are we all overweight here?

Ok - here's my *limited* understanding of the OSA/obesity connection.

1. Excess fat means there are also excess fat cells around the neck area which can then result in or contribute to the airway restriction resulting in OSA

2. There are people who are not overweight (I know one who is incredibly thin) who have severe OSA. Supposedly surgery is more likely to help those who have OSA and are not overweight. I suspect (my guess only) that these folks may have some structural problems with their airway.

3. If we have OSA, then the fatigue, glucose problems, etc. can result in more eating problems and thus more overweight

4. Going on xPAP does not necessarily result in weight loss -- it's still all about eating well and exercising. Successful treatment should help us have enough energy to exercise so we can lose weight but it doesn't necessarily provide the motivation to do so.

5. If we lose weight, we may still not necessarily be able to stop xPAP since even though all those fat cells have reduced in size, they don't disappear and *may* continue to have a residual effect on airway obstruction.

I'm sure there are many other issues and I may not have these exactly right - these are my observations only based on what I've read and heard!

Mindy

I am 6'2" weigh 178 lbs and I am, and have always been extremely fit and atheletic. Just got back from a 50 mile bike ride in the hills - for example. I have always been in extaordinary condition and I have a very healthy diet. I also have severe OSA of 80 AHI and started treatment a few months ago at pressure of +/- 11.

I currently weigh 340lbs

Since i've become an adult i've never been less than 180. and that was when I was sick with the chicken pox at 17.

Now that I look back on it and have talked to my mom, i've had sleep problems since puberty. Which is about the time i started gaining weight.
Until my 2nd kid was born 10 years ago I was fairly active. I worked construction, played in a band, played sports recreationally.
I was 240 then and even though according to the charts I was overweight it was mostly muscle.

when my active life stopped due to career change and sleep schedule I put on 160 lbs in 10 years. Sure I could have got active again, but I had no energy.

So i don't know if i've always had OSA, but I think it's a factor in my weight gain.

Interesting posts here. Being overweight is a risk factor for OSA. Being overweight might cause it for you but for some people their body makeup is the cause.

Plenty of people here are talking about OSA being a cause of obesity. While it might help someone to be obese, it's a cop out when someone uses that as a reason of why they're overweight. We're all too keen to find something other than ourselves to blame for our predicament.

I'm fairly new at dealing with OSA and now that I have my treatment with PAP going well, weight is my next focus. I'm always amazed at seriously obese people who have been on PAP for years and haven't bothered to change their lifestyle.

Losing weight and keeping it off requires a permanent change in lifestyle. Your body is a system and it operates in perfect equilibrium given the inputs of diet and exercise. The only way to make it look different long term is to PERMANENTLY CHANGE LIFESTYLE.

Nike said just do it for a reason.

I'm thin 6' 155#s. Got a bit of 50 year old gut, but I am thin, skinny legs and all

Edited:::
nevermind i was feeding a troll...

I'm in great shape.... round is a shape, right?

Bonnie wrote:I'm in great shape.... round is a shape, right?

yup!

and when I die, I'm donating my body to Science Fiction.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting posts here. Being overweight is a risk factor for OSA. Being overweight might cause it for you but for some people their body makeup is the cause.

Plenty of people here are talking about OSA being a cause of obesity. While it might help someone to be obese, it's a cop out when someone uses that as a reason of why they're overweight. We're all too keen to find something other than ourselves to blame for our predicament.

I'm fairly new at dealing with OSA and now that I have my treatment with PAP going well, weight is my next focus. I'm always amazed at seriously obese people who have been on PAP for years and haven't bothered to change their lifestyle.

Losing weight and keeping it off requires a permanent change in lifestyle. Your body is a system and it operates in perfect equilibrium given the inputs of diet and exercise. The only way to make it look different long term is to PERMANENTLY CHANGE LIFESTYLE.

Nike said just do it for a reason.

