Losing weight to reduce OSA

[MrGrumpy]

Has anyone lost a lot of weight and seen their OSA dramatically improve? Ive lost 20 lbs since late March and watched my max APAP pressure drop over a point. I have 55 lbs to lose still. I would love to be able get rid of the OSA thru weight loss and not have to see these IDIOT doctors anymore, who just want my insurance money!

Fred

[Goofproof]

Loseing weight is a good thing, but don't count on it working or controling sleep apnea. All good things don't come easy. Jim

[mellabella]

...depends on the source of your apnea (soft palate, airway size, etc.).

I'm already underweight.....which just means I have a severe case of UARS instead of OSA! (My doc half kiddingly told me that if I could manage to gain 40 pounds I'd cross over into OSA territory instead of having hypopneas and RERAs and would therefore qualify for insurance to pay for masks and machines.)

Being thin and having UARS instead of OSA doesn't even mean a lower pressure in my case, either....I wasted two years at a pressure of 7, and only now have been getting relief for the last 5 months at a pressure of....13!

[Woody]

Yes it ofton helps. Personaly if I loose 30 lbs my sleep apnia is a lot better.
In fact I have a cpap that I picked up at a yard sale with 450 hrs on it. The
owner had had a gastric bypass and now didn't need it after losing weight.
But this is not always the case. I have a friend who was on cpap for a long
time and recently lost 50 lbs her sleep apnia got worse! She had to have another sleep study where they changed her perscription from 12 cm to 16 cm!

[Bearded_One]

If somebody had gastric bypass it is possible that they were morbidly obese; morbid obesity causes OSA that reverses itself when the person loses weight. Most people with OSA don't have OSA caused by morbid obesity.

[LavenderMist]

In my case it hasnt' helped. I've lost 60 lbs and am still on the hose at a pressure of 11.

[SleepGuy]

It worked very well for my brother. I didn't believe it until I spent a few hours with him on Sunday after he had surgery. No apnea, no snoring, even under some pretty heavy drugs. The nurses check his blood oxygen constantly and he hasn't had any desats. So there's at least one success story. The question in my mind is as he gets older (and muscles lose tone) whether he'll be able to maintain? Hopefully so.

I lack enough discipline to lose that much weight so I live with my cpap.

[LavenderMist]

I guess I need to clarify. I didn't have bariatric surgery. I did it through diet and a lot of exercise. Sleepyguy, glad surgery worked out for your brother.

[DreamStalker]

I've lost 65 lbs since starting PAP treatment plus changing to healthier diet and increased body movement.

I think someone posted on another thread that they found them though ... so don't let them know cuz I don't want them sending 'em back

[lvehko]

I think it depends on what type of apnea you have -- if you've had symptoms all your life, over a range of different weights (like me), chances are good that your apnea is a result of genetic structure and won't be improved by weight loss. If you are of the type that never had a sleepy day in your life until you gained X pounds, it may be more a result of the weight gain. However, judging from this group, it seems that weight loss as the 'cure' for apnea is far more often the exception than the rule. My sleep doc tells me that more of his patients are average weight than overweight. Obviously, YMMV -- Min

[Woody]

Thanks for ponting that out about most sleap apnia patients being normal
weight I didn't know that. It seems that of the 7 people I know socialy who
have this we are all obese. I had just assumed most of us were overweight
like I am.

[superjet]

Thanks for ponting that out about most sleap apnia patients being normal
weight I didn't know that. It seems that of the 7 people I know socialy who
have this we are all obese. I had just assumed most of us were overweight
like I am.

Woody, that's a really common misconception. IIRC the best predictor for OSA is actually neck circumference >15.5'' or so.

It's been my experience, patients who come back after a year for a retitration after losing a significant amount of weight oftentimes need less pressure, but it's a statistical anomaly for obstruction to be decreased to below a clinically significant level.

However, the improvement both subjective(energy levels, physical activity levels) and objective (bloodwork, BP, etc...) is usually enough to help the patient continue to make and maintain positive lifestyle changes.

In short, ''keep on keepin on'' like Joe Dirt would say.

[Lineman]

Whoa, those are some interesting statistics about weight loss and OSA. I too believed a significant loss of weight would help or cure my OSA. Now I'm not so sure.

Perhaps it is like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, both are high risk factors if you are morbidly obese. But losing the weight won't make those things go away if you have had them for awhile. Your body changes and sometimes can't go back to the old status.

Well, I'm going to keep trying to lose those mega-pounds anyway and hope for a miracle.

-LM

[split_city]

If somebody had gastric bypass it is possible that they were morbidly obese; morbid obesity causes OSA that reverses itself when the person loses weight. Most people with OSA don't have OSA caused by morbid obesity.

Define most? What sort of percentage are you talking about?

IIRC the best predictor for OSA is actually neck circumference >15.5'' or so.

While neck circumference is considered to be one of the best predictors, it generally explains <30% of variance in AHI. There have been a few studies showing that waist-to-hip ratio was in fact a better predictor of OSA compared to neck circumference.

[jskinner]

...depends on the source of your apnea (soft palate, airway size, etc.).

Exactly. For reasons that are unclear to me, doctors spend next to no time trying to find the source of apnea after diagnosing it. They usually prescribe CPAP and move on to the next patient.