Weight loss: recalibrate pressure?

[elmunc]

Hi everyone,
I have dropped about 14 pounds (hooray for Weight Watchers!) recently from a starting weight of 207. On my way, hopefully, to a goal weight of 185. My question is: at what point (if at all) is it advisable to reduce my CPAP air pressure as a consequence of weight loss? In the last couple of weeks I've noticed that I've been waking up a bit more during the night, and occasionally my mouth is extremely dry, so that leads me to wonder whether perhaps my pressure is now too high. (Or I could just be falsely connected the wakeups and dry mouth to the air pressure; I don't really have enough data to draw a firm conclusion...)
I would imagine that this is an issue that some people have dealt with. So as always, any advice from this wonderful community would be much appreciated.
--Eric
PS--If a reduction in pressure is advisable, and I know how to turn down the pressure on my machine by myself, how would I know how much pressure to knock off? I'm at 8 right now, and the machine goes down in increments of .2

[cflame1]

how long have you had your machine? If it's within 30 days I'd recommend discussing with your DME about getting a fully data capable one... yours won't give you any idea of what the pressure should be.

otherwise... if you're still dealing with a DME see about getting a loaner autopap for a retitration.

[LinkC]

I second that. Unless you have a way to see what's happening, you shouldn't fool around with the pressure.

Also, neither waking nor dry mouth are good indicators that a pressure reduction is needed. Unless you are subject to central apneas at higher pressures, there's no medical need to reduce it. But if you WANT to reduce it for comfort, you'll need to insure your AHI doesn't rise. And you'll need data for that. Upgrading your machine is the best option for the long term, but a loaner for titration would work, too...as cflame said.

[blusaber]

[quote="elmunc"]Hi everyone,
I have dropped about 14 pounds (hooray for Weight Watchers!) recently from a starting weight of 207. On my way, hopefully, to a goal weight of 185. My question is: at what point (if at all) is it advisable to reduce my CPAP air pressure as a consequence of weight loss?

Hi

Just went thru this...Been on cPap ten years since july I have lost 35 lbs starting weight was 302 I to started waking up with dry mouth My conclusion (verified by a new study) was my pressure was now to high and my mouth was popping open. They told me 20 lbs and more seems to indicate a change in pressure I got them to get me an auto machine because I intended to lose another 60lbs my pressure now is 2cmH20 less now than it was at 302LBS

Good luck

Gary

[Janknitz]

Congratulations on the weight loss, but . . .

You cannot assume that your pressure needs go down with weight loss. We've even seen some people here have INCREASED pressure needs with weight loss.

But, without data there's no way to tell if you need a change or not. Try to get a data capable machine, borrow a data capable APAP, or ask for a new sleep study.

You should also consider the fact that the mask may fit differently as you lose weight in your face, and that can cause leakage that will affect your AHI, AND may account for the dry mouth symptoms. Decreasing the pressure when your mask is leaking will make your symptoms WORSE. So you must have data before you go monkeying around with your pressures.

This is exactly why we tell everyone that a data capable machine is very important.

[idamtnboy]

This is exactly why we tell everyone that a data capable machine is very important.

A sign where I used to work, "In God We Trust, All Others Please Bring Data!"

[blusaber]

Congratulations on the weight loss, but . . .

You cannot assume that your pressure needs go down with weight loss.

This is exactly why we tell everyone that a data capable machine is very important.

Agreed which is why I had a new study done and switched to an Auto pap to avoid trouble in the future data is the key

Gary