Am I stuck with this thing for life?

[SleepingUgly]

ברוכים הבאים

My doctor has indicated that he thinks much (or all) of the blame for my apnea can be attributed to my being a bit overweight.

He may be right, he may be wrong. But, if you lose the weight, and you don't lose the apnea, will you say, "Damn, I lost the weight for NOTHING!" and then proceed to stuff your face with Bisli to put the weight back on asap? Or will you be glad you lost the weight anyway?

However, last night I started thinking about the idea that by using the CPAP, I may be training my body not to breath normally on its own... essentially saddling myself with this machine for life.

Is there anything to this?

No, nothing to it.

Is there any danger to trying to go back to sleeping without the CPAP?

Just the danger that you'll either (1) suffer some deleterious consequence that I'll leave to the 2x4-ers to describe to you, or (2) that you'll be so cognitively impaired that you'll think nothing of leaving your car in the middle of a road, with no lights on, in a thick fog. Hypothetically speaking.

[SleepyT]

well...i agree with some of the other posters. it's all about attitude. you can either be 'stuck' with it....or grateful to have a life saver such as CPAP. but i believe it is normal to be angry, grieve, deny....etc. but finally it is best if you accept things and feel blessed there is a fairly easy fix! CPAP has only been around since 1981. be glad you were born in this era of CPAP treatment! but i am not beating you over the head. i understand how you feel...and have felt the same way. heck....i expect to feel that way again...on and off. it's a process!

Really, cpap has only been around since 1981? What did they do for people before that, or did they only recently in the last 30-40 years discover Sleep Apnea?

Well, I'm not sure...but I suspect people slept sitting up...and hoped for the best. Not much of a solution...

[BlackSpinner]

In the past people died "Quietly in their sleep", it was considered a blessing. That is one of the reasons that the night shift is also referred to as the grave yard shift. Many people die between 3 and 5 am, the time of deepest REM sleep.

[avi123]

David (Treppenwitz),

ברוכים הבאים

to the land of misery!

Hope that you're done with the flu!

I see your photo together with Zahava here:

http://bogieworks.blogs.com/photos/olde ... b_czb.html

About that beard, have you taken it off to fit a mask?

p.s. About your question if you're stuck on it for life, well, looking at your neck size I think that you're prone to CPAPing for ever, regardless of your weight. Check if your neck circumference is = or above 45 cm. If, yes, there you got it. MOST LIKELY.

[ewl]

Has anyone who has lost a lot of weight tried adjusting pressure downwards themselves and monitoring the machine data to see whether AHI stays low? As a way to get an idea of whether the weight loss has had an impact on the apnea? I've lost 45 lbs since starting CPAP almost 2 years ago and am wondering about bumping my pressure down by 1 (at 9 now) and seeing what happens. I'm comfortable enough with the machine and all, and my sleep doc is willing to do another sleep study but he said he usually only repeats once, so if I could get some sense myself of whether it's worth the hassle or not it might be useful. At 9cm, my AHI is well under 1.0.

(Oops I see I need to edit my sig-- I tried the system one and hated it so am back to the M Series Pro...)

[SleepingUgly]

p.s. About your question if you're stuck on it for life, well, looking at your neck I think that you're prone to CPAPing for ever, regardless of your weight. Check if your neck circumference is = or above 45". If, yes, there you got it.

Avi, where are you getting your information from?! First of all, how do you know what his neck circumference would be if he lost weight? Secondly, if this were as easy as measuring someone's neck to determine if they had apnea, no one would need a sleep study.

This issue of whether weight loss can cure apnea has been an ongoing debate on this board. I don't know the answer to the question, other than the obvious: it can in some cases, but not in others, although it often will decrease pressure requirements and clearly provide a wealth of other health benefits. I do wonder, though, if weight loss is not a cure, why the high success rate of bariatric surgery in curing apnea?

[Kahfree]

In the past people died "Quietly in their sleep", it was considered a blessing. That is one of the reasons that the night shift is also referred to as the grave yard shift. Many people die between 3 and 5 am, the time of deepest REM sleep.

Scary thought.

[avi123]

p.s. About your question if you're stuck on it for life, well, looking at your neck I think that you're prone to CPAPing for ever, regardless of your weight. Check if your neck circumference is = or above 45". If, yes, there you got it.

Avi, where are you getting your information from?!?

Reply:

I got the correlation of neck size and sleep apnea from articles about studies. Here is one:

See table #1

http://thorax.bmj.com/content/61/3/226/ ... nsion.html

But of course it is not engraved in stone.

I am trying to get Treppenwitzs involved!

[SleepingUgly]

I got the correlation of neck size and sleep apnea from articles about studies. Here is one:

See table #1

http://thorax.bmj.com/content/61/3/226/ ... nsion.html

That table is only showing that the 3 different treatment groups had comparable neck sizes (and it's cms, not inches!). It's trying to show that treatment effects cannot be explained by differences in neck size, etc. And they used neck size, along with other variables, as one method of determining CPAP pressure, which is to say that neck size/BMI + AHI severity may have a role in determining pressure needs.

I am trying to get Treppenwitzs involved!

