeridoo can improve the muscle tone of the throat and help with apnea. No joke. Probably the right kind of singing would help, too, but don't know about that.