Sleep Apnea Untreated and starting Ketogenic Ketosis diet

[lilly2015]

Hi Everyone

I have severe sleep apnea, I was not able to get it treated... as the past few years I have spent taking care of other people and not myself. I have never been able to wear the mask... So I have just let it go. I have polyps in my nose which cause breathing problems I can't remove them bc there is no one to take care of me after the surgery.

I wake up many times at night unable to breath. I know loosing weight also helps, which I have really struggled with since a car accident that left me severely injured. I just started a Ketogenic diet - called Ideal protein, makes you go into a ketosis state. i was wondering if anyone knew if this was safe with apnea. Does your body need more O2 during ketosis ... Has anyone had experience with this?

Please Let me know asap, thank you so much Lilly

[Julie]

Lilly - I don't think one diet or another will necessarily matter to OSA/Cpap a lot (beyond being sensible and trying not to gain weight), but I feel sad about your experience because you deserve much better and I wish you'd let us help you now with Cpap, masks, all the things that might have gone wrong when you tried it. Things and equipment have changed very much in the past few years, and people here are very knowledgable, experienced, and helpful. There are many new masks and there has to be a couple that would suit you, as well as machines you can get without a big upfront price, often just used for a very short time by others for very low prices... and we can help with it all, but don't let yourself give up on Cpap because you could have a decent life. Write back and tell us if you do have any equipment still hanging around, and what it might be (not suggesting you go back to it tho'), and if you have insurance or not, and a bit more about your orig. diagnosis - if you remember anything about it, and/or what specific problems you had with therapy and which mask.

I also can't believe that in whatever part of the country you're in there's no one at all (from the hospital, private co., or service clubs) that can help you for a short time post surgery for your nose..., but there are also newer full face masks out now that could at least allow you to mouth breathe if necessary, with or without surgery... give us a chance to help you! You can get better.

[Drowsy Dancer]

Hi Everyone

I have severe sleep apnea, I was not able to get it treated... as the past few years I have spent taking care of other people and not myself. I have never been able to wear the mask... So I have just let it go. I have polyps in my nose which cause breathing problems I can't remove them bc there is no one to take care of me after the surgery.

I wake up many times at night unable to breath. I know loosing weight also helps, which I have really struggled with since a car accident that left me severely injured. I just started a Ketogenic diet - called Ideal protein, makes you go into a ketosis state. i was wondering if anyone knew if this was safe with apnea. Does your body need more O2 during ketosis ... Has anyone had experience with this?

Please Let me know asap, thank you so much Lilly

I realize this is easy for me to say, but you have to make yourself a priority. If you can't breathe through your nose, use a full face mask. For many people, losing weight makes no difference in their apnea. Weight gain is sometimes a result, not a cause, of apnea, so you you may find it very difficult.

Because all those people who are depending on you won't be able to help you if you have a stroke.

[photonic]

I am on a ketogenic diet to treat my type II diabetes and it has cured me. Two months of cpap has also brought my sugars down even further. No problems eating this way with cpap.

[Janknitz]

A ketogenic diet is a great way to lose weight, but you'll lose easier and feel better if you get quality sleep. If you spend all night with untreated apnea, you are spending all night with your body bathing in stress hormones that interfere with metabolism, so however good you are with your keto diet during the day you are working against yourself all night long.

You MUST treat the apnea to achieve optimal health and to succeed I fixing your metabolism.

You've given a lot of excuses for not using CPAP:
1. You take care of others. If you fly in a plane, they tell you to put your oxygen mask on first and THEN help others. Great analogy for you. What will happen to others when YOU have a stroke or heart attack from untreated apnea. If there's nobody to take care of you, you better take care of yourself!

2. Nasal polyps. There are full face masks and oral masks which you can use for mouth breathing.

3. You are disabled yourself. All the more reason to use CPAP so you don't become MORE disabled.

A great diet won't cure a small airway. Time to stop making excuses and start taking care of yourself.

[abpat2203]

Hello!

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea in 2013. I was put on a CPAP with a pressure of 19. At that time, I weighed 306 lbs.

I stuck with the machine for about 3 months and my AHI did go down but I just was not able to keep up with the machine any more.

In March 2013, I started Keto diet. 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs. By Dec 2013, I had dropped to 220 lbs, net loss of 86 lbs. My snoring was gone completely. So Keto helped me lose weight which helped in eliminating snoring.

Jan 2014, we had a baby. Work pressure and keeping up with the baby resulted in me not being able to follow Keto diet any more and I gradually reverted back to my original way of eating. I ended up adding 40 lbs in 6 months and my snoring came back.

Now I am back on Keto and losing weight. I have also started using my CPAP machine again to stop the snoring and not end up waking my baby up all night long.

Long story short, Keto helps, both to lose weight and sleep apnea (atleast in my case). But you will have to follow it up with healthy lifestyle to maintain it.

