How Fat Are You?

TheeMrFrog wrote:I am just curious. Why do you want to know how much we all weigh? Do you think sleep apnea has something to do with weight? Just curious.....Mr Frog

Statistically, the more you weigh, the more likely it is you'll have sleep apnea. There are many many people that have sleep apnea that aren't overweight as well.

Men tend to be more likely to have it too. And older men. But again, it doesn't mean that other people don't have it, just that you're more likely to if you're one (or more) of those things.

I'm 42 years old on march 1st I was 346 and 5'8" today july 25th I'm 313 and still 5'8" need to get to 200!!!!

I am 5'8" and my weight is 170 pounds..I have been on a 1200 calorie diet for over 6 months now. I started out at 185 pounds, once I hit the 170 mark the weight loss stopped
The doctor seems to think the Apnea has a lot to do with why I was not able to loose more weight than I have..

Since I started the CPAP 3 days ago my doctor wants me to up my intake of calories to 1400 and see if that is any better..Only time will tell..They want me at a max weight of 160, less would be better..

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): CPAP

I am 6' tall and ashamed to say up to 232 lb. but planning to get down to around 185, cpap has not helped at all with lsoing weight. I was pretty active before and since but I think my life may be slightly less difficult in the months ahead. And I think perhaps my metabolism was improved by the CPAP but it is offset by the tiredness caused by waking up several times each night whereas before treatment I slept peacefully straight through. But I feel that I just need to get the tummy back to size to avoid other helth complications even though so far my blood tests are normal on all fronts. I am also very embarassed about being fat.... even thpugh half of our society is.

I am 6' tall and ashamed to say up to 232 lb. but planning to get down to around 185, cpap has not helped at all with lsoing weight. I was pretty active before and since but I think my life may be slightly less difficult in the months ahead. And I think perhaps my metabolism was improved by the CPAP but it is offset by the tiredness caused by waking up several times each night whereas before treatment I slept peacefully straight through. But I feel that I just need to get the tummy back to size to avoid other helth complications even though so far my blood tests are normal on all fronts. I am also very embarassed about being fat.... even thpugh half of our society is.

I am 35. 6' tall female and weigh about 235. I got up close to 300 when pregnant 4 years ago. Amazingly, I don't really look to be that overweight.

I intend on losing about 50 lbs or more (my husband recently lost 70 and if he can do it, I can do it) now that I have more energy and am sleeping better (started cpap about 1 month ago).

Now, I have to say that in retrospect--I GAINED ALL THE WEIGHT AFTER SYMPTOMS OF OSA STARTED which is to say in the chicken and egg gamble--I believe that my trim, athletic, early-20-something body got more and more sedentary the worse my sleep got. Even should I lose the weight, I fully expect to still have apnea. That doesn't mean I won't try! It would certainly make pregnancy easier!

So, if you are going on the assumption that only fat people have apnea and if we would all just buck up and lose 100 lbs we would be healthy, you are dead wrong. Thin people can have structural abnormalities in their throats too. The idea that neck weight is the only factor is ridiculous. I have huge tonsils and a big tongue. That wouldn't change much with weight, I suspect. Did it get worse with weight, absolutely! But caused by it--no way!

I'm not ashamed to say my weight. I've done the best damn job of taking care of myself that I can. I can't be held accountable for what I'm doing when I'm unconscious unless someone makes me aware of it. Now that I know--the ball is in my court. I will lose weight, but I bet the osa will still be there.

Jen

I'm not ashamed to say my weight. I've done the best damn job of taking care of myself that I can. I can't be held accountable for what I'm doing when I'm unconscious unless someone makes me aware of it. Now that I know--the ball is in my court. I will lose weight, but I bet the osa will still be there.

