Yes, it's possible to get off the CPAP

I haven't been active in the forum for a long time. I was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea 3 years ago. I was absolutely scared to death - I was only 36 years old at the time and it was truly devastating for me. This forum helped me out and I know that a question many continually have is "Can you get off the CPAP?".

I've seen 2 pulmonoligists and I saw a board certified sleep doctor. The answer I consistently got was "I do not see any abnormalities in your airway and there is no reason to believe that you cannot get off the CPAP if you were to lose weight". The first study was at a hospital that allowed the results to be interpreted by a non-board certified pulmonoligst. He insisted I needed bariatric surgury to get off the machine - after getting chewed out twice for my weight, I took my business elsewhere and went to a board certified sleep doctor and I also went to a pulmonoligist to get tested for asthma/allergies (I have really bad allergies).

Last August, I had had enough. At my peak weight, I was 283 pounds. I made the decision once and for all to change my life. I've lost 116 pounds so far (I'm going to lose 7 more pounds). The first thing I get asked is "how did you do it".

The answer is diet and exercise. I looked up what the recommended intake is for a sedentary adult male, my age, my height (2100 calories) and I created a defecit based on that. My goal was to train myself to eat 2100 calories per day. I started out at 1500 calories, but oddly enough, I found an average of 1300 calories per day a comfortable start....so I did that from August to December. This was important to me because I was also on blood pressure medication and cholesterol medication. I watched my fat intake and I found a better way of eating that met those requirements (in other words, you can't eat a 16oz T-Bone for dinner multiple times per week). I also stopped drinking Diet Coke (all caffenated beverages for that matter) and beer. I haven't had a beer since August 14th.

I decided to walk to the train every morning rather than drive to the park & ride. Google maps puts the distance at 1.8 miles one way. So I started out walking 3.6 miles (round trip) every day that I worked. Having been a cyclist when I was in shape, I decided to do what I used to and I set up a road bike on a trainer in the front room. I do this three times a week, at 80rpm on the pedals, for half hour. In October, I decided to add weight training to the mix....twice per week and on Saturdays if I don't do anything active on Saturdays.

In October, I went in for a blood test with my cardiologist and the results came back normal. He took me off the cholesterol medication. I asked if I could get off my blood pressure medication and he recommended a follow up visit in December to determine if I needed it. The day before Thanksgiving, I was working out at the gym with a personal trainer, and I passed out. I got to wear a Holter Monitor over the next two days. On the follow up visit with my cardiologist he decided to take me off the blood pressure medication. He was shaking his head the whole time and he made the comment "My patients don't lose weight - they die. I want to see you in one year and if you continue doing what you are doing, you will no longer need my services".

At the end of December, I started noticing my weight loss was slowing. I bumped up from 1300 calories to 1600 calories. I noticed I immediately lost 5 pounds in one week (I had been averaging about 3 or 4).

I had an appointment with my sleep doc. I wanted off the CPAP. He measured my neck - I was down 2 inches in neck circumference. He was absolutely excited and he said he was 95 percent sure I no longer had sleep apnea but because of insurance restrictions, they recommend a follow up study only after I acheived my goal weight and my weight has stabilized. I didn't care - I negotiated a sleep study "in the middle of March".

In January, I noticed the weight loss started to slow again so I bumped up to 1800 calories....then in late February, I bumped up again to 2000 calories per day. The exercise stayed consistent. On March 12th, I went in for a follow up sleep study. It was set up as a split night study. If I didn't need the CPAP, they would just let me sleep through the night. I slept the entire night without being hooked up to a CPAP for the first time in 3 years.

This morning, I received a call from the sleep doctor. I received official word that I no longer have sleep apnea. He mentioned I recorded 1 event PER HOUR and less than 5 events is considered normal.

My best piece of advise - don't fall for the fad diets. Don't worry about protein intake vs. carb intake. Don't overthink it. Eat healthy food, cut out processed food, watch how much of it you put in your mouth, and exercise.....walking is the easiest.

I wanted to pass on this information for many who were as devastated as I was about going on the machine. Get out, get moving, and watch what you eat. It sounds simple, understandably, it isn't as simple is many think (or everyone would be skinny) but if you have the determination - you can certainly do it!

Congratulation on your achievements. I know it was a lot of hard work but as you found out, well worth it on many fronts.

Good job. Thanks for sharing. Note to self.. get out those walking shoes now that weather is warmer.

That's terrific!
Great story,especially the seemingly counter-intuitive part about having to increase your calories to break stalls in your weight loss. More muscle to sustain, more calorie expenditure. Great Job!

Congratulations! Your story is an inspiration for those for whom excess weight and nothing else is causing their sleep apnea.

For those of us who are not overweight and have sleep apnea, we will keep going with cpap.

Thank you so much for sharing your story! Congratulations on a new healthier you!
I am going to keep your story for inspiration!
Best of luck to you!

Wow! I'm so happy for you!

It's always good to hear a balance of experiences - not everyone will need CPAP for life. Your story is inspirational, not just in that you lost weight and did it healthily, but you were wise enough to use CPAP during your transformation and until it was demonstrated that you no longer needed it. You set a good example for others who desire to see if weight loss is a possible solution for them. I doubt it will be for me, as I was symptomatic even back when fit. But I do desire to lose weight just because it will be good for me, and your success is motivating.

Congratulations on the weight loss.

However.......if I were you, I wouldn't get rid of the XPAP equipment anytime soon.......it may come back. For many people OSA CAUSES weight gain. And, LOTS of skinny and "normal" people have OSA, too. It's not just a matter of "weight", it can be the structure of our nasal passages, jaws and other body parts. For some people, age and injuries can affect how much exercise a person can get. Take care of your body. Things may change In another 20 or 30 years. When I was 38 (1986) I tore up my knees......things went downhill from there.

You didn't mention how long you were off of the machine before you went in for the sleep study. From what I've read, to have an accurate study, one has to be off of the machine for a week or two before the study. If you used your machine up until the night of your sleep study, I'd say the study was flawed.


Den

Congratulations. Excellent accomplishment.

Wulfman wrote:You didn't mention how long you were off of the machine before you went in for the sleep study. From what I've read, to have an accurate study, one has to be off of the machine for a week or two before the study. If you used your machine up until the night of your sleep study, I'd say the study was flawed.

I've only seen reference to CPAP having a carry-over effect of one day (and I still don't know why that would be!). If he wanted to be conservative, and had a data-capable machine, he could take a few days off of CPAP and then sleep with it at 4cm and note his AHI. If it's minimal, in conjunction with his sleep study results, I personally would feel comfortable in shouting in the streets, "I'm cured!!! Halleleuyah, I'm cured!!"

As for whether he should keep his CPAP, just in case, that's kind of like keeping your "big" clothes just in case. I like to keep them because it seems like whenever I give them away, I gain weight. But I think in 20 or 30 years, there will be a much better CPAP than whatever he is using now! And perhaps someone else could benefit from his machine rather than it collecting dust in the closet. But that's a minor decision that shouldn't interfere with the celebration!

Celebrate!!

What an awesome and inspiring story! Through lots of hard work and determination, you met the goals you set for yourself. Best of luck to you and congratulations!

Congratulations! That is a great accomplishment. Wishing you continued good health.

How awesome are you?! Congratulations on a well-earned victory!