IS THIS FOREVER?

[Sleeping With The Enemy]

So is everybody saying that even if you lose weight, once you have to have CPAP, its for life???? Why would the doctors say that if you lose weight, you won't need CPAP anymore. My Doctor said that it is because when you gain weight, you also gain weight in your neck, causing you to have more tissue back there then you need and it closes off your airway when you relax while sleeping at night.

[ginnylee]

My doctor told me that losing weight COULD help but he also told me that he has patients that are thin...........So evidently it's just not over-weight people who have sleep apnea......I've been on the cpap for over 7 years now and I know that it's probably a forever thing......I never lost any weight since I started treatment and some people seem to believe that being treated (cpap) will in itself cause a weight loss.....

[Guest]

In the U.S. we are so careful to be politically correct EXCEPT for one part of the population...those of us that are "overweight" according to "someone" out there. Haven't figured out yet WHO's in charge of that! But now it's being touted that anyone who has sleep apnea & is overweight has the sleep apnea BECAUSE of being overweight. Another predjudice added to the heap "overweight" people already carry. It's amazing how many idiot dr's are out there who are spouting their beliefs without adequate medical facts to back them up. Blame it on being overweight. It's easy, convenient, and makes it all someones fault. Add people like Dr. Phil, who feed this misinformation to millions over the t.v. set, to the mess & we have a problem. I don't even tell people I have sleep apnea because I know the first thing they will say is, "Well, why don't you lose weight". Never mind the fact that I've had it all my life according to my dr. & I haven't been overweight but a few years. Because there is such a distain in this country for anyone who isn't "skinny", people are going to jump on sleep apnea as the newest "fat peoples" disease just like they are doing with asthma. Already I've seen articles that say that people who have "real" sleep apnea are not overweight & suffer from central nervous system defects while "overweight" people who have sleep apnea have it ONLY because they are overweight.

[RubyKat]

I asked my sleep specialist this question yesterday and she said basically that it's simplistic to say that losing weight could "cure" sleep apnea -- it might reduce the pressure needed, but the main benefit of losing weight is just general health improvement. She has sleep apnea patients who are thin as well as those who are obese. And it isn't so much the "weight" as just improving one's fitness, that makes one feel better.

[Guest]

Telling the facts about sleep apnea to people is like talking to the wind, however. There is SO much predjudice in this country that people would rather believe that an overweight person caused their sleep apnea than listen to the true facts.

[littlebaddow]

Guest, don't let other peoples ignorance get you down

My doc said the same as ginnylees - losing weight COULD help and MIGHT reduce the symptoms a little, but it's NOT a cure.

For many years the western media has hyped the fad of 'skinny' and it's deeply embedded in our culture, but of course that's not to say it's right! I'm overweight - always have been - and have apnea, but you and I know the facts, as do all of the supportive people in this forum, and those are the opinions that matter.

[RubyKat]

Note to self: please sleep and breathe at the same time.

Love your .sig! LOL

The thing with the weight is that, yes, it is associated with a lot of disorders, but assuming that it causes them is far too simplistic, and saying that losing weight will cure them is even more simplistic. Especially as it's often a vicious circle -- one aggravates the other. I mean, if, for example as has been mentioned elsewhere, sleep deprivation can cause obesity, and too much fat can narrow the throat, then OSA -> fat -> OSA around and around and around. And that's not the only vicious circle -- I have a hormone imbalance which is similarly aggravated by and aggravates obesity. I'd been seeing a doctor for five years about my obesity and in all that time I was just getting fatter and fatter no matter what I did! It was only mid last year that we figured out what the heck was going on... and now a combination of things (a new diet and, I think also being on CPAP) has been enabling me to lose some weight, slowly, for the first time in years.

I could give a stuff about what society thinks about obesity. I'm just sick of not being able to sit in a chair comfortably, tired of carrying all this weight around, wish that I could shop in something other than a Larger Sizes shop for clothes... but, now I have some hope.

[littlebaddow]

RubyKat
....and isn't hope such a wonderful and precious thing
All the best with your progress on all fronts

[loonlvr]

I believe that apnea is a condition that only worsens if one is overweight. I have it and have been skinny my whole life. Its kinda like high chloresterol. If you eat good it may get better but chance are you will still need medication. I know I will need a machine the rest of my life. Thats why I making sure I have the right machine and mask.

[jean19540_0]

i have high colestrol, i have been skinny the majority of my life. due to lack of mobility + underactive thyroid, i have gain a lot of weight this past 6/7 years, but to blame weight for all these things is out of order colestrol for me is a family thing, my dad died at 38 with thrombosis (arterial desiese). 9 years ago , when i was skinny & i have eaten healthly all my adult life, i developed arterial disease, had huge clots, + two emergancy operations & had to have a bye-pass. also my colesterol was high, at that point i was skinny + 40, not old at all.i was told i was very lucky, i was in hospital for something else when it happened, otherwise i would probably have ended up with my dad. the doctors said to me, this should not be happening, its a 70 year old smokers disease, apparently, before me there was only 2 previouse cases recorded in medical gernals. so people who look at us & say, oh your over weight, can jump in the canal as far as im concerned jean