Cure for apnea

[Duermo]

On my first visit to Dr. Sleepy after my first test (Dec. '09) I asked if I would ever get over my apnea. He said, "Well, if you lost about 50 pounds...". I was 185 lbs. (65 year old female, 5'2") at the time.
Well, that wasn't going to happen so I joined the forum, got help on choosing my CPAP, got your advice and tips, and used the machine faithfully with no trouble. Wouldn't even take a nap without using it. A true believer.
I was heading towards Type 2 diabetes in April '18 when my GP suggested the keto diet to bring my blood sugar down. By the summer I had lost 20 lbs., my sugar was down, I had cut my blood pressure dosage in half, stopped needing my asthma inhalers, and lowered my bad cholesterol. One night in March '19, down another ten pounds, I fell asleep without my machine and woke up in the morning after a sound sleep. No more gasping for breath. Haven't used the CPAP since.
After another ten pound loss (I'm at 140 now), another test, Dr. Sleepy gave me the all-clear. I'm at about maximum five interruptions an hour which is in the acceptable range. No more CPAP if I keep the weight off.
My apnea was obstructive, not central, and weight loss won't help every sufferer. But it may be a start for many. Please try it. It may help you.
The keto diet, which is all about insulin resistance (see www.dietdoctor.com and google The Obesity Code), can be a great help.
Thank you

[palerider]

>After another ten pound loss (I'm at 140 now), another test, Dr. Sleepy gave me the all-clear. I'm at about maximum five interruptions an hour which is in the acceptable range.

Oh yay, your sleep is only interrupted every 12 minutes, yay for you

[Goofproof]

It's not Dr. Sleepy's body, why would he care? Congrats, on the weightloss, but why you would stop XPAP, which is clearly working for you, I don't get!

I'd keep using XPAP, and keep the weight off. You can monitor your software on your computer (Oscar), and see how you are doing, but 5 events a hour isn't good enough for me 0 to 2 is what it takes for me, and I breath better on clean cool air.

As we age we need all the help we can get to keep the body running, why not take advantage of it. Jim

Death Cures Sleep Apnea!

[Julie]

And as you need more sleep not using your machine, you will begin to crave carbs again, and guess what'll happen to your weight?

[zonker]

One night in March '19, down another ten pounds, I fell asleep without my machine and woke up in the morning after a sound sleep. No more gasping for breath. Haven't used the CPAP since.

congrats on the weight loss. good work!

as to the sleep apnea. have you had a test to see if you are cured?

oh wait, just saw what palerider quoted back to you. your not cured, you still have sleep apnea. if you are happy with your situation, then good on ya.

however, if you want to get better numbers and sleep even better, then you can post some charts and seek advice from experts here.

in any event, please don't go around saying that you've CURED your sleep apnea. it's never cured, only treated.

[palerider]

One night in March '19, down another ten pounds, I fell asleep without my machine and woke up in the morning after a sound sleep. No more gasping for breath. Haven't used the CPAP since.

congrats on the weight loss. good work!

as to the sleep apnea. have you had a test to see if you are cured?

oh wait, just saw what palerider quoted back to you. your not cured, you still have sleep apnea. if you are happy with your situation, then good on ya.

however, if you want to get better numbers and sleep even better, then you can post some charts and seek advice from experts here.

in any event, please don't go around saying that you've CURED your sleep apnea. it's never cured, only treated.

Well, it is eventually cured... Sort of.

[zonker]

One night in March '19, down another ten pounds, I fell asleep without my machine and woke up in the morning after a sound sleep. No more gasping for breath. Haven't used the CPAP since.

congrats on the weight loss. good work!

as to the sleep apnea. have you had a test to see if you are cured?

oh wait, just saw what palerider quoted back to you. your not cured, you still have sleep apnea. if you are happy with your situation, then good on ya.

however, if you want to get better numbers and sleep even better, then you can post some charts and seek advice from experts here.

in any event, please don't go around saying that you've CURED your sleep apnea. it's never cured, only treated.

Well, it is eventually cured... Sort of.

yup. but i hope to put off THAT cure for as long as i can.

as someone once said "i'm going to live forever. or die trying."

[chunkyfrog]

We probably should take up a collection for flowers . . .
Unfortunately, those afflicted with denial are dropping like flies.

[palerider]

We probably should take up a collection for flowers . . .
Unfortunately, those afflicted with denial are dropping like flies.

There's too many flies..

[kteague]

I do believe that for some people weight loss will resolve their OSA. I'm not one of those, as my symptoms were present before the weight gain, and I think the OSA contributed to the gain rather that the other way around. But as to your specific situation, do you have a copy of your sleep study? I'd suggest scrutinizing it before placing too much stock in a general result of an AHI of 5. (Which, by the way, would be way too high for my well being.) Here's what I would look for...

Check your sleep stages. If you were short on deep sleep and/or REM sleep, there's a good chance on a night with more your AHI would be higher. Some people are below the diagnostic number until they reach REM. It is important to see a FULL picture before reaching conclusions.

How much of your sleep time was supine? It is common for the number of events to increase when back sleeping. Put back sleeping with REM stage and that could present a worst case scenario that's much worse than when one is side sleeping lightly. My sleep doc termed any study that did not capture a significant period of REM sleep while supine as "technically suboptimal".

What was the duration of your events? Count is but one measurement. Duration and desats matter too. A picture of a few short events looks very different from few events just because each one lasted so long.

If indeed your OSA is around 5, maybe you can take some steps outside of CPAP to mitigate their effect. Avoiding back sleeping, maybe using some sort of support to keep you from tucking your chin, maybe even a dental device could get you to a level as good as what many find acceptable on CPAP. Good luck with things.

[turbo]

We probably should take up a collection for flowers . . .
Unfortunately, those afflicted with denial are dropping like flies.

There's too many flies..

True. There's only so much one can do. At some point, flies need to help themselves

[chunkyfrog]

I'm afraid they don't make a mask that small.

[turbo]

Could be done, if they'd only use it

[SheitlQueen]

Great! I'm glad you lost weight and have gotten good benefits from it. An AHI of 5 is mild, but I would probably still be using the bipap I have to get it as low as possible. Just started my own weight loss journey so hopefully I have the same great results you have gotten.