Haven't posted here in a while . . .

So I realize from previous posts I've made here that Resmed's MyAir data has little (if any) credibility here, and that if I were looking for advice, SleepyHead would be strongly suggested (though I still have no computer to run it on). But that's not why I'm posting today.

When I had my sleep study last October, it showed 54 AHI's/hr. I weighed in at 320 pounds at the time. After starting CPAP in November, my AHI's dropped to an average of around 4. I've been 100% compliant and havn't struggled at all after a couple of suggested settings tweaks (thanks to folks here).

In mid February I'd decided I'd had enough of the fat hangin' on me. I'd been researching LCHF eating plans combined with intermittent fasting. Since implementing my plan February 16th, I'm down 75 pounds, and still dropping steadily. And though I'd stopped months ago checking my stats on MyAir (they were always really good), I looked last Monday after noticing 0.0 on my machine when I woke up (my first night of zero AHI's). I did the math, and for the previous 2 weeks had averaged less than 0.2 AHI's/hour. Then yesterday and this morning I had 0.0's two days in a row.

I still have another 75 pounds of lard hangin' on me. I know CPAP is probably forever, but I wonder, has anyone ever been able to cure severe obstructive sleep apnea by losing enough weight? Or is apnea forever? Just curious. . . .

It has happened with a big loss such as you're having, and while it's still pretty rare to be able to ditch Cpap forever - do get a new study when you've reached your ideal weight - it can happen. And congrats on what you're doing - it's terrific!

loghouse wrote:I still have another 75 pounds of lard hangin' on me. I know CPAP is probably forever, but I wonder, has anyone ever been able to cure severe obstructive sleep apnea by losing enough weight? Or is apnea forever? Just curious. . . .

your apnea was quite possibly a contributing factor to your weight gain. and treating the apnea is helping you lose it. so, instead of the apnea being caused by the weight, the weight may have been caused by the apnea.

I happen to know one person who was officially able to ditch the cpap machine after a major weight loss.
She did confirm that the OSA was gone by having another sleep study once she hit her target weight.

So yes...it can happen if the weight was the only reason for the OSA.
Problem is that sometimes the OSA can't be blamed on excess weight for all people and for those people losing the weight won't make the OSA go away.
Example....I never snored or had any OSA symptoms until I hit menopause and I weighed a grand total of 110 lbs soaking wet.
It was the saggy tissues courtesy of menopause (other things sag besides the boobs, belly and butt ) that gave me the OSA.
Now I weigh about 30 lbs more than I did back then but if I lost those pounds I would still have OSA because I had it at 110 lbs. So for me the extra pounds isn't the cause of my OSA.

There's more to OSA causes than just extra weight but when weight is the only cause and a person can lose big chunks of weight AND KEEP IT OFF...there is a good chance that the OSA will go away.
Always have a repeat sleep study without cpap once target weight has been met and stable for a little while just to make sure.

Congratulations on your weight loss. Once you get to your target weight...get a repeat sleep study if you are wanting to know for sure that the OSA is gone. Don't guess about it and don't rely on the 0.0 AHI with from the machine.
Get another sleep study and go without the cpap for at least 3 nights before you have the sleep study. Home study that is of good quality (not just O2 test all by itself) would probably be good enough.

Thank you for the feedback. Just woke up to another 0.0 ( 3 nights in a row now).

Yes, I too think stopping without another sleep study would be foolishness. My next followup appointment with that Dr. isn't until January, so we'll see how things go between now and then. Getting the weight off and keeping it off is my priority for now. The CPAP machine doesn't bother me at all, and I haven't had any issues with the nose pillows since starting this, so I'm fine with continuing for as long as I need to, whether that be forever or not.

loghouse wrote:
In mid February I'd decided I'd had enough of the fat hangin' on me. I'd been researching LCHF eating plans combined with intermittent fasting. Since implementing my plan February 16th, I'm down 75 pounds, and still dropping steadily. And though I'd stopped months ago checking my stats on MyAir (they were always really good), I looked last Monday after noticing 0.0 on my machine when I woke up (my first night of zero AHI's). I did the math, and for the previous 2 weeks had averaged less than 0.2 AHI's/hour. Then yesterday and this morning I had 0.0's two days in a row.

I still have another 75 pounds of lard hangin' on me. I know CPAP is probably forever, but I wonder, has anyone ever been able to cure severe obstructive sleep apnea by losing enough weight? Or is apnea forever? Just curious. . . .

well done, I'm on LCHF too. Why didn't we know this 20 years ago. I blindly followed the low fat healthy grains nonsense, thinking it was the right thing to do. only to finish up as an obese T2 with apnea