Is weight something to be bothered about?

[Katagal]

My OSA diagnosis mentioned as an aside that the "patient needed to lose a significant amount of weight" - I have been on the CPAP therapy for about two months now and have regained most of my energy. I am just on the tail end of a graduate diploma - one more assignment and one exam remaining and then I am free to focus on weight loss if need be. I have never needed to lose weight before was the same weight for most of my life - only in the last few years did it creep on around the time my energy levels plummeted.
Just wondering if other CPAP users have lost "significant amount of weight" and have noticed a spectacular difference?

Cheers Katagal

[Sheriff Buford]

Yes, I have lost about 20-25 pounds since starting cpap therapy (without a diet). It was a slow creep down. If it was me, I would get thru your schoolin', then tackle the weight. Enjoy the fact you are feeling better... everything in your life will get better... thanks to the cpap therapy.

Best of blessings to you!

Sheriff

[jamiswolf]

Hi Katagal,
Once I hit 40 my weight started creeping up. Then snoring and hypertension. Finally and belatedly, an OSA diagnosis. It's all tied together and weight is a factor. So I'd suggest using the osa to motivate you to lose the extra weight you're carrying. Your body will thank you. I've dropped just over 10 pounds in the 3 months since my osa diagnosis and while I hate to admit it, I have about 50 to go.

That being said, keep in mind that we humans come in all shapes and sizes. Don't stress yourself trying to get to a weight that your body was never intended to be at. And congrats on your upcoming degree.
Jamis

[jnk]

All humans should eat healthy, get appropriate exercise, and lead a healthy lifestyle. That is true no matter what your weight is, was, or will be.

Lifestyle changes involving healthy diet and healthy amounts of vigorous (if doc-approved) activity pay off big-time for everyone. If you think in terms of that only being true for people of a certain weight, you sabotage your approach from the start.

Eat healthy. Exercise appropriately. They add to the joy of living.

[Resister]

If I were you, I'd focus on finishing school stuff first, but then start focusing on YOU. Weight loss can only help. When I got my diagnosis, I went all out and lose a little over 20 pounds (still have 10 to go) and I know that, while I will still have OSA, maybe I'll be mild or moderate rather than severe.

[rocklin]

Is weight something to be bothered about?

Hi Katagal!

Is weight something to be bothered about?

Yes.

I believe it is.

[chunkyfrog]

Yes, excess weight will diminish your quality of life, and shorten it as well.
I lost 8 pounds in the first 9 months of treatment--with no other changes in diet or activity.
After that, I enrolled in a weight loss program, and lost an additional 30 with lifestyle changes, including added activity and menu reform.
(note: I do not use the term "diet"--these must be permanent changes if I want to keep the weight off.
I have gone from 'obese' to just within my healthy weight range.
My insulin use went from 54 units to 12 a day (type 2 diabetic)
I may be able to eliminate insulin entirely if I lose an additional 12-15 pounds to attain my ideal healthy weight.
I feel fantastic; and can only imagine feeling even better.

[archangle]

For most of us, losing weight would be a good thing. It might help your apnea, but don't count on it.

It's good for our health in general. Doctors tend to recommend it.

Unfortunately, doctors don't seem to distinguish well between "weight loss will directly help this medical condition" and "weight loss will help your health in general."

I wouldn't be surprised if someone goes in for a gunshot wound from a driveby shooting and get's told "you should lose some weight because it will make you a smaller target."

[jnk]

BUT, weight loss is ONLY good for you IF you do it in a HEALTHY way by eating in a healthy way and having a healthy amount of activity in your life.

Taking extreme measures to lose weight can do more damage to your health than good.

And yo-yo-ing up and down can really mess someone up.

Balance. Moderation. Health.

And there's no reason for one to wait for anything else to happen in life before making healthy decisions for oneself.

[Janknitz]

A lot of the medical community thinks that excess body weight causes sleep apnea, because of the pressure on your airway from fat surrounding it, thoracic pressure causing reflux, etc. And I think there's a fair degree of viewing people who carry extra weight as somehow to blame for all of their problems no matter what they are since we're all lazy, of course (as if a lazy person could finish graduate school in her 40's! ). This lazy fat person (me) worked two jobs, attended a doctoral program at night and had a baby during all this--in my 40's!.

That said, evidence does not always agree that obesity causes apnea. There is some evidence that sleep apnea CAUSES weight gain, because poor sleep and oxygenation interfere with the hormones responsible for regulating body weight and can affect your body's production of insulin. Many of us have structural abnormalities that mean we'd have sleep apnea even if very thin and fit. And people who are overweight and who lose weight do not necessarily have their apnea cured or even improved, although some do.

