Weight Loss Success! I am FREE!

[TriKKy]

Hi All,

Thought I'd give you all my story as I've seen the question asked a few times about weight loss and apnea.

07/2010 I was diagnosed with incredibly severe apnea, AHI 113, Oxygen below 50%, 0 minutes of "Deep sleep". I weighed a ton. Dr. told me not to even sleep lying down until I got the machine.

Was put on a pressure of 20 and I took to it like a fish to water. 100% compliance, average 7-8 hours per night.

04/2011 - Lost 40lbs, was re-titrated by Dr. to pressure of 14 and switched to my S9 Elite.

Since then I have been losing more weight, another 90 lbs and have been titrating myself down, working my way to a pressure of 4 where my AHI consistently lives between 0.0 and 0.2. Once a week a might get 0.3 and the highest ever was 0.6.

I finally went in for another sleep study to see if I could finally get off the machine. When I went in they apparently hadn't planned on testing me without the mask, maybe they would have anyway, but I had to ask and the results were:

They tried starting me at a pressure of 14, which is what the doctor's official script was for, which was way too much for me to take and I couldn't fall asleep. They dropped it to 10 so I could fall asleep. After about 3 hours I was woken up and they took the mask off, which I took as a good sign. I slept another 3 hours with the mask off and was sent home.

Went in earlier this week to meet with the doctor and the results were that my AHI without the mask was 1.2 and my Oxygen never dipped below 95. In other words......I'M OFF THE MACHINE WOOHOOO. Dr. congratulated me and said that this only happens in about 1 in 200 cases.

Kinda freaky, 130lbs took me from AHI 113 and Oxygen below 50 to 1.2 and 95. Neck also shrunk 4 inches from 21" to 17".

I know it isn't a fix for all but thought I'd share at least one success story.

[NotSleepingBeauty]

Congratulations!

[Janknitz]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

And good for you for getting a confirming PSG to make sure.

[Emilia]

A wonderful success story.... congrats. You don't say how old you are, but if you are still young, this should be periodically checked as you age or if you gain any weight back. Muscles atrophy as we age, and throat muscles will lose elasticity as well....which could lead to a recurrence down the road. For your own peace of mind, you should consider getting a recordable oximeter with which you can monitor your overnight O2 from time to time to be sure things are maintaining above 88%. Again, congratulations on the weight loss and coming off the machine. Your doctor is correct that it is, indeed, a rare event. My sleep doctor told me he has never seen anyone do it in all his years of practice.

[chunkyfrog]

Congratulations!
I second the oximeter--make it a recording oxi. the prices are very reasonable.

[teknomom]

Happy news!!