jen

i so admire your attitude about this...as i've posted before (ad nauseum, i must admit) i've only been overweight for the last 3 years...i suddenly started gaining something like 2lbs per week and was running to the gp, the naturopath, the gynocologist, you name 'em, i saw 'em...no help whatsoever except "eat less, move more and take these antidepressants"; i finally topped out at a gain of 40 lbs in less than six months (i'm only 5 feet tall) and since these so-called medical professionals couldn't find anything wrong with me, i started to blame myself even though there was no logical explanation (ie,overeating, lack of exercise...i was very active and ate a healthy diet all along) to the point where i began to indulge in self-loathing...i've spent the last 3 years in a constant state of mortification, embarrassment and shame and even though i now know what was happening to my body, the fact that i can't seem to shed even one pound is so frustrating...i try to tell myself that it wasn't my doing, i wasn't weak or self-indulgent, i didn't bring this on, but the shame keeps creeping back in...it's almost like i want to wear a button that says "i have OSA and that's why i'm fat!" sad, isn't it?
i'm going to read and re-read and read your words again; maybe it'll sink in and i can be forgiving of myself and accept that this was something i couldn't control...until now
thanks for sharing your feelings
sharon1965

I'm 4'10" and 217. Yes, call the docs from Big Medicine.

I have OSA due to a deviated septum (I saw it before the nurse did on the CT scan), which I'm sure is made worse by my weight. However, even if I lost the 70 I need to, I'm sure I'd still have it, but probably not as significant.

I was a scrawny child and a disgustingly thin young adult. I started noticing sleep problems and the weight started creeping on in college. At the time, I assumed I just had a problem with the freshman 15. I became obsessed with fitness and weight in college and weighed myself several times a day--sounds bizarre but I loved to weigh myself after a large bowel movement! Apparantly I have no shame!

So I managed to remain thin until my early 20s when i no longer had the time to obsess about weight--I was married, had pets and a job and lots of friends. Then the weight and the sleep problems (and the anxiety and depression) started getting worse and worse. I would sleep 9 hours and feel like I hadn't slept at all. I never associated it with the weight gain and at the time I didn't snore. It wasn't until I had put on 70 lbs and had a child and lots of allergies that the snoring started.

And I wasn't diagnosed with severe osa until my gp said (on a lark), "You have super-huge tonsils. Maybe you have apnea." That was about 2 months ago.

I probably gained 10 lbs since then because of the stress of the diagnosis and the length time to get the xpap etc etc.

I have had about 2 good weeks on xpap and am starting to feel like I'm 18 again--I can actually invision doing what it will take to lose weight now--whereas before it felt hopeless.

I'm pretty comfortable with my body now, maybe motherhood has helped my body image. Considering what happened to me every night while I slept, it is pretty incredible that I was able to manufacture a live, healthy baby--and you have to love your body for its abilitiy to do that!

That said, yes I would like to be thin again for a lot of reasons. First of all, I beleive it is my true nature, although I must admit I do like some of my extra curves! It would help with my joint problems (which are actually much better now that I'm sleeping!) And I don't like worrying about my heart etc. But I do know how you feel! It has taken a long time for me to accept myself and I don't really think about it too much anymore. I'm actually shocked when I see a pic of myself or catch a glimpse of myself in a window or mirror. I seem to have reverse body image. I think of myself as being thin and I'm always surprised to see that fat person in the reflection. Isn't that weird?

But yeah, you can only do something about a problem if you know what the problem is! How can you beat yourself up for being overweight if something that happens when you are unconscious caused it! Just try to take each day one step at a time and if you are going to lose weight, make lifestyle changes and do them incrementally. Don't slam yourself into a rigid diet and then expect miracles and then end up disappointed because you weren't able to comply.

The best thing to do is eat fruits, veg, whole grains whenever possible, lean meat and small amounts of high quality fat like salmon (don't cut out fat althogether or any other food group for that matter--your body was made for moderation).

Eating oatmeal for breakfast is a great first thing to do and you can lose some weight just making that small change. Don't beat yourself up if you eat something particularly yummy ! My husband lost 70 lbs on the GI diet book. It is a very easy diet to follow and has lots of yummy recipes. I lost 20 lbs by doing it partway while I was still undiagnosed with osa. Once things relax a bit and everything smooths out I will revisit that. Actually we still make recipes from that book just because they are healthy and tasty and we like them.

So accept yourself, don't beat yourself up, because it doesn't accomplish anything! I'll get down from the soapbox now!