EDIT: Here is a link to Reddit Keto Community where I posted by blood-work results and before-after pics last year.
http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/1 ... k_results/

[Goofproof]

Hello!

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea in 2013. I was put on a CPAP with a pressure of 19. At that time, I weighed 306 lbs.

I stuck with the machine for about 3 months and my AHI did go down but I just was not able to keep up with the machine any more.

In March 2013, I started Keto diet. 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs. By Dec 2013, I had dropped to 220 lbs, net loss of 86 lbs. My snoring was gone completely. So Keto helped me lose weight which helped in eliminating snoring.

Jan 2014, we had a baby. Work pressure and keeping up with the baby resulted in me not being able to follow Keto diet any more and I gradually reverted back to my original way of eating. I ended up adding 40 lbs in 6 months and my snoring came back.

Now I am back on Keto and losing weight. I have also started using my CPAP machine again to stop the snoring and not end up waking my baby up all night long.

Long story short, Keto helps, both to lose weight and sleep apnea (atleast in my case). But you will have to follow it up with healthy lifestyle to maintain it.

EDIT: Here is a link to Reddit Keto Community where I posted by blood-work results and before-after pics last year.
http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/1 ... k_results/

You seem confused, SNORING, isn't Sleep Apnea, it's onlyone small symptom. If you aren't using XPAP correctly, every nite, you are untreated. Jim

[Janknitz]

Do NOT assume that just because you are not snoring your apena is gone--if you're wrong your baby may grow up without one parent or have to change YOUR diapers.

Get tested to be sure, before you go bragging that weight loss cured your apnea. In some cases weight loss is all that is needed, but in many cases, it is not. And as you've already experienced, regaining weight even after apnea is "cured" by weight loss puts you right back in the same boat--without a paddle.

[BlackSpinner]

And remember, weight loss for some people actually increases their OSA or at least the pressure required to treat it.
Weight loss guarantees nothing except the loss of weight.

[abpat2203]

Wow! I am a bit taken aback with the hostile tone of some of the replies to my post. I read through my post again and nowhere did I "brag" that my weight loss "cured" my apnea. I just said it helped.

I understand snoring is just one of the symptomps. I do not have any other way of finding out if the weight loss actually cured my apnea without going for a sleep study, which I cannot at the moment for various reasons.

What I have been going upon is purely anecdotal. Mileage will vary for others. My post was just telling what I have expirieced with Keto in general which is what I believe the OP wanted.

[Janknitz]

I understand snoring is just one of the symptomps. I do not have any other way of finding out if the weight loss actually cured my apnea without going for a sleep study, which I cannot at the moment for various reasons.

Your post clearly implied that because you quit snoring with weight loss your apnea was gone. It's important that people understand that lack of snoring does not necessarily mean no apnea and making that assumption is dangerous. If you can't manage a confirming sleep study, the safest bet is to REMAIN on CPAP until you can. Assuming otherwise can be dangerous to your health.

Doctors set up some unreasonable expectations that feed right into a newly diagnosed individual's grieving process. They feel shamed for their Obesity because OSA must therefore be entirely their fault, and in that bargaining stage of grief the belief is "if I just lose some weight I won't need CPAP any more". But the reality is that many people do still need CPAP afterward and the people who do manage to "cure" their apnea with weight loss rarely maintain their weight loss and apnea freedom for long. So IMHO, we need to stop playing into the myth that weight loss "cures" apnea.

Weight loss is always a good thing for health and I wholeheartedly agree that a LCHF diet and ketosis are a healthy, easy, and sustainable way to achieve weight loss, but it's not fair to claim it's a cure for apnea.

[Goofproof]

Wow! I am a bit taken aback with the hostile tone of some of the replies to my post. I read through my post again and nowhere did I "brag" that my weight loss "cured" my apnea. I just said it helped.

I understand snoring is just one of the symptomps. I do not have any other way of finding out if the weight loss actually cured my apnea without going for a sleep study, which I cannot at the moment for various reasons.

What I have been going upon is purely anecdotal. Mileage will vary for others. My post was just telling what I have expirieced with Keto in general which is what I believe the OP wanted.

If I lose weight, I would definitely be bragging about it. I have gained 65 pounds since starting XPAP in 2005, and in the last six months lost 25 pounds of that gain. My treatment pressure has been the same for nine years, despite the weight yo-yoing. I continue to use XPAP every night, to live and have a better quality of life.

The "Hostile Tones", are the result of posting info without variable facts supporting your conclusions. In doing so, others may be misled, and that may effect their treatment as well. After all anything put on the "Internet Has To Be TRUE"

By using a XPAP, that records full data and the software that reads the data, you can truly see the results of your weightloss on your treatment. A Recording Pulse Ox, is also a useful tool, or less useful another sleep study, but I think the first two are the best, seeing as the test period is longer and it's at home, for more normal sleep. Jim