Has anybody been "cured" of sleep apnea?

[Junaid]

Are there cases where sleep apnea has totally disappeared? if so, under what circumstances did it go away? I'd like to know because I would definetley be doing the same.

[asylvia]

maybe surgery? just a guess.....

[DreamDiver]

I've heard it's possible if the OSA is weight-related and the person has dropped weight in a healthy fashion from grossly obese to a weight that a doctor would qualify as healthy for that person's age and height, etc. I don't know anyone in that category.

Another category where it might happen is if someone has central apnea brought on by chiari malformation, an artery or a tumor pressing against some portion of the brain, any of which has been surgically addressed. Again, I don't know anyone in this category.

The last possible category could be by septoplasty or turbinate reduction for OSA if the main obstruction is in one of these areas alone. It rarely is. Usually septoplasty and/or turbinate reduction happen in conjunction with continued CPAP therapy for many people. Again, I don't know anyone in this category either.

[Julie]

Well, it's fairly rare unfortunately, even with weight loss, though that may help the type of therapy you use, but I did hear and read that bariatric
surgery, something called a Roux-en-Y procedure, not only 'cures' apnea, but also diabetes and gall-bladder disease - and it was a valid scientific study, not some quackery.

[Wulfman]

Are there cases where sleep apnea has totally disappeared? if so, under what circumstances did it go away? I'd like to know because I would definetley be doing the same.

The surest "cure" is death. We will all be cured some day.

If you're talking about while we're still alive........the cases are rare. A couple of people who have frequented this forum in the last five years have "claimed" to be apnea free, but only time will tell if they stay that way. As Julie mentioned, certain surgeries MAY create some benefits......however, in my opinion, that's a very expensive route to go......when a relatively cheap machine and mask will do the trick.


Den

[Hawthorne]

Not only cheaper but much less risky than having surgery!!!

I would certainly use cpap and only resort to any surgery if it was absolutely necessary or the cpap did not work.

Finding out whether or not cpap works can take quite some time and a lot of trial and error with masks and machine settings, and maybe even machines, for many people but is sure beats surgery in my books.

If it were me, I would not give up on cpap until I was certain, beyond any doubt, that it would never work for me.

[PST]

Well, it's fairly rare unfortunately, even with weight loss, though that may help the type of therapy you use, but I did hear and read that bariatric surgery, something called a Roux-en-Y procedure, not only 'cures' apnea, but also diabetes and gall-bladder disease - and it was a valid scientific study, not some quackery.

There is an article about obesity in this month's Atlantic by a reporter named Marc Ambinder who usually writes about politics. I have read his stuff for years and don't think there is anything flakey about him. He weaves his own experience into the article, and says that he went from 235 to 150 lbs. after bariatric surgery. With the weight loss, he says that his Type II diabetes and sleep apnea went away. He mentions getting regular checkups from a doctor because of the potential side effects of bariatric surgery, which contributes to my confidence that he isn't just someone who decided he was cured and stopped getting treatment. He had been using CPAP for four years.

I believe the author, but I would also keep a very close eye on my nighttime breathing if I were him. Both age and obesity can contribute to the likelihood and severity of OSA (and diabetes, for that matter). I say that fully aware that some people with OSA are both young and skinny -- there are clearly many factors at work -- but few would argue that these don't play a part for many of us. I find it plausible that a large weight loss in a young man like that could overcome OSA, but just as plausible that it may return in time. Nothing wrong with a reprieve.

[roster]

It is very popular in certain circles to say weight loss will cure sleep apnea. I am skeptical of anyone who says he cured his sleep apnea with weight loss. Certainly it happens sometimes but my estimate is that it is rare.

I refer back to this small study:

Bariatric Surgery Doesn't Put Sleep Apnea to Rest

.... apnea-hypopnea severity declined from severe at baseline to moderate on average. The number of nightly events fell from a mean of 47.9 (range five to 135) to 24.5 an hour (P<0.001).
.... These findings emphasized the inappropriateness of relying on weight loss as a "cure" for obstructive sleep apnea, Dr. Lettieri and colleagues said. ....
Full article is interesting: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare ... ders/10548

Notice that the average before BMI was 51 and the after BMI was 32 which is still obese.

It would be interesting to see a study where BMIs fell from 30s to 20 - 25 range.

