Friend's interesting gastric bypass experience

[lvwildcat]

Kathy, I had my gastric bypass done last Thursday. Like the good compliant girl that I am I brought my CPAP to the hospital, Used it Thursday night. Woke up Friday,felt like hell and I was bloated like you wouldn't believe. My PCP(pulmonologist) came to visit as a friend couple hours later. Asked him if it was due to my CPAP. He said -yea, pushing air into my stomach. We decided I wouldn't use it for a week or so. I used it for the first time last night and no problems. My surgeon didn't say anything about not using it. And trust me;he's the most meticulous MD I've ever met. So, it was a personal choice and I think it did good giving my new stomach a week to heal. I did have an UGI the first morning and my new pouch looked great.

[lvehko]

I think weight loss can "cure" some people of OSA. There was a woman who posted several years ago on the TAS message board. She worked for a sleep doctor. He had written a paper, I think she said, about several of his patients who had been cured (confirmed by PSG) of sleep apnea after massive weight loss.

I know this is kind of an old thread, but isn't it 'common knowledge' that weight loss can 'cure' apnea? I'm sort of being Devil's advocate here, because I recently had somebody tell me if I just lost some weight I wouldn't have to use the CPAP, and I'm trying to find some scientific research that either proves or disproves this. Everything I read seems to second-guess itself -- even articles that appear to find no causative relationship always say somewhere later on that 'obesity can exacerbate apnea.' So, que es la deal?

M.

[socknitster]

Minerva,

It is a mixed bag--which is why you are not finding concrete evidence. Obesity can cause apnea, but so can abnormally developed structures in the jaw, tongue, tonsils, adenoids, nose, palate and throat. This is a complex disorder without a simple cure. While it is true that some people have lost weight and gotten off cpap, others develop apnea due to other causes and the fatigue asssociated with apnea may cause them to gain excessive weight--for those folks weight loss may reduce the pressure required to keep the airway open, but will not cure the apnea unless the underlying problem is addressed.

Any doctor that tells you that losing weight will for sure cure your apnea is not a well-informed doctor. It can't hurt--in the long run you willl be far healthier--but you may still have apnea. There have been many who have been disappointed by these statements doctors make. And just as many people who will tell you they are stick thin and have very severe apnea, and have never been overweight in their life.

There is just more to it than fat.

Jen

[Treesap]

What was interesting to me was the post op instructions for no cpap for 6 weeks. Here all this time I thought aerophagia was just a discomfort some users deal with - didn't realize it is prevalent enough or severe enough for it to be a factor after gastric bypass surgery. (And I thought I was just one of the unlucky few!)

I work with someone who had gastric bypass this past summer. She said she was forbidden to drink any kind of soda for the same reason: it would expand her stomach. I didn't know soda could do that.

_________________

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

[hades161]

I just went through the intake seminar for the LAP Band / RNY. During the seminar they had said that any carbonated beverage can cause you to get very uncomfortably bloated and even might hurt your surgery in the first months. Suger is one more thing that will get ya as it will hit the colon almost directly and it can't hadle it and in turn makes one very ill. How you eat your food to will have to change. Eat slow, chew more, eat proteins first, then veggy and only drink after. Not looking forward to it.

I have read about OSA, Morbid Obesity, Depression, Rapid weight gain, Uncontrolable Food Cravings, GERD, GallBladder Disease and all the other related health issues. I have come to see that they all lead to the same place. I believe strongly that it's all related and made worse due to how slowly they can come together. They feed into each other so badly its very hard if not impossible to predict what started it all. They make such a giant health knot in a person's life that I feel no one can really say what will be fixed, what will not, and when.

I wonder if this is an indication of how specialized our medical practices have become. Everyone is so busy focusing on 1 thing that they rarely look at the over all picture. At least that's how I feel about my local medical community. To this day I have not had the feeling that any of the Doctor's I have seen in the past 8 years, have really shared notes and looked at the big picture. Kinda sounds like I am blaming them but I know it's on my side too.

I have found case studies that support proper treatment of OSA can help clear up all of these related issues. I have researched and found that the Bastric Bypass surgeries can do the same. I am actively working on breaking the pattern of these issues and feel the RNY will aid me in this.

I look back and see a simple growth pattern.

Hungry, but to tired to cook/clean up after hmmm McD's is fast.
Sad because I know I shouldn't eat that way but did.
Feel like crap and have heartburn when trying to sleep.
Wake up tired but must go to work no time for breakfast, McD's again.
Do poorly at work, to tired, feel crappy, should stop off at the gym.
Depressed because I didnt go to the gym, to tired to do it, to tired to cook, so hit fast food again.
Wake up tired, hungry, depressed, dreading work, and feel like crap.

Rinse & Repeat add in a few more stressors and BAM.

What came first? who knows. But I feel the only way to break and enforce change in this cycle for me after 20 years is to

A. Treat the OSA.
B. Do the RNY.
C. Treat the depression.
D. Nail down any and all Co-morbids as best I can.
E. Hope for the best and deal with whatever is left over.

If it all clear's up great but I won't setup myself up by thinking its all going to be cured.

Best Wishes on things and Sleep Well.

[lawdognellie]

My gastric bypass is scheduled for March 3. I was told no soda because all the carbonation and gas can make your stomach expand. Gotta remember that post-bypass a person's stomach is about the size of a shot class. Not exactly a lot of room. I have my pre-op class this afternoon and I'm gonna ask specifically about use of CPAP after surgery and about aerophagia. I'll let you know what I find out.

Sarah