Jen

im 33 years old male, 5 foot 8 and weigh 158 pounds.

im skinny

I'm a 5'7" female, 30 years old, and currently weigh (sigh) 190 lbs.
HOWEVER, in the vein of some of the posts questioning the beer belly/obesity - OSA link, I now know that I have had sleep apnea my whole life (symptoms go back to when I was a little kid), and up until the age of 20 or so I did tons of sports (basketball, track, swimming, weight training), was always within the "normal" weight ranges, didn't have belly or neck fat, and STILL had sleep problems. So no, you definitely don't have to be obese to have OSA! I do however see a link between gaining weight and worsening OSA, and vice versa, for me personally.

Two things my sleep dr said that struck me:

- She said she could tell even before doing the sleep study that I would be prone to OSA, because I had a small jaw/chin

- When I complained about not being able to lose weight even though I was so fit when I was younger, she said that there's a high probability that the OSA is causing some of the weight gain / inability to lose it. That was like a weight being lifted off my chest, up until now everyone criticised my weight and said that i would sleep better if I lost it, but now I know that perhaps it's not that I'm lazy, or undisciplined, or stupid or whatever, there's a real biological obstacle there. So I don't feel like a total failure when all my attempts at eating and living healthy aren't working like they should. I'm realy looking forwrad to having more energy with the CPAP and getting back into exercising!

Just one more comment about the stats regarding OSA and obesity (based on one of the previous posts): just because "most" people diagnosed with OSA are overweight doesn't mean that most people that HAVE OSA are overweight - it just means that overweight people probably are more likely to get diagnosed. So in my opinion when campainging for OSA we need to make sure people understand that ANYONE can have OSA, and not necessarily a 50-yr old male with a beer belly.

Hoseheads unite!

44 next month, 6' and 200 pounds. I'm about 8 - 10 pounds over my normal and about 15 over where I would like to be. OTOH, I've a 16.5" neck which is very large for my frame and I'm sure that's a contributing factor to my OSA.

Interestingly, while I wasn't diagnosed until this year, I can rememeber WAY back having issues - even in college when I was very involved in sports, weighed 160 pounds soaking wet, with very little body fat, had a 15 inch neck and 32 inch waist.

I'm 31, 5 foot 4 and about 130 punds right now. I have hgained about 10 pounds in the last year since I noticed sleep problems. I have not changed how I eat but it's been packing on. Ick.
Karen

I've been researching this thing to death since "I got the bit in my teeth" and I"ve been 175# and 120/80 on bp. Ever since I quit smoking and the ensuing 16 weeks (and counting) I've put up 15# and when I went to the Joslin clinic (diabetes) I blew a 169/102. Hence all of my frustration.

The Pulomnary MD gave me klonopin (sp?) and tried it last night and not all the way back, but actually felt like I slept. The MD thinks that quitting smoking was defined as a "traumatic experience." I told him I'll start smoking again, and he gave me one of those drop the nose, look over the glasses, with the "I don't think so" look.

Ah the college days, worked at Dunkin' Donuts. Go out smoke a fatty (not Marlboro), come back in and stuff an entire blueberry muffin in my mouth and still weigh 173.

Stuff happens I guess.

VT

I am have been underweight all my life. I am still relatively slim at 5'8" and 130 lbs, but this is 15 lbs more than I was in September last year when the crushing exhaustion hit. I thought I would recover (I had just completed a 100 mile bike ride), but I didn't. I was dx with sleep apnea last month. I have snored since childhood, but I also have allergies and sinus drainage which don't help. I am having trouble adjusting to cpap and not using all night, but I thought even half the night would give me SOME improvement in tiredness. Not so. (althought DH says I'm not snoring now). In my sleep study I was less than 20 events per hour (only about 13 on my side which is how I like to sleep), and no drop in oxygen saturation. I did take forever to get into REM sleep though. This sucks. I only work, take walks (or short runs) and sleep it seems. Anyway, for some of us weight has nothing to do with it. I do have a small face, and slight overbite. And my personal theory is that sinus drainage is like glue sticking things together even more!