This is not true for everyone. I was referred for a sleep study only AFTER making massive lifestyle changes without losing any weight. I gained a lot of muscle due to 120 minutes of exercise per day, 5 days a week. I also followed a restricted calorie diet. But I did not lose anybody fat. According to my docs (endocrinologist and sleep specialist), a medication I was taking (Actos) is known to cause weight gain and to keep people from losing weight. After stopping the med, I still didn't lose weight. They then suspected that poor sleep might be affecting my (in)ability to lose weight.

There are some new studies out which discuss hormone disruption when people don't get enough good sleep. Grehlin and leptin, which control appetite and metabolism, can be seriously screwed up. Some people had blood chemistry changes consistent with prediabetes after only 1 week of disrupted sleep.

For some people, "just do it" is not enough and I'm living proof of that..... <sigh>

We may be dealing with a troll, but folks deserve to have real information, not misinformation. Encouragement, not someone tearing them down.

I'm 5 ft. 2 -1/2 inches tall and weigh 128 pounds and was about 8 pounds lighter than that when I was diagnosed with OSA so the answer is "NO" to your question.

I have snored so loud all of my life that I used to get my own room growing up, so a year ago (it's been 1 year ago since I started cpap) but my hubby has told me for years and years that I stopped breathing and would jerk and gasp for air so I decided to ask my Physicians Assistant for a sleep study, she looked at me and said "Well, you certainly aren't FAT", it pissed me off but what could I say, that was straight up rude as far as I was concerned, I guess she was shocked when my test came back positive, anyway that's my story!

SleepyNoMore

Well shape and being fat are not always correlated. I've seen some built like refrigerators and be solid muscle with very low body fat and I've seen others who appear thin and have very high body fat (called skinny fat people).

It is the body fat percentage that determines how fat you are not shape or BMI.

I ride the line between normal and....underweight (BMI = 18.9).

My doc said that if I ever managed to gain enough weight to push me into the overweight category, I'd end up with a diagnosis of severe OSA instead of just severe UARS (arousals caused by flow limitations). And then I would be fully insured and wouldn't have to self-pay for masks and machines!

Waking up 40+ times an hour for either reason totally sucks....though my O2 saturation levels never went below 84, so at least there's that advantage, I suppose.

For what it's worth, I have two male relatives that did end up with OSA diagnoses, and while they were overweight (moderate potbellies on otherwise long, lean frames), they still didn't have the classic OSA "big neck."

Anonymous wrote:Interesting posts here. Being overweight is a risk factor for OSA. Being overweight might cause it for you but for some people their body makeup is the cause.

Plenty of people here are talking about OSA being a cause of obesity. While it might help someone to be obese, it's a cop out when someone uses that as a reason of why they're overweight. We're all too keen to find something other than ourselves to blame for our predicament.

I'm fairly new at dealing with OSA and now that I have my treatment with PAP going well, weight is my next focus. I'm always amazed at seriously obese people who have been on PAP for years and haven't bothered to change their lifestyle.

Losing weight and keeping it off requires a permanent change in lifestyle. Your body is a system and it operates in perfect equilibrium given the inputs of diet and exercise. The only way to make it look different long term is to PERMANENTLY CHANGE LIFESTYLE.

Nike said just do it for a reason.

Some pretty arrogant and inflammatory statements in there. I can understand why you posted anonymously.

When you learn more about OSA (LOTS MORE)......and poor sleep, in general, and how it can affect the body's metabolism, come back and give us an update.

So.......you're a little "fluffy", too?


Den

I had sleep apnea when I weighed 106 pounds. I weigh more than that now but I believe that the configuration of the jaw has alot to do with it as well as weight and tonality of the muscles.
Anyone know how to workout your throat muscles???

Let's keep it clean.

vdol52,

rubberchimp posted a link to a pdf about exercise on Jul 31 in the thread
about exercise to cure OSA it looks like this pdf is for real.

http://www.sdhct.uk/patientcare/pil/23558.pdf I hope I typed that right!

Then there is playing the harmonica or the didgeridoo can help some. I may
try these exercises myself.