When can one discontinue CPAP useage

[Day_Dreamer]

Diagnosed with Sleep Apnea 2 months ago

I just got my CPAP machine a week ago. The delay was caused by my anxiety as I could not complete a sleep study on premises. I purchased a Machine out of pocket!

AHI per home sleep study = 3
RDI = 16
Average SPO2 = 96%
SPo2 less than 90% = 0

Since the home test I have been exercising, lost about 30Lbs and stopped caffine after 2:00

Any opinions are greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Julie]

Oh dear... did no one explain to you that you have a 'condition' (like diabetes, for instance) and that while Cpap treats it, the likelihood of it being cured anytime soon is fairly remote. Technology is moving quickly these days and it's possible that newer and easier to live with therapy will show up (it's happening now, but quite experimentally for anything worthwhile) in the near future, for now, Cpap is your best, most effective fix. People have tried surgery, only to find that within a few months symptoms have returned and the surgery has actually made Cpap more difficult to use... others fall for anti-snoring devices which, while they may help snoring, don't do anything for OSA. There are a couple of dental 'devices' available, but depending on your anatomy, your level of apnea, your reactions to the devices (both mental and physical), you're likely to want to come back to Cpap. If there was a quick fix, we'd all be on it... but for right now, there isn't one. Apnea is complicated - both neurological and respiratory in origin, and while you might at some time - if you've e.g. lost a lot of weight - be able to lower your pressure in future, it's unlikely you'll be able to get off the hose.

[zoocrewphoto]

Diagnosed with Sleep Apnea 2 months ago

I just got my CPAP machine a week ago. The delay was caused by my anxiety as I could not complete a sleep study on premises. I purchased a Machine out of pocket!

AHI per home sleep study = 3
RDI = 16
Average SPO2 = 96%
SPo2 less than 90% = 0

Since the home test I have been exercising, lost about 30Lbs and stopped caffine after 2:00

Any opinions are greatly appreciated

Thanks

Welcome to the forum.

Can you add your machine and mask to the equipment profile? It will help people to see what you are using any time you have questions. If your machine has full data, there are some free software programs that will allow you to view your data. That can help if you need to make adjustments or see if it is working well enough.

At this time, most people can't be cured, so treatment is ongoing. Some people can get off with weight loss, but many people gained the weight due to sleep apnea, not the other way around, so the sleep apnea is still there, hiding in the background. Also, people with sleep apnea tend to get worse over the years, so if you manage to get off it for awhile, it is best to get retested multiple times over the years as it could return and you don't want to let it go untreated.

[Day_Dreamer]

Everyone I have spoken to claims weight loss would be sufficient to "get off the hose"

My levels are pretty low and I never felt tired in the morning. even before I got the CPAP I noticed I was sleeping better do to the lifestyle changes I had implemented.

Also I have a deviated septum which causes me to mouth breath and I plan on getting that fixed.

Oh my is right.... I do not want to be on the hose all the rest of my life

Thanks for the response

[Wulfman...]

Question: "When can one discontinue CPAP usage?"

Answer: When they plant you in the ground. (If you decide to quit therapy, it'll be sooner rather than later.)

Solution: Get used to it. Embrace it. It's going to be a part of your life for a LONG time.


Den

.

[zoocrewphoto]

Everyone I have spoken to claims weight loss would be sufficient to "get off the hose"


Thanks for the response

It seems to be a common myth. People see that a lot of people with sleep apnea are overweight, so they assume it is the cause. But it turns out that skinny people get it too, and the lack of sleep and high levels of stress hormones cause people to eat more and thus gain weight. So, then it because a cycle where t he weight makes it worse, but the sleep apnea makes the weight worse.

Some doctors still believe the myth, but things are improving.

It does seem like long term use of cpap would be bad and overwhelming, but once you have real success and feel better, it's not so bad. It's a big change to adjust to, but it does get better.

[chunkyfrog]

Zoo, I agree 100%
If one is overweight, losing it is nearly always a good idea, but apnea rarely "goes away"
(at least until you stop breathing altogether) --Hardly my favorite way to "croak"!

[bwexler]

What type of home sleep study did you have? If your AHI was only 3, you would not have been deemed to have sleep apnea.
More detailed and accurate information is need re your sleep study to help you.

[djhall]

Everyone I have spoken to claims weight loss would be sufficient to "get off the hose"

My levels are pretty low and I never felt tired in the morning. even before I got the CPAP I noticed I was sleeping better do to the lifestyle changes I had implemented.

Also I have a deviated septum which causes me to mouth breath and I plan on getting that fixed.

Oh my is right.... I do not want to be on the hose all the rest of my life

Thanks for the response

It is possible for weight loss to allow someone who currently needs CPAP therapy to improve to a point where they don't need the machine anymore. However, that isn't the typical outcome for most people, especially those whose untreated AHIs fall into the severe category. Weight gain is rarely the only cause of OSA in people who are diagnosed and treated. What we usually find is that the person has abnormalities in the nerve pathways to the muscles controlling the upper airway and/or the structure of the airway itself which created undiagnosed mild OSA to exist even prior to the weight gain. The symptoms become more severe with the weight gain and then the person gets diagnosed and begins treatment. Reversing the weight gain sometimes reverses the worsening of the underlying OSA, but the underlying structural problems that already existed don't go away.