Maintaining a healthy diet and body weight are ALWAYS good things, but I don't like buying into the prevalent "blame the victim" sentiment.

You should not assume, if you do end up losing weight, that your apnea is cured, either. You must retest to be certain.

[jamiswolf]

Janknitz wrote: A lot of the medical community thinks that excess body weight causes sleep apnea, because of the pressure on your airway from fat surrounding it, thoracic pressure causing reflux, etc. And I think there's a fair degree of viewing people who carry extra weight as somehow to blame for all of their problems no matter what they are since we're all lazy, of course (as if a lazy person could finish graduate school in her 40's! ). This lazy fat person (me) worked two jobs, attended a doctoral program at night and had a baby during all this--in my 40's!.

That said, evidence does not always agree that obesity causes apnea. There is some evidence that sleep apnea CAUSES weight gain, because poor sleep and oxygenation interfere with the hormones responsible for regulating body weight and can affect your body's production of insulin. Many of us have structural abnormalities that mean we'd have sleep apnea even if very thin and fit. And people who are overweight and who lose weight do not necessarily have their apnea cured or even improved, although some do.

Maintaining a healthy diet and body weight are ALWAYS good things, but I don't like buying into the prevalent "blame the victim" sentiment.

You should not assume, if you do end up losing weight, that your apnea is cured, either. You must retest to be certain.

Janknitz,
I understand where you're coming from but do you really want to defend fat people and by extension obesity?

Some points you made.

If you have structural defects causing your apnea and you are fat...losing weight won't help.

I would add that that represents a very small percent of the apnea population.

Fat people are not to blame for being fat. Don't blame the victim.

I would agree that the relationship between apnea and obesity, as well as the relationship between type 2 diabetes and obesity, are NOT well known nor clear cut. And to confuse things, there's also a very strong relationship between type 2 diabetes AND OSA. And it's true that scientifically none of those relationships are totally understood.

But what we do understand is that people in wealthy (mostly western) cultures eat too much food and of the wrong kind and exercise too little. You don't have to be a genius or a scientist to know this is true. Just look around...

Obesity has doubled since 1958 and now 25% of out children are obese. Childhood OSA and type 2 diabetes is on the rise.

I think it's fair to "blame the victim" in many, if not most, obesity related diseases.

And I'm not some skinny person pointing my finger at all the fat folks. I'm at least 50 pounds overweight BUT I blame myself for all the beer and pizza that got me here...and I'm working to correct the situation.
Jamis

PS I wanted to include this but I couldn't find the right place for it. That "band of fat around the neck" that Jan referred to as being implicated in OSA by the Medical community. Well along with that is also a "band of fat" around the chest that causes increased breathing effort and hypo-ventilation. Pickwickian syndrome. Then lay down and have all that fat push down and up against your diaphragm. Fat is bad for breathing even if it didn't relate to OSA is my point.

[NightMonkey]

a "band of fat" around the chest that causes increased breathing effort and hypo-ventilation. Pickwickian syndrome. Then lay down and have all that fat push down and up against your diaphragm. Fat is bad for breathing even if it didn't relate to OSA is my point.

Obesity hypoventilation syndrome - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_hy ... n_syndrome

[JohnBFisher]

Yes. Weight loss does make a difference. Excess weight contributes to all sorts of problems. OSA is just one of them.

However, some of us had severe OSA **BEFORE** we gained weight. So, it may not always solve the OSA problem. But for your health, it is the right thing to do.

[Mr Bill]

I gained ~30 pounds when sleep apnea got me. But I have CSA and its a very rare night that I see a hit for OSA. All I see are hyponeas and CA. So, yes I want very much to loose this weight. But loosing it will not affect my sleep apnea whatsoever.

[Muse-Inc]

I date the start of my apnea to the year I gained 50#s for no discernible reason -- doc at the time said I had normal sugar diabetes and blamed that...last time I saw that doc, the signs of apnea were apparent but that was when the apnea stereotype was an old, fat, man. I don't believe my excess weight is the cause my apnea regardless of what my sleep doc and the cardiologist (had to see for my incredibly high BP at OSA diagnosis) say -- I have the narrow lower face/jaw common to many of us. While my pressure requirements dropped when I was losing weight, as my stess level rose from unemployment & no job prospects & spending savings & no $ to train for changing my career, my average APAP pressure rose...not something I expected. When my stress level gets to a certain point, I am not able to sleep as long each night and then I start gaining weight regardless of how I eat (hormone disregulation). It's a complicated relationship which many try to explain in a highly simplified way that belies its complexity. For some, weight is an issue, for others less so.