weight and apnea... what came first the chicken or the egg?

[copernicus]

still on my first week of Cpap treatment and i think it is going really well until now. The part i am really excited about, is that my doctor claims i will start losing weight easier (weight i have put on for no reason), explaining that the apnea could have actually caused the excess weight.

However, i am in contact with many doctors in different specialities through my work, and anytime i mention my cpap in front of one of them, they look at me like i just admitted to believing in the easter bunny, and tell me not to waste time on the cpap, and to just lose some of the weight.

so what is the truth behind this? did the apnea cause the weight? or the weight cause the apnea? because the next time a doctor gives me that smirk and advises me to lose the weight, he is getting my VOLUNTARY restless leg somewhere it really hurts ....

[SleepingUgly]

Excess weight can cause apnea, that is for sure. Apnea can cause weight gain via its effects on hormones that regulate eating. See the first link on this search below:

http://www.google.com/search?q=sleep+ap ... =firefox-a

[Muse-Inc]

My theory: my excess weight reached a certain point, then I developed OSA, then in less than a yr I gained 50#s for no discernable reason & doc was clueless 'cause being female I didn't fit the profile -- I date the start of my OSA to the year before gaining the 50#s. I slowly continued to gain weight until I switched to a new doc who immediately ID'd OSA. After I started getting restful sleep and reached a certain point in recovery where my energy level was vastly improved (9 months as a hosehead ), I started exercising and losing. Lost about 55#s and was noticeably thinner through my lower face and thoat area when a loaner APAP showed I needed less pressure to stent open my airways.

[SleepyT]

My guess is depends on the person. For some....gaining weight caused a narrowing of the airway and created sleep apnea. For others, their anatomy caused sleep apnea...and the change in hormones and not sleeping well caused weight gain.

[copernicus]

i choose to think i am the latter
i guess only time will tell

[kempo]

I agree with sleepingUgly. Either way you need the cpap because you have a breathing problem. I always wondered why I could eat the same amount of food as my brother and he never gained any weight. Now I know. I have lost 40lb. over the last four months and I am not going hungry. Another 15lb. to go and I'll be at my Ideal weight.

I was lucky to have a GP who has OSA himself and recognized my problem.

PS. Tell those so called Doctors to kiss your full figured your ass. I would.

[copernicus]

Good idea, i think i will

[msradar65]

This is my story. I think I have had sleep apnea since I was in college. When I got married my husband woke me up early one morning because he thought I was dead. He says my face was ashen and my lips were blue. He noticed for years when in a deep sleep I turn an ashen color and my feet and hands turn sort of bluish.

Fast forward two children later and some weight gain. Then go 10 more years later and I started gaining weight out of no where. Then I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease.

I think all of this was brought on my undiagnosed sleep apnea. It was probably not severe...and even now I am told I am not severe. I am considered moderate. But I have had this for years.

So yes, I think sleep apnea can cause a lot of other issues. Oh and I was bone rail thin in college and early marriage, super fit and very active!

[Emilia]

I can date my extreme fatigue hitting me when I was thin and very fit....working out 3x a wk and power walking 15 miles a week. When it hit me, it was like someone just turned off a switch....I was exhausted and could not get up and go to do anything. The weight started to pile on, and every doc said...it was peri-menopause, then it was thyroid, then it was menopause....Now, I am well past all that and the thyroid is fine. I get dx'd with OSA finally, and now my hope is to regain the energy to start exercising and reduce my weight. BUT--- I asked my sleep doc about losing weight enough to come off cpap. He said in all his years of working in sleep medicine, he had yet to see anyone do that. I've read some accounts on this forum of those who have, but I've also read of those who came off cpap only to find themselves back on it within a year. Everyone is different, but for me it was the OSA that led to the weight gain, and that probably worsened it along the way.

[lktnky]

Interesting responses.
My neuro told me if I lost the add'l 10lbs I could probably get off the machine. I've already lost an inch of neck size. DH & I don't remember me having this problem before I gained the weight.
Both goals are worth the effort and I haven't felt this energetic in years. I've been on the hose nearly 3 years and have never felt it solved any of my physical problems. I just decided it was time to start exercising and begin eating right.
I still have the dizzy problem, though, and really hoped the weight loss would help. It hasn't so far.

[Julie]

Have you not seen an MD for the dizziness? Seems to me like it would be a good idea and certainly we can't help with it much, plus you shouldn't assume it's Cpap related (or if it is, why aren't we all in that boat?) and/or settle for it.

[Goofproof]

For me the Omelette came first, I have gained 50 Lb due to the fact I can no longer exercise and burn fuel. Jim

[lktnky]

Have you not seen an MD for the dizziness? Seems to me like it would be a good idea and certainly we can't help with it much, plus you shouldn't assume it's Cpap related (or if it is, why aren't we all in that boat?) and/or settle for it.

Yep, already been to the GP, the neuro, the pulmo, the PT, the cardio and an ophthalmologist. TRUST me, I've not stopped looking for an answer since onset, about 6 mos. after starting CPAP. Had more scans than I can name. It's not my carotid, my BP, or anything else that might be easy to diagnose. Slightly improved by lowering my heart meds and increasing my water intake, but otherwise,

Still searching

[DreamLady]

What doctors usually WON'T tell you is that heart medications are notorious for causing dizziness. They worry you will stop taking them. DH has taken heart medications for years. We have read the drug side effects for them and EACH of the drugs he takes for his heart has dizziness as one of the possible side effects. He eventually had to stop working exclusively because of drug side effects while they worked on trialing different combos to find one that didn't make him dizzy. Long story short, he's better, but still suffers from dizziness related to his meds. It's a catch-22.

[lktnky]

Dream Lady, you're right.
Cardio originally started me out @ 100 mg night & morning then backed off to 50 night, 100 morning.
I figured that if he thought it might be causing my dizziness then surely backing it off even more (I now take 50 @ night) would help.
It did, it does.
I just drink LOTS of water now and that really makes a difference.