Diet and exercise are strongly encouraged for the important health benefits they bring regardless of OSA. However, as you can see, we rather discourage the expectation that weight loss is a path to eliminating the need for treatment since that turns out to be a discouragingly hollow promise for far too many and it encourages people who haven't yet started to think they can just go on a diet and exercise program instead of pursuing a sleep study and treatment.

[Stuey]

Hi Guys. I was diagnosed with Sleep apnea just over two years ago, just after I was diagnosed with diabetes. I was 22 stone at the time and I am 5' 9" tall. I used to eat like a pig and drink alcohol like it was going out of business and the only exercise I got was getting up to go to the toilet. I made a conscious decision to change as I was due to retire from the Police having served 30 years. I stopped drinking alcohol and changed my diet to include fresh fruit and veg every day. I also went to the local gym and started training 4 days a week. In two years I have lost 6 stone, my blood pressure is now the same as that of an 18 year old and my blood sugar levels reduced to the stage where the doctor took me of ALL of my diabetic medication (7 tablets a day) I got myself re assessed for the sleep apnea and the nurse could not believe the transformation. When I was first assessed I was having 72 apnea's an hour, the recent assessment showed 3 per hour, which I am told is what a normal person would have, the tiredness has gone and I am now 55 years old and have never felt better, fitter and more healthy. I met with the consultant on the 10th of last month and he had no hesitation in discharging me from the sleep clinic, I then handed back my CPAP and danced all the way out of the hospital. So the fact of the matter is YES, there is every chance that the affect of sleep will go if you lose a significant amount of weight. Far too many of you are too cynical about this, I fully understand that some people may have sleep apnea for the rest of their life but you can make that change and make it now. You really can live a long and healthy life without sleep apnea

[Day_Dreamer]

Oh dear... did no one explain to you that you have a 'condition' .

Nobody

Saw an ENT specialist "loss weight and you can discontinue the machine" The Machine will help you loose the weight.

Friend who has CPAP "Once you loose the weight you can stop"

Therapist "You know sleep apnea is caused by being overweight"

MD "you have mild apnea" you can either lose weight or get a CPAP or dental device

What are the levels of someone who has taken the test and is told they do not require a machine? normal

My test results were Mild and I needed to drink a few beers and take a sedative (which makes the results worse)

I have been working out 1-2 hours a day Cardio and weights
Gave up caffine after 2
stopped consuming Beer /wine
discontinued Clonopin

This is depressing

[BlackSpinner]

Multiple studies have shown you have less then a 50% chance of not needing cpap on massive (+100 lbs) weight loss. You are just as likely to require MORE pressure.

[Albacore]

Stuey- I think it's fantastic that you saw such great results. However, as stated earlier by others, most folks will never get rid of sleep apnea completely. I had sleep apnea when I was 165 pounds and very lean and mean. I was working out at the gym at the time, and I was very muscular and defined. So losing weight will never relieve me of my OSA completely. Please do not refer to the members of this forum as cynical. They simply have had a lot of experience in dealing with this life threatening condition and have come to terms with it. There are many on this very forum who have lost a lot of weight and still need to use their CPAP machines due to the continued struggle with obstructive sleep apnea. Again, congratulations on the fantastic results you have seen from your lifestyle changes. Just remember- you are the exception not the rule.

[djhall]

Far too many of you are too cynical about this, I fully understand that some people may have sleep apnea for the rest of their life but you can make that change and make it now. You really can live a long and healthy life without sleep apnea

Perhaps so, but one experience isn't necessarily representative of the majority. The question isn't if you should try, or if it is possible, but rather what you should expect and what your motivations should be for long term success. If you diet and exercise for the health benefits and you turn out to be one of the people who can also discontinue treatment then you win on both counts. If you fixate on not using a machine long-term and use discontinuation as the motivation to diet and exercise, the failure of diet and exercise to produce the expected benefit means the most likely outcome is discontinuing both the machine and the diet and exercise plan. That is especially true for the significant number of people whose OSA actually gets worse when they lose weight. Why set people up for the probability of encountering a lose-lose outcome when a simple change of expectations going in would have set them up for a win from the health benefits alone or even a win-win if they get the health benefits and the bonus of ditching the machine?

[Wulfman...]

Oh dear... did no one explain to you that you have a 'condition' .

Nobody

Saw an ENT specialist "loss weight and you can discontinue the machine" The Machine will help you loose the weight.

Friend who has CPAP "Once you loose the weight you can stop"

Therapist "You know sleep apnea is caused by being overweight"

MD "you have mild apnea" you can either lose weight or get a CPAP or dental device

What are the levels of someone who has taken the test and is told they do not require a machine? normal

My test results were Mild and I needed to drink a few beers and take a sedative (which makes the results worse)

I have been working out 1-2 hours a day Cardio and weights
Gave up caffine after 2
stopped consuming Beer /wine
discontinued Clonopin

This is depressing

Soooooo........you came to a CPAP user support forum looking for people dumb enough to tell you "Yeah, go ahead and quit using this life-saving therapy." only two months after starting. REALLY???
And, now you're disappointed at the responses? WOW!


Den

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