Based on inaccurate information, you are discouraging Mr. Treppenwitz from losing weight by obliviating any hope he has that losing weight might cure his apnea. He hasn't been posting because he's been drowning his sorrows in chocolate-spread sandwiches and falafel!

[roster]

I am trying to get Treppenwitzs involved!

Treppenwitz can speak for himself, but you may run him away by posting a link to photos of him and family. Have some respect for patient privacy.

[JohnBFisher]

... My doctor has indicated that he thinks much (or all) of the blame for my apnea can be attributed to my being a bit overweight. ...

Depends on the patient.

I know that my sleep apnea started during my teen years. My sister used to complain that I sounded just like our grandfather (who I am certain had obstructive sleep apnea). I was UNDER weight at the time.

After years of living with poor sleep, it led to weight gain. (I would eat to stay awake ...). Then the weight gain only made it worse. But I had an ENT tell me that I should not have obstructive sleep apnea as open as my airway is. Yeah, right. My snoring was bad enough that it LITERALLY scared my wife and children. You can no longer ignore the snoring when your children wake up screaming because the snoring is THAT loud !!

So, just based on my own experience, I know that weight gain can cause obstructive sleep apnea. But it can also run in a family and CAUSE the weight gain, as it did in my case. See, it depends on the patient.

[avi123]

[quote="SleepingUgly
Based on inaccurate information, you are discouraging Mr. Treppenwitz from losing weight by obviating any hope he has that losing weight might cure his apnea. He hasn't been posting because he's been drowning his sorrows in chocolate-spread sandwiches and falafel![/quote]

Thanks for your correction that it is 45 cm. Check this:



Sleep apnea can affect anyone at any age, even children. Risk factors for sleep apnea include:

Male gender
Being overweight
Being over the age of forty
Having a large neck size (17 inches or greater in men and 16 inches or greater in women)
Having large tonsils, a large tongue, or a small jaw bone
Having a family history of sleep apnea
Gastroesophageal reflux, or GERD
Nasal obstruction due to a deviated septum, allergies, or sinus problems

And this:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2546451/



By the way, based on inaccurate information, you are encouraging posters to use Avatars that are Copyrighted!

David "Treppenwitz" is smarter than all of us. It seems to me that he wants to entice us to post on his blog about his CPAPing.

Roster, please stop jumping for a minute and look at Treppenwitz's blog on the Internet.

Enter:

http://www.treppenwitz.com

and look at his Photo Album on the right side.

So David, please tell about the kind of equipment that you're using. Over there, in Hadassah, Soroka, Carmel, Leventhal, etc. are first class sleep physicians.

Also, in Herzliya, WideMed company , came out with a bedside automated sleep analysis system that operates through standard hospital monitors. This arrangement could make most Sleep Study clinics obsolete in the near future. Please check about it and let us know.

Contact:

WideMed, Ltd. about their Morpheus HX bedside computerized automated sleep analysis systems that are slowly spreading here in the U. S.

If you prefer then PM it to me here.

[BlackSpinner]

[quote="SleepingUgly
Based on inaccurate information, you are discouraging Mr. Treppenwitz from losing weight by obliviating any hope he has that losing weight might cure his apnea. He hasn't been posting because he's been drowning his sorrows in chocolate-spread sandwiches and falafel!

Thanks for your correction that it is 45 cm. Based on inaccurate information, you are encouraging posters to use Avatars that are Copyrighted!

David Treppenwitz is smarter than all of us.

Rooster, please stop jumping for a minute an look at Treppenwitz's blog on the Internet.

Enter:

http://www.treppenwitz.com

and look at his Photo Album on the right side.[/quote]

So what the hell are you trying to pull on this guy? Who the fuck cares here if he has a blog! People come her for help, we help them. Nothing else about them is important unless they want to discuss it or they are a troll. So stop acting like a troll before I start reporting all your posts as spam.

[avi123]

[quote="SleepingUgly
Based on inaccurate information, you are discouraging Mr. Treppenwitz from losing weight by obliviating any hope he has that losing weight might cure his apnea. He hasn't been posting because he's been drowning his sorrows in chocolate-spread sandwiches and falafel!

Thanks for your correction that it is 45 cm. Based on inaccurate information, you are encouraging posters to use Avatars that are Copyrighted!

David Treppenwitz is smarter than all of us.

Rooster, please stop jumping for a minute an look at Treppenwitz's blog on the Internet.

Enter:

http://www.treppenwitz.com

and look at his Photo Album on the right side.

So what the hell are you trying to pull on this guy? Who the fuck cares here if he has a blog! People come her for help, we help them. Nothing else about them is important unless they want to discuss it or they are a troll. So stop acting like a troll before I start reporting all your posts as spam.[/quote]

What is your business to interfere with others' posters to others? Did I ever directed a post to you? Did I ever used four letter words as you often do? Please ignore my posts and I'll ignore yours. I have no interest one iota in any of your posts

[BlackSpinner]

What is your business to interfere with others' posts? Did I ever directed a post to you? Did I ever used four letters words as you often do?

We are all responsible for this board and I don't tolerate fucking ass holes well right now so stick that where the sun don't shine sweetheart!
If you want to have a "chat" with him join his blog!