BTW, my BMI was 25 before CPAP and now through better sleep and intense exercise it is now about 22. Still have severe sleep apnea. It is the narrow jaw, not the weight.

[echo]

Tracheotomy would do it!

That's about all that would work for me... small mouth, receding jaw, weight, tight jeans (oh wait i mean bad genes)

I love my CPAP! Just like I love my contacts (that dry out and give me eye infections sometimes), just like I love my computer (which gives me neck pain and eyestrain), just like I love my car (which pollutes the environment and gives me back pain), just like I would love to inject myself with insulin if I had diabetes, just like I would love to have a wheelchair if I was paralyzed, just like I would love to have a colostomy bag if it meant I could stay alive just by donating my colon, just like I would love to have a seeing-eye dog if I was blind, just like I would love to have dialysis instead of kidney poisoning, just like I would love to have chemo instead of ending up 6 feet under,. .....

Sorry, sometimes I just want to slap people that hate CPAP so much, yet there are so many worse medical conditions one could have. It really takes a lot of patience for me to ignore the posts where people are whining (though i probably do it too, for other things!).

CPAP is NOT all that bad. It's just that the transistion period to using CPAP is NOT supported enough by the medical community so many people give up, get the wrong settings/machine/mask/information and give up or stay tired, or don't get enough help with issues like mouth breathing or leaks or crappy masks.

I don't even notice it anymore, it's just another routine like taking a shower or brushing my teeth.

Of course I understnad that some people still have trouble getting used to it, people that have other medical conditions, people that are just starting out so they're so sleep deprived they have difficulty getting it all to work especially if they don't have support from knowledgable people.... so I'll get off my rant-box for now.

[Mnementh]

I think the only 'cure' is to remove the conditions that cause it. In some cases, this may be possible with weight loss, as has been mentioned above. In others, with surgury, though that may leave its own set of issues to deal with. with others it may not be possible at all.

[Muse-Inc]

...bariatric surgery, something called a Roux-en-Y procedure, not only 'cures' apnea, but also diabetes...

Diabetes typically comes back, takes a while but it comes back, not for all but some...because of eating too many carbs?..who knows...no one's reporting the details yet. Latest theory is >250 genes could contribute; the more of these genes get triggered, the more likely that the abnormal glucose metabolism isn't going away.

Human trials were/are supposed get started in Japan this year on a therapy that converts one's own liver cells into insulin-producing beta cells -- now this one might cure the abnormal insulin response/production problem cause of diabetes.

[mars]

Hi All

OK, so I am giving you this for what it is worth. Just in case someone, somewhere on this forum, has heard of something similar.

I was having coffee with friends, and of course my sleep apnea came up. One friend said that her ex-husband had sleep apnea, together with tiredness, snoring etc. He married again, and his new wife (reputedly with psychic powers) did some hands on healing with him, and all the symptoms went away, and he became a new man.

She does not have much contact with her ex-husband, but will try to find out more when she does.

So I am passing on some hearsay, and I have no reason to get involved in any arguement about it. But other conditions do have spontaneous remissions for some reason or another, so whilst I am not saying I believe my friends story, I have an open mind, and look forward to hearing more in due time.

Now all those who want to have a good laugh - be my guest . If anyone else knows of something similar, please do not be afraid to post.

cheers

Mars

[Junaid]

I can see that the general consensus is, that if you have sleep apnea-you'll always have it unless you go for risky and expensive surgeries or lose weight, which is also no guarantee...

Im in that adjustment phase now and have been using cpap for about four months with no notable results. So yes, Im still hoping for the day when sleep well again-with or without a cpap.

[Julie]

Keep one thing in mind - right now Cpap is the way to go for the majority of us, but considering how fast technology's moving these days, it's not unlikely that Cpap won't be around in ... 10 years, but something entirely new (and easier to live with) could well be the answer, or a variety of new things, depending on your individual needs. For a younger person (and your avatar shows one) you certainly wouldn't have a life sentence on Cpap by any means.

[DreamDiver]

He married again, and his new wife (reputedly with psychic powers) did some hands on healing with him, and all the symptoms went away, and he became a new man.

Hey, I won't discount any method that works.

I have found one method that hasn't been proven, but perhaps some of us can try this together...
Besides being fashionable, and not just for fending off alien conspiracies anymore, tin-foil hats could have medically beneficial effects.