Weight loss & OSA

[Hosehead4ever]

How likely is it that if you lose weight you won't need the machine anymore?

[Drowsy Dancer]

How likely is it that if you lose weight you won't need the machine anymore?

According to my doctor at least, not very, although the research appears to be somewhat mixed. You might want to do a search for other threads on the subject.

My original hope was not to need the machine. Sadly, I have lost a fair amount of weight since my sleep study and my pressure has been increased from the initial titration. And my father-in-law has been slender his whole life and needs a CPAP machine.

DD

[Emilia]

There are those who are very lucky and can stop cpap after weight loss. I tend to think they had a mild version to begin with. My sleep doctor said in all his years of practice, he has never seen it happen. However, losing weight is always a good thing, if needed, and it may lead to lower pressure settings and that is an improvement as well. I finally had the energy to devote to dieting and am down about 18 lbs since Jan. 1. I have no expectations of getting off the machine, but I know my health, in general, will improve and that includes lungs, heart, and BP.

[tomwarren]

The significant increase in AHI over 1 year among participants who had a stable weight, suggesting that OSA syndrome is a rapidly evolving, which will worsen without treatment in obese middle-aged adults with type 2 - diabetes, "the study authors conclude.

[BlackSpinner]

How likely is it that if you lose weight you won't need the machine anymore?

If the cause is fat in the neck / throat area - then yes it is possible. If the cause is the internal architecture then not. Don't count on it and you maybe surprised, count on it and you may be setting your self up for major disappointment.

[Hosehead4ever]

Okay, so then I'm confused about why the doctors who did my first sleep study told me to just lose weight since they concluded I couldn't tolerate the cpap. I kept taking the mask off when I was asleep so they said there was nothing they could do to help me.

[kteague]

Okay, so then I'm confused about why the doctors who did my first sleep study told me to just lose weight since they concluded I couldn't tolerate the cpap. I kept taking the mask off when I was asleep so they said there was nothing they could do to help me.

Sounds like they made that recommendation as "better than nothing", not as a preferred option. Since there is a segment of the group diagnosed with OSA that is weight related, you would have nothing to lose by seeing if you were one of them, especially since you weren't using the cpap. Just curious, over what period of time did you keep taking the mask off before they concluded this was the last chapter of your cpap story? It was a few months before I totally quit taking my mask off in my sleep, but have not done it even once in well over 4 years. Several members here told me they had done it and the behavior eventually stopped, so I fully expected it to stop. It did.

[Komodo]

Over the past 9 months, I've gone from 245lbs, down to 185lbs (10 more to go to reach my goal weight ) and it hasn't effected my OSA at all.
HOWEVER.. my doc did want to do another sleep study to see if my pressure should be changed due to the weight loss. I told him I didn't need the study, that I basicly self-titrated every night with my Vpap auto and there hadn't been any changes.
He was happy with that, but his medical opinion, for MOST of his OSA patients, is, a weight loss of 50+lbs may have helped and a re-testing is advised.

Every patient is different. For some, it may be the weight, for others, the weight isn't as big a factor.

Okay, so then I'm confused about why the doctors who did my first sleep study told me to just lose weight since they concluded I couldn't tolerate the cpap. I kept taking the mask off when I was asleep so they said there was nothing they could do to help me.

If I were you, I'd find another sleep doc!
You also might want to try different styles of masks, eventually you'll find one that'll work for you and keep on all night long.

[haritagepoint]

If the cause is the fat in the neck and throat - then yes you can. If the cause is the internal architecture can not. Do not count on it, and you may be surprised, and we hope you may be putting big disappointment.