Overweight-Back Pain-BPAP Experience

[oflatun]

Hi everyone,

I would like to share my experience with you.

I'm a 38 years old male.

I've been overweight since my childhood. Around my 25 I realized that people start to complain about my snoring. With my age It got worse and affected the quality of sleep. However it was not that big issue till Covid 19 came!

I got Covid and laid down without doing nothing but eating! As an overweight person I became obese as putting on 20 kg. plus in several months with that performance...With that my nights started to become nightmare! I couldn't manage to sleep on my sides at first, only position was just on my tummy with insane upper back pain, with drooling, turning round and round to get oxygen enough. That caused even eyelid problem at me. My eyelids (mostly left) didn't functioned well and my eyes were in terrible condition for more than a year. After those terrible days, maybe similar to you, my wife helped me. She realized that I was dying in the nights, shaking my legs, stop breathing, choking etc. My days were like hell. I am a banker and the workplace is so stressful and busy. my days were like hell, I was always feel sleepy, tired, anxious and irritable. At the end, I finally accepted to go to the Doctor with accepting the situation.

As a result of my tests, I had 103 AHI score which was great! They immediately wrote my report and I got my Resmed AirCurve 10 BPAP machine in 16th of November 2022. I couldn't believe that, the cure for that kind of serious illness was just that easy to find! I used to wake up for peeing almost 4 times a night. I learned that was because of my carbon dioxide level which was high with less oxygen intake! Now my sleeps are so deep and calm, no nightmares, no drooling, no more on stomach sleep, no more eyelid problem. In the day time, no more sleepy mood, more active life and brain. I feel like 20 again. I hope to lose weight now as I heard from some people which experienced similar problems.

Although I feel amazing about my treatment, I have a big problem. I experienced the same problem when I started to sleep on my stomach and now I have the same upper back pain again. I sleep so deep that I don't change my position in the night. When I start to sleep on my left side, I wake up on my left side without any move. And when I wake up, I can't tell you how terrible pain on my upper back and chest area. I guess with that much fat, it is hard to maintain the same position for that long for my body! After 3-4 hours the pain disappears in the day. But in the night it doesn't not let me sleep back an I finally wake up too early after 6,6-7 hours of sleep.

So now I feel just sorry for my almost 2 years without accepting my apnea and not getting treatment.

Regards.

[Julie]

Ask a doctor - something else not related to Cpap could be going on, and when's the last time you looked at new mattresses?

[oflatun]

Actually I am sure that my mattress is quite good for my weight. However I will consider about seeing my doctor if the pain does not pass with time. Thanks

[Miss Emerita]

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience with apnea and PAP treatment. In fact, I wonder whether you would mind copying and pasting that part of your post to share it in the Success Stories thread you'll see toward the top of home page for the forum.

All best wishes for figuring out your back pain. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's connected with your weight, and a doctor, nutritionist, and/or physical therapist might be able to help you address the problem. Good luck!

[oflatun]

Thank you very much! I have just shared my post there too.

[Miss Emerita]

Great!

[Coatimundi]

I am obese and also use BiPAP. My story is a lot like yours. I sometimes have back pain that wakes me up too but I can usually get back to sleep so long as I don't have to wake up too early the next morning.

I see a chiropractor a few times per year. Other times I check out motivationaldoc on YouTube. You can search through his videos for various musculoskeletal ailments and see if he has a video with some gentle exercises and mobilizations you can do.

He says this is a good, basic move for people with lower back pain to try out. Very often it is really a muscle issue rather than spinal alignment per se.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H6Q7Qo9YfE

I like doing this move standing too.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q8K4ga4eEVY

[Janknitz]

I wear a smart watch (Apple Watch). I wonder if you set a haptic alarm for every few hours if it would wake you just enough to shift positions but not bring you fully awake?

I always used to sleep in one position all night long, but it became painful on my hip. I know I wake every hour or two to turn, which involves shifting the pillow between my knees and under my top arm, plus I have a very soft cervical pillow I tuck under my chin. And I have to reposition my back strap of my mask. For the most part I go right back to sleep except the 4'ish a.m. wakeup which often brings me a lot more awake.

And if my husband isn't sleeping, he tosses, turns, grumbles, and rips the covers off me, and sometimes that ruins my sleep for the rest of the night (while he gets up, takes trazadone, and falls back into a peaceful sleep.

[kteague]

I've recently been on a weight loss journey, lost 62 pounds so far, and it has made an amazing difference in how I feel. My lower back pain is much improved when walking, but recently made a discovery. Was visiting out of town and the bed I slept in felt like it was going to be wonderful - not too hard for someone who sleeps on the couch. On the trip my back got worse by the day till people were commenting on my gait. As soon as I got back to my couch the back pain went back to minimal. Realized my body needs the back support. You may want to try a body pillow behind your back and see if it helps while you are trying to find out the actual cause of your pain.

Something else you said caught my attention. When your wife observed your legs shaking, was it only when having apnea events? There is a sleep disorder with leg movements, but for that there would have to be movements unrelated to struggling to breathe.

Good luck with resolving your issues and congrats on making the progress you have made.

[chunkyfrog]

Too many mattresses are made for people of ideal weight only.
Usable life is normal for small people.
If you are big, expect your mattress to become useless much faster.
Firm mattresses may not be as comfy as soft ones,
but they have little support or durablility for large frames.
You need SUPPORT.