Would losing weight get rid of sleep apnea in my case?

I am 23 years old male. I just got diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea with AHI 16.6 and 89% lowest oxygen saturation. I'm 5'8 and 156 lbs. I remember when I was younger, I did not snore at all. Even in high school I did not snore probably because I was skinny. When I get to college, I gained weight from 135-140lbs ish to 150ish. Now I am 156lbs.

Should I try to lose weight to 140lbs before starting CPAP? I feel like I can easily lose my weight soon. Is it possible my sleep apnea would be gone when I lose my weight even though I'm not obese now? I'm also worried about getting central apnea from using cpap machine.

Thank you so much for your insight. I really appreciate your help.

If wishes were horses . . .
How overweight is 158 pounds at 5'6" in a guy?
REALLY?
If you don't treat the apnea, you could end up a lot "fluffier".
A heck of a lot fluffier.
Treat the apnea--no delays, no wishing, no lying to yourself.

Losing the weight might help with the OSA and it might not.
News flash...even bone skinny people can get OSA. I weighed a grand total of 110 pounds when I was diagnosed.

You could try losing the weight and get another sleep study and see if you still meet the diagnostic criteria.
You could start cpap and try to lose the weight while on cpap and then get another sleep study done.

Another news flash...the number of people who start cpap and develop a problem with central apneas is actually quite small. Depending on which study you read around maybe 10 to 15% will have treatment emergent central apnea.
A few centrals are normal anyway....no big deal...we all have them from time to time.
So it's not a given and using cpap will cause centrals to happen and even if it does and they are numerous enough to be a problem they can be dealt with.

All this panic with "OMG a central apnea" is so over blown. Centrals are only a problem when present in large numbers or they cause desats or keep bouncing people out of sleep.

Back to your original question....losing weight will only help if the extra weight is the sole cause of the OSA and there's no guarantee that the weight is the sole cause.
It's an old wives tale that only fat people get OSA and it's an old wives tale that "just losing extra pounds will get rid of OSA".

But you could try if you wish...just remember you MUST have a sleep study with the weight off to confirm (don't rely on snoring or not because not everyone with OSA snores all that much) and even more importantly you have to keep the weight off if it is determined that weight does impact OSA. Losing is not that difficult when motivated...now keeping it off is a whole different ball game.

Interesting...I lost about 40lbs about 3 years ago, down to mid-170lbs. for a 6' 1" tall person. That improved my AHI, but didn't get rid of sleep apnea. Even though I had an AHI of about 4 on my side after losing the weight, down from the 6 on my side before I lost the weight, my AHI was still too high on my back. So I'm still using the CPAP machine, still benefitting from the therapy. I have kept the weight off for several years now, at about 180lbs. at the moment, and expect to be using the CPAP until there's a magic bullet of some sort for sleep apnea...if ever. I did acquire central apneas using CPAP, didn't have any on my original sleep apnea study, but not enough to be a problem. So it goes.

It is individual, how weight loss affects sleep apnea. You won't know until you lose the weight and have a new sleep study.

Most SA is a result of a narrow, or partially blocked airway. If flabby neck tissue was the cause of the blockage, a weight reduction may be helpful. If you were born with the narrow airway, you are stuck with it.

Thank you so much for the replies.

I also had braces during high school. Took it off before I started college. Could braces cause sleep apnea? I don't remember correctly but it is when I started snoring. I remember orthodontist told me my bottom jaw is very small because of one missing bottom tooth thats embedded in gum.

First of all, I will try to lose 15lbs and see if I still have sleep apnea. I hope it gets rid of it. When I gain weight, I mostly gain it around my face and neck...

Cpaptorneke wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:36 pm

Thank you so much for the replies.

I also had braces during high school. Took it off before I started college. Could braces cause sleep apnea? I don't remember correctly but it is when I started snoring. I remember orthodontist told me my bottom jaw is very small because of one missing bottom tooth thats embedded in gum.

First of all, I will try to lose 15lbs and see if I still have sleep apnea. I hope it gets rid of it. When I gain weight, I mostly gain it around my face and neck...

If you insist on going for the weight loss befire treating the apnea, set a deadline.
Then do a sleep study.
And stick to the plan--no extensions--apnea damages your heart.

Thank you for the advice. I will try to lose 15 lbs in a month or two. Then I will do sleep test!

Weight loss is always good for your health. Whether it will "cure" your apnea remains to be seen. The statistics for keeping weight off after weight loss are abysmal--85% of people gain more weight back than they lost within 5 years. So even if it helps, it may not be a permanent fix. But you're welcome to try as long as you get a confirming sleep study to know that you really have "cured" your sleep apnea when the weight loss is done.

I remember orthodontist told me my bottom jaw is very small because of one missing bottom tooth thats embedded in gum.

That may be the answer for why you have sleep apnea, and weight loss won't help that. You are still relatively young, though. So perhaps orthodontia could help, by widening the lower jaw and perhaps bringing it forward a bit (look up "Herbst Appliance").

You say that the orthodontist told you your bottom jaw was small, but what did the orthodontist do about it? There are two approaches:
1. Retraction: Often teeth are pulled to make room and the top teeth are pushed back--usually with headgear. This is a terrible approach! It narrows your jaw and airway and increases the likelihood of sleep apnea.
2. Jaw widening and advancement. My daughter had this approach. Her jaw was widened with the "Damon System"--a series of activated wires on the outside surface of the teeth that widened the bite and permitted her tongue to help push the teeth outward. Then a Herbst appliance was used to bring her jaw forward a few millimeters. The results were really good. She has a beautiful smile and her airway is nice and open so she doesn't suffer from sleep apnea.